'Cincinnati Takes On A Whole New Look for 2010'

Cinncinnati Post - Monday, January 17th, 2010

CINCINNATI - There's been some rough times in Cincinnati over the
past few years, but the rebuilding continues. With the increased amount
of complaints of not putting a competitive team on the field, Cincinnati
broke open their wallet this winter signing a number of veteran free
agents to the team. With a projected payroll of $57 million next year,
will the gamble pay off? Already, harsh criticism is being laid at
management's feet for what seems like a return to the days of
overspending earlier in the decade. We went to Cincinnati's financial
director Jonathon Smith for comment.

"Well, obviously we can't go into the full details of the contracts
we had signed this offseason, but we all agree this was a move
that had to be made," said Smith. "I mean, look at the numbers
last year. We hit an abysmal .235 as a team but also managed a
suprising 4.18 team ERA. Talking with Wally, our farm director, last
year saw our young minor league pitching talent take another large
step up. On the other hand, we're a little light on the offensive cogs
in the minors. If we wanted to give our young pitchers run support this
year, we had to make some moves. And there was a nice crop (of
free agents) this year. I think we did very well."

Cincinnati's most intriguing moves this winter included a trade for
young center fielder Justin Upton and the acquisition of free agents
Ichiro Suzuki, Torii Hunter, Mike Lowell, Eric Hinske, and Kenji Johjima.

"Wow!" beamed team captain Jhonny Peralta. "I'm kinda speechless
still. Having the likes of Ichiro and Mikey (Lowell) to play with and
learn from? I think I'm still picking my jaw up off the floor. I think
the only thing that would make it any better would be to have my
contract renewed."

When asked, Smith stated that renewing Peralta's contract was next
on the team's list of priorities. "Johnny has been a real trooper and
a leader, especially with all the change we've had over the last few
years. We know he deserves a competitive contract, and we now
we can make room in our budget for it. We've just been tied up
with all the other contract signings this winter. We hope to get Jhonny
taken care of here in the next few days."

Strangely, Justin Upton - 22 - seems like an oddity in the ocean of
veterans. So what of the youth movement that was suppose to crash
through Cincinnati like a storm? "Well, we really put a premium on
young pitching talent," stated farm director Wally Brock.

"You're seeing the second signs of that youth movement in our rotation.
Guys like Morillo, Perkins, Raab, and Hall have really held the pitching
core together while our young guns Thompson, Gonzalez, and Wood
are tearing it up in AAA. As for the offense, we have some exciting guys
in the minors now, and we're looking to make a big splash during the
coming minor league draft. There's a lot of pitching talent out there
for this year's draft, so we're hoping that the better offensive players
get passed over a bit. Oh, and we wanted to make an extra special
show of effort to get talent into Cincinnati. I think picking up young
catcher Armehago should show the level of commitment we have
to bringing the team back to contention."

While there are naysayers, there's already plenty of talk by the fan
base that they're looking forward to this year. "Wow, Ichiro in Cinci'!"
exclaimed fan Tom Sizer. "He's like... an icon! I'm really looking
forward to getting to the park more this year."

Young fan Sheila Loo was also looking forward to seeing the team,
particularly new third baseman Mike Lowell. "How cool is that? I saw
him play when momma and I used to live in Chicago. He's fantastic!
I hope momma takes me to more games this year."

With fan favorites like Ichiro and Lowell helping to bring folks to the
park, perhaps the gamble will pay off. Money issues aside, it appears
that Cincinnati will be better than they were last year, and to most
of the fans here, that's what really matters.

-----

Bonus: Projected line-up and rotation for 2010 by staff writer Karl Rainer

1.) Ichiro Suzuki, RF
2.) Ryan Freel, 2B
3.) Mike Lowell, 3B
4.) Eric Hinske, 1B
5.) Torii Hunter, LF
6.) Justin Upton, CF
7.) Jhonny Peralta, SS
8.) Kenji Johjima, C

Starter 1: Juan Morillo, RHP
Starter 2: Vince Perkins, RHP
Starter 3: Kellen Raab, LHP
Starter 4: Josh Hall, RHP
Starter 5: Mike O'Connor, LHP

great article! Free agency, trades, minor league report, draft preview, opening day lineups... what else is there?

wow... want to do a D-Rays preview?

Or a Cleveland preview?

Tampa and Cleveland : I'll take a look at your teams and moves
and see what I can come up with.

-Cinci'