The Cincinnati Reds finished the season with a 68-94 record, “earning” them the 2nd overall selection in the 2017 draft. Let’s take a look at the 2016 season at the management level, hitters, and pitchers.
Management
2016 was Bryan Price‘s 3rd year as manager of the Reds. He’s amassed a 208-278 record in that time, yet he was rewarded with a one year contract with an option for 2018 before the end of the season as his contract was up this offseason. Price has had an often tumultuous relationship with the Cincinnati media and national media after he was promoted from pitching coach to the manager’s role in 2014. Many had speculated that the Reds may pursue another option in the offseason, like Bud Black or another more “experienced” manager.
President of Baseball Operations Walt Jocketty has been with the club since 2008, working as the General Manager from 2010 until 2015 before moving into his current role. He had previously been the St. Louis Cardinals general manager from 1994 to 2007. When he was bumped up in title, the team hired Dick Williams as the general manager. No, not the Hall of Fame manager – this Dick Williams is a mid-40s Cincinnati native who happens to be the son and nephew of two minority owners of the team, which has led to plenty of fan dismay over his decisions, believing he is maliciously influenced by the ownership.
Williams’ first draft this June was a big one as the Reds had the biggest draft budget of any team in the draft with the #2 overall selection. Some were a bit upset that the team went with the high-floor guy in Nick Senzel from Tennessee with the #2 overall selection rather than a guy with a bigger upside. Then they turned that notion right on its heals by going after arguably the best athlete in the entire draft in Taylor Trammell and grabbing one of the biggest upside, if most raw, high school arms in the draft in Nick Hanson. The team also found a steal in outfielder Daniel Sweet, who they selected in the 29th round. Senzel had a tremendous start to his pro career, but for a guy with a high floor, he reached the full-season low-A Dayton team in the Midwest League and didn’t move from there.
One of the biggest things the Reds did in a positive light was moving Aroldis Chapman before the season. It is always difficult to know when to make the move on a player accused of domestic violence, and I believe the Rockies and Braves management would tell you that attempting to hold onto the player once he’s been suspended is a road to nowhere good. The Reds, instead, chose to move Aroldis before the season to the New York Yankees. Now, the Yankees received more for Chapman at the trade deadline than the Reds did when they moved him, but one thing is clear – the Reds received incredible praise across the baseball industry for being so definitive in their stance with Chapman, even knowing they were getting less at the time than they could in return for him by letting him return and show himself again.
Next: Hitters