John Clay’s Sidelines

You can credit Edgar Sosa’s 26-foot bomb that gave Louisville its 7-471 win over Kentucky on Sunday. You can harp on the ‘Ville’s surprisingly accurate 55 percent shooting from three-point land – previous season-best was 47.8 versus Ohio University. You can blame the Billy Gillispie technical foul that squelched his own team’s momentum. You can cite a dozen reasons for the Cats loss at Freedom Hall.

But it really boils down to one.

The same one.

Turnovers.

Same old story, same old song and dance. Broken record, yes, but it’s also true that until Kentucky cuts down on its viral tendency to turn the ball over,  this ’08-09 edition will never reach its full potential, and Sunday presented a definite example as to why, or why not.

Kentucky shot 46.9 percent. Louisville shot 46.8 percent. Kentucky made 23 field goals. Louisville made 22 field goals. Kentucky made 19 of 22 free throws. Louisville made 19 of 23 free throws. Those numbers seem to suggest that the difference in the game was the fact the Cards made 11 of 20 three-pointers, while Kentucky was just six of 16 from beyond the stripe. And there is no doubting the significance of that.

But here’s the thing. Coming in, a reasonable Kentucky concern was rebounding. Talking to Mike Pratt before the game, the UK radio analyst expressed a fear that the Cats might be bludgeoned on the boards. A legitimate fear. Louisville had outrebounded its last eight opponents. The better teams had battered the Cats on the boards. UK lost the boards by 14 to North Carolina, by 19 to Kansas State, by 13 to West Virginia, even by 7 to Indiana.

But the Cats didn’t lose the boards Sunday. They actually whipped Louisville 32-22 on the glass. Even better, the Cats pulled down twice as many offensive rebounds (14-7) as did the host Cardinals. Louisville had 15 defensive rebounds, which means there were 29 available rebounds on the U of L end of the floor UK’s offensive end. Amazingly, Kentucky got nearly 50 percent of those boards.

Continue reading ‘UK’s turnover virus’

College basketball on TV for Friday, Nov. 28:

Georgia had 11 offensive plays of 20+ yards in the Bulldogs’ 42-38 win over Kentucky.

Four of those came in the fourth quarter:

Just before the midnight deadline, Reds do ink top draft pick Yonder Alonso.

Here's official release:

Update: UK says Rusin will return.

 
Mike Fields has an update on Robbie Ross.

Midnight tonight is the deadline for baseball players taken in the June MLB draft to either sign or go back into next year's draft, which has quite an effect on the UK baseball team for 2009.

Exchanged e-mails with baseball contact Brent Ingram over at the UK sports information office.

He reports the following:

• Drafted players who have signed and not coming back: Sawyer Carroll, Collin Cowgill, Tyler Howe, Scott Green, Ryan Wilkes, Andrew Albers.

• Pitcher Greg Dombrowski has signed a free-agent contract with the Reds.

• Pitcher Chris Rusin was drafted and will be negotiating until the deadline. As Brent says, "it would be huge to get him back"

• UK has lost recruits Seth Lintz, Corban Joseph, Blake Brewer.

• Recruit Daniel Webb will instead go to junior college.

• Lexington Christian pitcher Robbie Ross, a UK signee, is in Texas getting his physical and negotiating. He was a second-round pick of the Rangers.

Meanwhile, the Reds are still said to be far from signing first-round pick Yonder Alfonso, first baseman from Miami. Here's Paul Daugherty's take.

Ken Griffey, Jr., stroked over 600 home runs.

He is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Adam "Big Donkey" Dunn has hit 40-or-more home runs each of the past four seasons.

He is tied for the Major-League lead with 32 this year.

 The Reds have traded both in the past two weeks – Griffey on July 31; Dunn on Monday.

Here’s what the Reds received:

• Nick Masset, a 26-year-old right-hand pitcher who has thrown all of 100 innings in the Major Leagues.

• Danny Richar, a 25-year-old infielder who has played in all of 56 Major League games.

• Dallas Buck, a 23-year-old right-hand pitcher who is coming off Tommy John surgery.

• Two players to be named later from the Diamondbacks.

Those aren’t exactly blue-chip prospects the Reds have garnered for their corner outfielders. Masset has looked decent enough in his early outings with the Reds. And Buck is considered a promising prospect, if he remains healthy. He's only Class A ball. And if the Reds had let Dunn walk at the end of the year, they would have received two supplementary first-round draft picks.

Evidently, GM Walt Jocketty felt he had to act now. He didn’t want to pick up Griffey’s option for next season. He didn’t want to pick up Dunn’s option for next season. Griffey is out of gas, long past his prime. Dunn has never played with any kind of gas, not on the bases or in the outfield. He hits long home runs. And he walks. His on-base percentage is .373 this year, but his batting average just .233. And, as Paul Daugherty points out, Dunn is no leader.

But the Reds aren’t exactly leaders, either. They way they’ve been doing it these past few years has been the wrong way. Eight straight losing seasons, which will be the tally after this campaign — Jack McKeon was the last winning Reds manager — doesn’t lie. You don’t neglect the farm system, hire five managers in six years, hire three general managers in four years and expect to be a contender.

There is something to be said for stability.

So what’s the plan now? Owner Bob Castellini was downright laughable in telling the Cincinnati Enquirer the Reds were starting over, but could "absolutely" win next year.

There's your problem right there.

It was time for both parties to move on. Ken Griffey, Jr. was tired of the Reds. The Reds were tired of Ken Griffey, Jr. It might be OK to stand and watch your mighty drives fly out of the ballpark when you are crushing many mighty drives. It might be OK to lope down to first base on ground balls when you are crushing many mighty drives. It might be OK to give up on catchable fly balls, and then make a classless gesture at a critic, if your team is winning. But the Reds aren’t winning. They never have with Junior.

Here’s the problem with the Reds. It’s not that they traded Junior. They traded him too late. He isn’t just past his prime. He’s way past his prime. And to stay viable, teams like Cincinnati, franchises that won’t indulge in bidding wars, must trade star players before they start to slide, when they’re marketability is at its peak.

That’s what Minnesota has done. The Twins traded Johan Santana when they could still get something for the high-value pitcher. And Minnesota is right on the heels of Griffey’s new team, the Chicago White Sox, in the AL Central. Look at Oakland. Billy Beane has traded pitchers Dan Haren, Rich Harden and Jason Joe Blanton since the end of last season. The A’s are fading this year. But by amassing a wealth of good young players, Beane has put Oakland in position to contend for the next several seasons.

Truth be told, the Reds got little or nothing for Junior. Truth be told, they waited too long.

Truth be told, they’re making the same mistake with Adam Dunn. Had the Reds been pro-active, instead of reactive, they might have received something of value for the Big Donkey a year or so ago. Now, it’s too late. Teams know they can sign Dunn in the off-season, possibly for a reduced rate. The Reds will get next-to-nothing in return.

Links:

• Cincinnnati Enquirer gives Junior a farewell.

• Paul Daugherty saysGriffey in Cincinnati just didn’t work out.

• Reds look to the future.

• White Sox making a run for the ring.

• Mike Downey says he’s stoked over the deal.

• Jay Marriotti says Griffey will help, but Sox still flawed.

• The Griffey problem, according to Baseball Prospectus.

Are the Reds sending Junior packing?

That’s what Fox News is reporting, saying that Cincinnati has a deal set to send Ken Griffey, Jr. to the Chicago White Sox, pending Griffey’s approval.

The Sporting News is chiming in, as well.

Paul Daugherty talks about it on his blog here.

Don’t know what the Reds are getting in return, but if the report is true, I like the deal. Junior’s time in his hometown has come and gone. Cincinnati is not going to pick up his option for next year, nor should it. Griffey is hitting below .250 this year, with reduced power. He’s on the downhill slide, and seems to have lost his spark.

Plus, the recent ugliness between Junior and broadcaster Jeff Brantley hasn’t helped. After hitting a home run last weekend, Griffey made the finger-across-the-throat gesture at Brantley in the booth. Seems Junior thought Brantley made a comment that Griffey was pouting about his option not being picked up. Brantley says he only criticized Griffey’s lack of defense on a particular play.

Update: Chicago Tribune confirms trade and says Junior will play center.

Marty Brennaman is not shy. He says what he thinks. That’s one reason we love the Reds’ Hall of Fame broadcaster. It’s one reason Chicago Cubs fans are not all that fond of him, as Teddy Greenstein reports in the Chicago Tribune.

Cincinnati’s last trip to Wrigley Field, when Chicago supporters threw a dozen baseballs on to the field during the game, the Hall of Famer referred to Cubs’ fans as “the most obnoxious fans in baseball.”

Thom Brennaman, Marty’s son and sometimes broadcast partner, told Greenstein that his father has received e-mail that is “disgraceful, absolutely brutal.”

Wrote Teddy, “So in their attempt to protest being called “obnoxious,” some Cubs fans proved they are just that. Or even worse.”

“My dad is an emotional, passionate guy, and that’s one of the many reasons I love him,” Thom told the Tribune. “The Reds were getting pounded, and all of a sudden some fans did some stuff he thought was bogus, and I agree with him 100 percent that throwing balls on the field was bogus.”

Go get ‘em Marty.

Look at the number of quality starts and run support for starting pitchers heading into this weekend's series with Boston Red Sox:

Starter            QS-NQS   Record    Team     Reds runs Per Start
Arroyo              6-9            4-5          7-8            80        5.3
Bailey              1-1            0-2          0-2             2         1.0
Belisle             1-5            1-4          1-5            30         5.0
Cueto               7-7            5-6          6-8            54        3.9
Fogg                0-4            1-2          2-2            26        6.5
Harang             9-5            2-9          5-9            42        3.0
Volquez          10-3            9-2         11-2           72        5.5

The hard-luck pitcher is obviously Harang, who is 9-5 in quality starts but has just a 2-9 record. He's only getting three runs per start. But look at Volquez. The rookie has 10 quality starts in 13 total starts. The Reds are 11-2 in the 13 games he's started. His run support is excellent at 5.5, but Arroyo (5.3) and Belisle (5.0) have also received excellent run support without anywhere near the same success. Cueto has been inconsistent, but he's a rookie. I'd let Bailey and Cueto both pitch through their mistakes at this level. Neither one has anything left to prove back in the minors. The hard knocks taken now is education for the future. And this could be the best starting five the Reds have thrown on the mound in quite awhile.