Hairston plays shortstop? I always thought of him as a 2B/LF

I was thinking the same. The Reds played him at short 34 games last year while he had only 6 (17 innings) in his career prior to that.

Not a typical move for a 32-year-old but the D-Backs got away with doing this with Womack for a couple years and lord knows his bat will play better at SS. I have no idea how he is defensively but I guess if you have a good defensive caddy around it's worth a shot.

Earlier tonight, 3B Jason Giambi signed with Oakland.

About the only nice thing you can say about Hairston at SS is that he's slighly less terrible than Keppinger.

The b!+ch of it is, it's possible that Hairston is the best defensive CF on their 40 man roster right now. So if the Reds really wanted to see how he fared as an everyday player, they have a hole in their lineup that he could better fill.

Earlier tonight, 3B Jason Giambi signed with Oakland.

While Cleveland inked innings-eater Carl Pavano.

I thought on of the Alex Gonzalezes was the SS and Hairston was LF. Who's LF now? Norris Hopper?

While Cleveland inked innings-eater Carl Pavano.

Only because Houston outbid them for perennial workhorse Mike Hampton...

Dickerson/Hopper platoon, I believe.

So Hairston can play short, yet Encarnacion can't go to left field? I boggles the uh, mind.

In a VERY small sample, Hairston rated out as -16.8/150 at shortstop per UZR last season.

I thought on of the Alex Gonzalezes was the SS and Hairston was LF.

The Rotoworld blurb suggested Hairston will be the SS until Gonzalez is healthy. What injury is he recovering from?

Hopefully Hariston will play CF and the Willy Taveras contract was just a bad dream. Us Reds fans can only hope.

You know your '09 season is looking rough if you're dreaming of Jerry Hariston playing 140 games in CF.

I thought on of the Alex Gonzalezes was the SS and Hairston was LF. Who's LF now? Norris Hopper?

Wait a minute. I just flew in from 2005. Don't the Reds have a glut of outfielders that they need to find PT for?

you stuck with willy the gritty

(is it ever gonna be ok to call guys who are not purely european caucasian "gritty")

willy will hit lots of bunt singles and beat out a whole lot of IF hits. brennaman will LOVE him. plus which he just will NOT walk. he does strike out a lot but that's ok because it is almost always swinging

and he runs mighty fast.

he's ok in center. and he got a very strong arm and he LOVES to try to throw out runners at the plate because cut off men are for sissies

What about sac flies?

willy will hit lots of bunt singles and beat out a whole lot of IF hits. brennaman will LOVE him. plus which he just will NOT walk. he does strike out a lot but that's ok because it is almost always swinging

OH marty. I grew up listening to him and Nuxhall, but man Marty (and Tom, and Brantley), need to shut their traps.

It's bad enough the Reds have been in desperate need of a right handed hitter for 423 straight off seasons, and Jockety's first year he brings in Willy to be the "Right handed OF". It's also bad enough the Reds will have a CF that will play 150 games at a line of .295/.320/.330 and play average D in center. But the worse part will be listening to the Brennamans and Brantley praise him all d*mn year for laying down bunt singles and being a "good" lead off hitter because he has speed. If the Reds bat Willy-Phillips 1-2, Votto could have a .900 OPS in the 3rd spot and have 49 RBIs on 30 HR. Of course if that happens, Marty will blame Votto for not being clutch, so the Reds will just run him out of town and replace him with Casey Kotchman.

I can't wait till opening day in Cincinnati.

In Texas, Hairston was close to the worst player I've ever seen on a ML roster. I suppose he is proof that getting off PEDs will rejuvenate your career.

Wait a minute. I just flew in from 2005. Don't the Reds have a glut of outfielders that they need to find PT for?

The good old days of Kearns, Dunn, Jose Guillen, Willy Mo Pena, Griffey, Freel, Hamilton.

Somehow from 05 to 08 the reds completely screwed up that team, if only they had some pitching. Oh that's right, they gave 40+ mil to Eric Milton so he could give up 73 HR in 66 starts in Cincinnati.

The good old days of Kearns, Dunn, Jose Guillen, Willy Mo Pena, Griffey, Freel, Hamilton.

At least they got something valuable for Hamilton...

And something of Value for Guillen (Harang).

And something of decent value for Pena (Arroyo).

In Texas, Hairston was close to the worst player I've ever seen on a ML roster. I suppose he is proof that getting off PEDs will rejuvenate your career.

Jerry's renaissance was partly attributed to the fact that he wasn't playing with a rib cage injury for the first time in years. I don't know how much I buy it but it was amazing to see him hit like he did last year, if only briefly. As a SS, he's only passable as a stopgap. They really need Gonzalez to come back from his knee injury (he was out all of last year with it) and hit acceptably like he did in '07.

Daryl Thompson (Kearns) might be valuable, too. Certainly more than Kearns these days, anyway.

The Rotoworld blurb suggested Hairston will be the SS until Gonzalez is healthy. What injury is he recovering from?

Is sucking now an injury?

"Dickerson/Hopper platoon, I believe."

"We blew it."

"The Rotoworld blurb suggested Hairston will be the SS until Gonzalez is healthy. What injury is he recovering from?"

Compression fracture in the left knee. Which, last I heard, wasn't healing right.

At least they got something valuable for Hamilton...

And something of Value for Guillen (Harang).

And something of decent value for Pena (Arroyo).

So now they may have decent enough pitching (assuming Harang returns to form and Arroyo does ok) but their offense will be crap. They didn't really screw up the outfield glut much, they converted it into the core of a solid pitching staff, but they're proving just as incapable of building a good team around pitching as they did around offense.

Oh that's right, they gave 40+ mil to Eric Milton so he could give up 73 HR in 66 starts in Cincinnati.

Or 3/$25 but who's counting?

And something of decent value for Pena (Arroyo).

Decent? 3 years, 650 IP, 114 ERA+ is your threshhold for decent? The Yanks just paid Burnett 5/$80 and he doesn't have that track record.

That trade has worked out to be one of the biggest ripoffs in recent memory but for some reason people think Arroyo has been Adam Eaton or something the last 3 years.

Hairston had a nice year for the Reds. Seems like a guy who makes things work through effort, rather than talent taken for granted.

In Texas, Hairston was close to the worst player I've ever seen on a ML roster. I suppose he is proof that getting off PEDs will rejuvenate your career.

Who's ever had a good year in Arlington?

I suggested last week that the Reds try to sign Orlando Hudson to a two-year deal and then play Brandon Phillips at short. I think Hairston could be a good utility guy, but playing him at SS will not work out IMO. I also thought that the Reds should have tried to outbid Baltimore for Izturis and taken a shot at Furcal at 3/39 or so. It is possible none of these options were realistic, of course, but I do feel like the team should have at least been talking about them.

I posted a long Taveras comment a few days ago. I can see why people are making fun of it, but given the reality of the Reds' situation, I don't think it is that bad a move.

Who's ever had a good year in Arlington?

Marlon Byrd, Mark DeRosa, David Delluci, and of course, Gary Matthews Jr. The Rangers actually tend to get a lot out of journeyman utility guys.