11-19-25 Reds Hot Stove League

Tommy and Jim talk with Reds President of Baseball Ops Nick Krall.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, very delightful, good evening, and welcome in to the
Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF. As always,
we are live at the bet MGM Sportsbook inside Tom's
Watchbar down to the banks with Jim Day. I'm Tommy Throw.
Great to be with you. A lot to get to today.
We have the President of Baseball Operations, Nick Crawl, with
us in house today live to talk all things Reds

(00:24):
baseball in this offseason. We'll get to him in a moment. Jim,
the Red's making a little bit of news yesterday, kind
of some paperwork moves adding guys the forty man roster
to protect him from the Rule five draft. No real
surprises there.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
It didn't seem like no Hector Rodriguez Arroyo, and you
know those were two guys that obviously other teams would
be interested in. I imagine the Balcazar who established himself
a little more here in the Arizona Fall League. Some
tough decisions always year in and year out, because you

(01:00):
don't want to someone to just swoop in and take
one of your top players. Even though those rules are
tough that they have to be on the posting team's roster, etc.
But no surprise whatever that those guys were added to
the forty. Maybe one surprise in on the back end
of that was Carson Spiers was designated for as sign right.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
We'll talk to Nick about that, because you've got to
believe there's probably still some thought that he will be
able to remain within the organization. Of course he could
get picked up. We'll talk about all that as well.
Edwin Royo, this is a guy that I feel like
has a chance of being the big leagues next year.
We'll start the season at Triple A. I mean, he's
one of the top prospects in the organization for a reason.

(01:38):
You certainly can't allow him to get away. So we'll
talk about all of that as we welcome in the
Reds President of Baseball Operations, Nick Crawl. Nick, thanks so
much for taking some time to sit with us and
talk Reds baseball for a little while. Thanks for how's
the off season been going. I know you just came
from the GM meetings. What's kind of the lay of
the land would you gather from the GM meetings down

(01:59):
to bake.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
It's just trying to get as much information as you can.
We met with every club that was there. We talked
to those guys. We talked a lot of those guys
before we got there, but you know, the week before
free agency opened, so we were able to sit down
with every agent for every player and you know, talk
through where they are, what their expectations are, and then
see if we can find some matches.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
You know, there's players that you obviously have a relationship with.
Do you do you ever negotiate with a player because
of the personal connection you may have with someone and
bypass in a way that the agent you could. I don't.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
I don't feel comfortable doing that. You have an agent
for a reason. That's what you're supposed to do. That's
you know, you you obviously have hire an agent for
us to go through the agent. You know, I'll text
a guy every now and then, but I won't do
a negotiator. We won't negotiate through the player themselves unless
they don't have an agent, and that's the way they
want to do it.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
This process, once free agency opens and the GM beatings,
not a whole lot happens. It picks up at the
winter meetings. It's a long process this offseason and free agency.
Do you wish it was shorter, there were some type
of deadline that was involved that would get action going
a little faster.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, I mean it, it'd be great if it was
a condensed and yeah, you know, I was talking to
somebody the other day, I guess the NFL has six
weeks off that where nothing really happens in the summer,
so a lot of facilities shut down, and you know,
you kind of take some downtime, and you know, obviously
you like that, but that's not how we work.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
Well, I mean at the trade deadline, a lot of
deals are done because there's a deadline. So do you
think that would up the action if there were at
least one, maybe two deadlines involved.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
I mean probably like everybody waits till a deadline when
they have to submit things. Yeah, you know, when somebody's
looking for a payment on something, you wait till the
deadline to give it to them.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
Right, Well, we will look forward to that. Once you
were commissioner of Major League Baseball, So let's talk about
this team. Obviously, the Winter Meetings are right on the horizon.
Following up the GM meetings, were you able to get
kind of an idea of how teams value their players,
whether it's prospects or guys in the big league team.

(04:12):
As far as how you kind of maneuver the offseason
and the moves you guys may have coming up.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
Yeah, I mean you're you're figuring out what their needs
are and what they have surplus of, and they're doing
the same for us. So that's what a lot of
the last couple of weeks have been, and you know
a lot of teams are still trying to figure it out.
You know, you got a lot of moves made yesterday,
whether it's adding guys the roster, handful of guys got
designated for assignment. You know, you saw players got designated
for assignent that might have got claimed on waivers two

(04:39):
weeks ago because they get non tendered on Friday, which
is another deadline. So you're gonna see players non tendered
Friday that are you know, you might have a handful
of guys more that are free agents. So just trying
to figure out what that market is and what the
markets are and where to go.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
I know, you were always working within a budget. Everyone
business works within a budget, and you talk to the
writers a little bit about this, but clarifying for this
audience with some of the money that came off the
books from last year. And I know there's arbitration involved
in players up their salaries and almost balances out. How

(05:16):
much financial flexibility do you have as we sit.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Here, we'll be right around those same amount we had
last year, just budget wise. You know, it's it'll obviously
depend on what the arbitration raises are. And you know,
guys going through arbitration are going to get a little
bit more salary, and we've got a handful of those guys.
So I think it's just we're still working to determine
what we can and can't do within the budget that

(05:39):
we have based on some of those asks.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
With that being said, do you imagine that the ways
you'll be able to improve this team will be dipping
into the free agent market at all? Or is it
more going to be based on trades dealing from areas
where you may have a little bit of a surplus.

Speaker 3 (05:57):
It's really hard to answer, and without skirting the question,
it's you know, sometimes two years ago we spent some
money in free agency, whereas this year or last year,
we had a handful of guys that we made trades with.
Whether it was singer or Travino, and then we signed
some other guys like Hayes and Barlow who were in

(06:18):
the free agent market. So I think we're looking at
both well, we are looking at both markets and trying
to figure out where the best use of our money is,
where the best use of or return is. And then obviously,
if we have to make trades, what are the players
that player prospects or major league players that we have
to give up to make the club better.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
I know, obviously you we'd love to add a power
bat to the middle of the lineup.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
Who wouldn't.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
That's you know, every team is normally looking for that
at all times. But you have some spots opened in
the bullpen. I imagine that that might be step number one.
How are you going to be able to fill those
spots within your budget?

Speaker 3 (06:55):
Well, I mean it's first off, everybody would like a
middle of the order power bat, and if you have one,
you'd like to write like that. That's that's an obvious statement.
The bullpen is something where we were really have been
have had a really good bullpen over the last couple
of years. It's we've gotten some guys via trade, We've
gotten some guys in sam Maul. We've gotten some guys

(07:17):
like Tony Santian that have come through the draft. Graham
Ashcraft moved to you know, from the draft out there.
We got some guys in Pagan and Barlow from last
year that that we're from free agency. We're gonna have
to look at all avenues that we can and figure
out how to fill those spots. You know, some might
come from trade and some might come from a free agency,
and some might come from within. You know, we had

(07:40):
a handful of guys come up and down last year.
Connor Phillips ended the year pitching really well as he
came up and ended the season with the club. Max
went into the season with the club. He wasn't on
the postseason roster, but he had some up and down
spots that he's learning to get in there. Luis May
same thing. He came up and down, had some really

(08:02):
good games and struggle at times. You know, if we
can get those guys more consistency, then they have a
chance to legitimately win spots in the bullpen and they
have you know, a couple of those guys have a
chance to be back legitimate back end guys for a
long time. So it's trying to balance out whether we're
going to add a handful of guys to replace the
guys we lost, or that we need to make sure

(08:24):
we give chances for the guys we have to win spots,
but then also supplement those guys with players that can
take they take on experience roles.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
We're visiting with Red's President of Baseball Operations, Nick Krawl.
Plenty more to get to with Nick. It's the Budweiser
Red's Hot Stove League presented by UDF. Live the bet
MGYM Sportsbook inside Tom's Watch Bar at the Banks on
the Reds Radio Network. Welcome back in with the Butdwise

(08:57):
the Red's Hot Stove League presented by UDF. We are
I have the bet MGAM Sportsbook inside Tom's watch Bar
at the Banks. Few folks here hanging out with us.
Larry herms made the trip over from across the road.
Big show. No, it's a big show and Hermsey's here.
Only eighteen more of these bad boys to go. It's
week three of the Hot Stove season. We are visiting
with Red's President Baseball Operations, Nick Crawl. And Nick. You

(09:21):
know the headlines that have kind of dominated it. We
were talking about trades and trying to get this team
better by trade. We even talked about it on this
show Week one. Look, if there's an area where you
kind of have a little bit of a surplus right now,
it seemed to be starting pitching now. Surplus is kind
of a tricky word because we all know guys are
somebody's going to get hurt. Very rarely do you go

(09:44):
into spring training and the five guys you have planned
to start the season in the rotation end up starting
the season in the rotation. It happened last year. Obviously,
one of the big marquee names, a guy like Hunter Green.
He didn't pitch for two months last year while he
was hurt. Some has been made of the severity of
that injury, and then also is he a trade candidate.

(10:04):
So when you hear all the stuff that's surrounding Hunter Green,
what's kind of your reaction to all of that?

Speaker 3 (10:12):
Well, I mean, I think first when you look at
the rotation, it's really it is really hard to say, oh, well,
we're just going to trade because we have surplus, because
I don't think anybody has surplus, right if you have
if you have eight guys, nine guys that are coming
in to win a spot in the rotation. You've got Green, Abbott, Lodolo,
and Singer Singer and who have pitched all year in

(10:36):
the big leagues. Right. You got Burns who came up
in the middle of the year, and those five guys
ended the season healthy.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
Right.

Speaker 3 (10:45):
Of those five guys, the only guy that actually made
it through the full season without without being injured was Singer,
And I think everybody has their own Hey, I missed
time for this, or miss time for this.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
Guys get hurt.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
In the rotation. Three of the other guys are Brandon Williamson,
Julian Agie Are and Rehet Louder missed all season last
year with various injuries. So you know, you have to
have depth in the starting rotation. You just have to.
I mean getting Lttel last year allowed us to push
Martinez to the bullpen, and that happened for about a
week and then he went right back in the starting

(11:19):
rotation when we had some injuries until he could go
back in the bullpen. So you really need a group
of guys, whether it's it's guys that can go to
the bullpen or guys that can go to Triple A
that are going to be your death starters because you're
going to need them all year. Chase Petty made starts
last year, Wade Miley made a couple of starts last year.

(11:39):
Burns made a handful of starts last year. So it's
the average team uses roughly fifteen starters a year. That's
a ton, and so making sure that you have enough
starts for you know, whether it's in Triple A or
the big leagues is going to be really important. So
saying you have surplus is a really it's a little
soft there. It's not an easy thing to say, oh, yeah,

(12:01):
I have surplus because it doesn't usually work out that
way with trading players though. Look, Hunter's a guy that
when he when he is healthy, he is a top
of the rotation starter. Nicolodolo has a chance to be
a top of the rotation starter. Andre Rabbit was an
All Star last year because he dominated in the first half.
So we've got a handful of guys that are established

(12:23):
guys in the big leagues that are those top of
the rotation starters. It's really it is really hard for
us to get those guys to come to our ballpark
on the free agent market. We have a hitters ballpark, right,
so we draft, we developed these guys. You know, when
guy gets injured, though, it's it is also really hard
to say, oh, well that guy, that guy isn't hurt.
That guy, this guy, this guy is not hurting, this

(12:45):
guy is hurt because that's not right.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
Right.

Speaker 3 (12:47):
I had shoulder surgery six weeks ago, and I can
tell you there are days when I am really hurting,
and I can tell you that the same guy the
head shoulders might not feel the same pain. You can't
say that, you know, hey, that this is the this
works here, and this works here. I think that you
know that that's a that's a tough thing to say.
I think that you know, guys pitched through a lot
of different things hunter, you know, grinding through the end

(13:08):
of the year, and you know, it's it's a it's
really hard to give up a guy that is a
top of the rotation starter. You know, Hey, look, I'm
not ever going to say never, but it's a really
tough thing to actually do.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
When do you prow your first bullpen coming back from
shoulders certainly not a.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
Chance when you when you talk about trade, if you
if you do go the trade route. Is it at
least safe to say that at this point, where the
organization is, or where this group of players is, that
you will not be trading for prospects you would want
major league ready or at least on the cusp of

(13:45):
major league ready players.

Speaker 3 (13:47):
Yeah. I ideally you want to add to your club,
right and maybe there's a deal where you trade this
player for prospects and then trade prospects for another player
and it works out. Where it doesn't, it's not perfect fit,
but it's it's a fit because of how you did
it right. So I don't want to say that we
wouldn't ever trade for prospects, but there is there a
means to an end.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
When you're trying to put a deal together. How important
is the understanding of not just a team's needs but
what they value? I mean, is the most coveted thing
right now on the trade market, established big league position players,
established big league pitching, or are prospects still among the
most coveted? And does that change team to team?

Speaker 3 (14:29):
I think it changes team to team. It depends on
where you are and what you're trying to do. Some
teams they don't want any part of prospects. Some teams
they only want prospects. Some teams will only trade prospects,
and some teams will only trade big league players. So
I think it just depends on what you're looking at
and where you are in your cycle.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
Ellie da La Cruz. The defensive problems have been well
documented the last couple of years, and he had a
let's just say, a more down year overall defensively, even
at the plate, certainly with the power numbers. Not sure
how much defense is getting into his head.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
I can't ever read the player on that or get
into player's mind. But have you entertained the idea of
him playing other positions at all.

Speaker 3 (15:15):
At this point? No, So if you look at his
year last year, and I think a lot of people
don't know this. At the end of the year, like
towards the end of July, he was dealing with a
partial torn quad and he has been rehabbing. He's at
the ballpark, he was at the ballpark today. He's been
rehabbing over the last this whole off season. To his credit,

(15:37):
he played every day. He tried to grind through it.
He tried to play through it. If you look at
his defensive numbers. He made twelve airs through roughly towards
the end of July when he got hurt, and then
he made fourteen from the end of July on. He's
trying to play through it. He wasn't able to do
it as successful as possible. I think he had a
stretch of games where he had nineteen homers and he

(15:59):
didn't hit one until some point in September. That's gonna
affect him. That's gonna affect everything he does. But to
his credit, he was trying to play every single day
through it. He tried to grind through it, and to
the detriment of himself, he didn't play up to where
he was. But a large part of that is because
he's trying to play through the injury. So I do

(16:20):
think that you look at where he was up until
that point where he got hurt, and he was definitely
better defensively. It's just he he didn't finish the way
he started.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
We saw a lot of improvement last minute or so
that we have in Spencer stear at first base. Now
South Stewart's up here at the big league level, really
the only defensive spot he can play his first base.
How realistic is it to expect him to have that
kind of progress like Spencer Steer had over there.

Speaker 3 (16:47):
Well, you know, I talked to his agent a few
days ago. He's in better shape, He's worked. That's his
goal this offseason is to come to camp in good
baseball shape and just whether it's lose weight, get faster,
get more agile in the field. You know, he played
third in the big leagues last year. You know, but
obviously we've got a Gold Glove defensive player at third,
so you know, we want to be better both offensively

(17:10):
and defensively. I said that, you know, part of getting
better defensively was getting to Brian Hayes and you know,
being able to turn a below average overall group at
third base defensively to the guy who won the Gold
Glove last year. We struggled at first base some and
Spencer Steer did a great job of going into the
off season and getting better. And he worked his butt

(17:32):
off during the season. You know, he had he had
some he had some injury stuff that he was dealing
with as he went through spring training, couldn't play the
field for the first month, and then he just took
the first base and became a good first base where
he was a defensive Uh there was goal Glo finals.
So you know, we've we've definitely gotten better overall in
that group. It's just how can you get better? South

(17:54):
Stewart's twenty one years old. There's a lot of baseball
with that end.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
Nick, really appreciate the time. Thanks so much. Could ask
you a thousand more questions, but you probably have other
things you want to do tonight, so let you get
out of here.

Speaker 3 (18:04):
Thanks.

Speaker 1 (18:06):
It's President of Baseball Operations, Nick Krawl. We're back with
more of the Buttweiser Red's Hot Stove League presented by UDF.
Next on the Reds Radio Network. Welcome back in It

(18:32):
is the Buttweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF.
We are live the bet MGM Sportsbook inside Tom's Watch
Bar at the Banks. Big Things. Again to Nick Krawl
for stopping by and chatting with us. And you know,
it was kind of interesting. We were talking about the
pitching and you and I were talking about a week
one how that's kind of a quote unquote surplus. But

(18:54):
it's hard to have a surplus of top end rotation
starter like ace starters, right, and yah, I mean surplus.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
Is the wrong word. Right, you want to trade from
a position of strength, that's probably a better way. It
is their position of strength and what's going to bring
you the best return of frontline starting pitcher.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
Right.

Speaker 2 (19:16):
So I don't want to say surplus. You never have enough.
I do believe you never have enough pitcher.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
There's one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (19:23):
Especially nowadays. But it's a position of strength. So where
are you gonna be hurt the least if you trade
one off of that group?

Speaker 1 (19:36):
Right now? It's starting pitching. And are you truly robbing
Peter to pay Paul? See that's the other part. If
you go out and you go get a bat, Okay,
where are they going to play? You've got to have
a spot for him to play. So right now, if
you look at the Reds the way they're set up,
if you if you truly believe that Sal Stewart's your
first basement, I want to get into that, then he's

(19:58):
your first baseman. You have second base, shortstop and third
are all spoken for. TJ. Friedel at the moment is
your center fielder. So now you've got to play Spencer
Steer Moore and left field. Noelbe Marte is your right fielder.
That's done. So where's your opening? As far as I
can tell it, Like if I were to look at
this Reds team, I feel like your biggest opening is

(20:20):
in center field, and you figure out a way to
move TJ. Friedel to the left and find a way
to keep Spencer Steer at first. If you do something
like that, if you go get a bat, they've got
to have a spot to play and they've got to
have some athleticism. Nick talked about the importance of defense
when you have Steer at first. The infield defense was

(20:41):
pretty good when Ellie was playing a better shortstop. Now
he's still got to take a step forward, even if
he was hurt last year. You don't want to start
to sacrifice defense on this team. I just don't think
this is a team that is ever going to have
enough offense to overcome bad defense.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
But the offense at times was so glaring. Tommy, how
many yeah, how many games did they score just one
run or less than two. It's an astronomical number. So
when your your offense is lacking that much, you better
address it.

Speaker 1 (21:15):
But are you addressing it to an extent With the
promotion of a guy like Sal Stewart to the big leagues.
Does that is that going to be enough?

Speaker 2 (21:22):
Well with an answer, I mean we're in many times,
especially in the offseason, you're in the land of hope, right,
they hope that happens.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
Of course.

Speaker 2 (21:31):
He's I mean even asked when he first came up here, Hey,
what position you play? I play the batter's box, was
his answer. I never thought he was going to be
a third baseman long term. I know he played it
coming up, I just didn't see that happening. First base
is a different story. I'm not willing to write him
off that he's just going to be a d H

(21:52):
from now on. He does need to get into a
little bit better shape. We're talking about moving to first
base in the middle of a big league season having
never done it.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
So let's at least.

Speaker 2 (22:03):
Give him the chance to get his footwork down, to
get in better condition and learn the position. Because if
he is just a DH, you better have a roster
that's set up for that. They have Gavin Lux coming
back where you're gonna play him on the days Tyler
Stevenson didn't catch he was DH. Austin Hayes DHD A bunch.

(22:24):
Someone's gonna get hurt they're going to need the dh
SO to just slot him in as a dh I'm
not willing to do that yet.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
No, he's twenty one years old. You don't want a
twenty one year old dah. You don't want to develop
guys as a dh SO.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
But he's gonna have to play first are you gonna play?
You have to make concessions.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
He was a major liability in third He did not
play second base very well. It really just leaves first
base now. If he gets in better shape, and from
what I've heard, he's been working in the offseason to
get in better shape, and you hope that that also
means he's gonna be a little more agile, and if
that's the case, Look, Spencer Steer worked really hard to

(23:06):
become a good first baseman. He was, he was a
Gold Glove finalist at first base. That that didn't happen overnight.
He put in the work to do enough.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
I love Spencer Steers not at all. You're just trying
to work the best nine out there.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
But we've also seen him be a more than serviceable
outfielder and left field too, So I don't think that's
the end of the world. Moving him to left field.
The reason I bring up Spencer Steer is the Reds
help develop him into a very good first baseman. If
they can do the same with Sal Stewart, that I
think that really opens up the luxury that you have

(23:43):
to maybe go out and acquire a bat where you're
not as reliant on that bat being as flexible. Does
that make sense because from a defensive standpoint, because right now,
the way this team set up, you can't just go
get a bat and expect him the DH. There's not
enough DH slots in the lineup. We don't bat ten datters.
So you got to figure out a way to make
room for somebody. And if that means a guy likes

(24:05):
Al Stewart getting better defensively at first base, it certainly
creates that opportunity.

Speaker 2 (24:11):
Listen, I think there's there should be some competition on
this team. I'm not willing to sit here and just
say second base is filled right now. That's a down
year there. Yeah, and we're talking about a young guy
who has man has some promising talent. We've seen it.
But where's that going?

Speaker 1 (24:28):
Right?

Speaker 2 (24:28):
Where's that going? Are we just gonna pencil that in?
Are we gonna have some competition? And light a fire
on some under some guys. I think there should be
some competition.

Speaker 1 (24:36):
Well, you talk about competition lighting a fire under a guy,
I would say it worked out pretty well for a
guy like noelbe Marte. Sure did. I mean.

Speaker 2 (24:45):
He handled diversity more than I mean a few times
and some of it was self inflicted, which he just overcame,
so that he is a glaring example of yes, it
can be done.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
He's exhibit A Yeah, no doubt. One eight hundred The
Big One if you want to call into the show.
Also five one, three, seven, four nine seven one eight
hundred The Big One. Five one, three, seven, four nine
seven thousand. This is the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League
presented by UDF. We are live the BEDMGM Sportsbook inside
Tom's watch Bar at the Banks. More to come on
the Reds Radio Network. Welcome back into the Budweiser Reds

(25:20):
Hot Stove League presented by UDF. Live of the BEDMGM
Sports Book inside Tom's watch Bar at the Bank's phone
lines are open five one three, seven, four nine seven,
one eight hundred The Big One if you want to
chat with us and talks some Reds baseball. We've got
a few more minutes. Balloting is open now. You can
vote now and help decide who's going to end up

(25:44):
in the next Hall of Fame class of twenty twenty
six for the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. Voting
goes through November twenty seventh. Go to Redsmuseum dot org
to go ahead and vote. You can do it right now.
All the voting has done, all the fan voting has
done online. Certainly some good candidates we talked about a

(26:05):
couple last week. We mentioned Brandon Phillips, Homer Bailey certainly
figures to be a guy that could be a favorite there.
One guy that we didn't spend a whole lot of
time talking about last week is Francisco Cordero. Completely undersold him.

Speaker 2 (26:21):
Honestly, he's pretty good chance. Second in Red's history in saves.

Speaker 1 (26:26):
One hundred and fifty of them in a Red use.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
Danny Graves is number one in the Reds Hall of Fame.
Second in career saves with the Reds.

Speaker 1 (26:35):
Pretty good is his career era two hundred and eighty
three games in Reds uniform, two point nine to six
ERA out of the Reds bullpen. Not bad there either,
I mean when he was a Red.

Speaker 2 (26:47):
Member of a Division champion team. He had forty saves
that year.

Speaker 1 (26:51):
Led the Reds and saves four different years from two
thousand and eight to twenty eleven. Had as many as
forty saves in twenty ten, that's the fourth most in
a single season in team history. I mean, this is
a guy that certainly deserves a strong consideration.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
I mean, oh, he'll eventually get int your second a
major category. Granted they back in the day, his position category,
no doubt, it's what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
Eventually, it's gonna happen. So he is. You can argue
he's one of the best Reds closers of all time.
Well second Red's history, fifty of them. So yeah, he
was top five of the National League and saves a
few times as well, Actually more than a few, I
don't know. Yeah, you gotta give that guy a strong consideration.

(27:39):
An All Star in two thousand and nine and that
year he had the forty saves. He was a closer
on a National League Central Division championship Reds team in
twenty ten, So Francisco Francisco Cordero certainly deserves strong consideration.
While you do your voting, out there. Who's somebody else
that kind of stands out to you on this list
that you think maybe.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
They should deserve a longer look. Well, the Roland one
is tough for me just because it was he was
here such a short amount of time. But he fits
the criteria he does of the Reds Hall of Fame
and Museum, and he was You can break down the
numbers all you want, the accolades and the gold gloves

(28:22):
he was. If someone said, all who was the heart
and soul of that team, the one that went through
the playoffs in twenty ten, twelve, all that.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
Group, it's Roland.

Speaker 2 (28:33):
When he came in here, he changed the culture. Well,
I mean, so it goes a lot more than the
stats with him, But I don't know if the voting
will take that into account. So he's an interesting case
for me.

Speaker 1 (28:45):
You'd be a perfect person to ask, because you know,
you look at those teams. They were good teams you
just look at look at the Rosters, but they couldn't
get over the hump until Scott Rowland got there. So
I ask you this, do you do you genuinely believe
the Reds would have ever got over the hump and
won those two division titles in twenty ten and twenty twelve.
If Scott Roland didn't come over.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
It's hard for me to say that it wouldn't have happened.
In twenty twelve. They had five good starters that made
every start outside of a doubleheader, which someone had to
come up and make that one start, and they were good.
They were good. That was a really good rotation. So
I can't say, you know that they wouldn't have But man,

(29:29):
did he really he was the He was the exclamation point.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
He was kind of the final piece of the puzzle. Yeah,
I mean, that's it's tough to say. I when you
look at a guy and his value to a particular team,
if you guys were more valuable to their team than
what Scott Roland meant to those Red.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
Seas and he's I mean, he's he's going down as
a cardinal, right, So that's where I think people were
probably cringing out there. That's probably the cringe. I'll say it.
That's probably the cri for rolling. He's known as a cardinal. Okay,
he played in the Reds on the back end, albeit
successfully on the back end of his career and winning
as a cardinal you know, as a as a Reds fan,

(30:13):
can you stomach putting a player in the Reds Hall
of Fame?

Speaker 1 (30:17):
That is in the Cardinals Hall of Fame and that
is in the Major League Baseball lines the Elephant.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
That's tough.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
That's tough. Phone lines open five, one, three, seven, four nine,
the Big One. If you want to chat with us.
We got a little time to take your calls when
we come back and wrap up the show next on
the Reds Radio Network. Welcome back in to the Budwiser
Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF Wrapping things up
here at that MGM sportsbook inside Tom's watch Bar down

(30:47):
here at the Banks. Twenty twenty six single game tickets
are on sale now and for a limited time, you
can purchase your tickets with no fees euro fees. Pick
your games you want to come to buy your tickets now,
don't pay any fees. Whatever it says the price of
the ticket, that's what it is. For tickets and more information,
visit Reds dot com slash tickets. Hurry This no fees

(31:08):
offer ends soon, so get on it at reds dot com.
Big thanks to Nick Crawl for joining us today on
the hot stove. He talked a little bit about Ellie,
and again the organization seems very reluctant to move him
off shortstop. I will say this about that, if he
continues to make errors at the rate that he has
the last two seasons, you gotta consider it. And even

(31:32):
if it, if it gets to a point where he's
making X number of errors by June first, then you
kind of tell him you put the ball in his court. Hey, look,
we're gonna give you another chance to play short but
this is it. You've got to prove that you're better
if you If we don't see the progress by this date,
then then you have it out there. Then you say,

(31:53):
all right, now we're gonna start exploring another spot for you.
Because I'm still convinced and until I'm proven otherwise, that
he would make an elite center fielder ague in Major
League Baseball.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
Well, that's been my point for years. I mean I've
been on record for several years. This is before all
the airs happened that in center field. And this is
just my opinion for someone that watches thousands of baseball games.
For it seems like a thousand years now and probably
a thousand years for the people that are listening. He

(32:26):
can be a good shortstop. I believe he can be a.

Speaker 1 (32:29):
Great center fielder.

Speaker 2 (32:30):
He can be serviceable at shortstop, make great plays, and
be a difference maker when he's turn into his arm
as a difference maker. But he can be a difference
maker in centerfield, like like completely take over the game
like difference makers. So where I was going with that,
he's going to be a good for where you put him,
he will be better. And he talked about hurt way

(32:54):
more than we let on. He would not go in
the training room, he would not tell people that he
was hurt. He didn't want to discuss it. And there
are certain things that we know behind the scenes that
we don't talk about either. He had a partially torn
quad that we didn't talk about. That's tough to play through.
That's tough to play shortstop when you're especially when you're
starting and stopping. So I'm gonna give him a little

(33:17):
break on that. But I do think they need to
keep him healthy and they need to keep him fresh.
I think that if he's going to be to shortstop,
you've got to find a way to keep him fresh.

Speaker 1 (33:27):
Absolutely, And I'm not trying to say that he can't
be a good major league shortstop. I want to believe
that he can because I think he can be a
game changer short But he's got to prove that he
can clean up the air. I mean some of the
airs he made down the stretch for costly airs.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
Well, there were routine plays. That's that's the frustrating part.
He'll make those spectacular play, but then the routine ones
get away from him. And I didn't play the game
at that level, but those that did say that that's
a lapse in concentration when that happens. It's not a
physical thing with him, although I will say he is
the king bad bounce. He got some bad bounces. You

(34:02):
can talk about all you want. There are bad bounces
that happen that stadium, across the street. It happens all
the time, some stadiums more than others. So I'm willing
to give a pass on all that. He's still a
young player, but I think it affected his entire game.
Last year, we saw his production at the plate go down.
If that continues, then it is a problem.

Speaker 1 (34:22):
Albe Martine moved to the outfield and the bat came
around like that. So I'm just.

Speaker 2 (34:27):
Saying, now, those guys are buds too.

Speaker 1 (34:28):
If you need a way to sell them. Some of
the greatest players that have ever played the game were centerfielders,
so I don't know. That's all the time we have
for you today. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed
it big. Thanks again to Nick Crawl for stopping by,
for Jim Day, for Davity arm Brewster, and our studio
producer Joe Waddell. I'm Tommy throw thanks for listening. One
more time. Official twenty twenty six Reds Hall of Fame

(34:49):
Induction fan votes going on right now, presented by p NC,
now open exclusively online castor velt vote help decide which
Cincinnati's modern day greats will be enshrine into the Reds
Hall of Fame. Vote down, Reds Museum dot org. Goodnight,