Len & Bob's baseball blog

The Reds have been rebuilding for a few years without much success. I think they've got a few areas they need to address. Number one, they changed ballparks. They had a ballclub that looked like they were going to try and build around speed and Adam Dunn's power, but now it looks like they are trying to go straight power with Willy Mo Pena, Austin Kearns back, and a lot of guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark. I think they are a team in transition as for what kind of team they want in their new stadium.

The Cubs have to be careful as the Reds look at new players. It's a dangerous proposition because you get guys up from the minor leagues or have the chance to play regularly for the first time in their careers, and they will try to take every advantage of that opportunity. They have some guys who are very hungry who want to show what they can do. From a team perspective, they are a definitely a ballclub that's been struggling all year long and those are the type of teams that you have to go in and keep them down.

The Great American Ballpark is a huge improvement over Riverfront Stadium with the astroturf and the cookie-cutter 70's ballpark that seemed to flourish for awhile. This ballpark has a lot of character, although pitchers cannot enjoy pitching there. I'm not sure how you build a pitching staff that's suited to pitch in that park. The infield grass is very fast, the outfield fences are very short, and it seems that the wind blows out all the time. Everything about the ballpark seems to work against the pitchers. Let's hope the Cubs hitters can make them pay.

Bob