The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
Why Reds need Candelario more than you think
Welcome to Wittenmyer & Williams – a point/ counterpoint column from Enquirer Reds reporter Gordon Wittenmyer and columnist Jason Williams. Today, they discuss the logjam of infielders and how newly acquired veteran Jeimer Candelario fits in.
Williams: Man, I really like what the Reds have done so far this offseason. The Jeimer Candelario signing is exactly the type of veteran hitter this young lineup needs. You might want to start planning your schedule around working in October next year.
Wittenmyer: Slow down, fan boy. Don’t start looking for playoff tickets yet. Landing Candelario and a couple veteran pitchers is a nice start. But the story of this offseason – and maybe for next October – will be whatever they do next. These guys still need a frontline starting pitcher.
Williams: Did I say they were done? No, I didn’t. The most important acquisition of this offseason is yet to come – a starting pitcher. The Reds say they’re trying to win. And fans should be encouraged that the front office is acting the part. The Reds were in on Sonny Gray. It’s unfortunate they didn’t get him. He would’ve been perfect here. But it shows the Reds are serious about trying to put together a winner – and that’s not something you could’ve said about this organization the last few years.
Wittenmyer: That still doesn’t mean I should be cancelling my trip to Fiji in October just yet. You mentioned Sonny Gray. By coming in second on him, now they’ve gotta beat him in the division because he went to St. Louis. And the Cubs claim they were in on Shohei. They haven’t even started to spend. As much as I like the two pitchers and Candelario, the road to the top of the NL Central is going to be tougher.
Williams: It isn’t going to be any tougher than coming off 100 losses. The Reds have already spent $87 million, and they’re not done yet. With Candelario, they’ve got their Opening Day lineup in place. They don’t have to do anything else on the hitting side.
Wittenmyer: You’re right about that. That’s why I like the Candelario move so much. He’s a switch hitter who can play three infield positions. Everybody thinks these guys had too many infielders and not enough positions for them. But that was only the case if you’re banking on four guys who debuted after the sixth week of the season as established everyday big leaguers. Not even the Reds saw it that way.
Williams: Look at Noelvi Marte, for instance. He might be a Rookie of the Year favorite in 2024. But he just suffered a six-week hamstring injury in winter ball. What if that happens in August and they’re in the race? Where’s your depth?
Wittenmyer: Exactly. That’s what makes the Candelario
move so good. Plus it pushes Spencer Steers into the outfield, where they needed another righthanded bat. So it’s a two-for-one move that way. And what idiot is going to count on four guys who debuted in 2023 to all succeed start to finish in 2024. That just doesn’t happen in the real world.
Williams: The Reds obviously don’t even believe that. Go back to what Nick Krall said at the beginning of the offseason. He didn’t rule out any of those four guys – Marte, Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain and Christian Encarnacion-Strand – starting the season in the minors: “That’s going to be an option for some folks,” Krall said.
Wittenmyer: They all have something to prove, no matter how good they looked – De La Cruz maybe more than any of them.
Williams: Some fans need to come to grips with the reality that De La Cruz could start 2024 in the minors. It’s not speculation. It’s not a hot take. It’s not criticism. It’s the big leagues. This is a performancebased business. And De La Cruz didn’t do enough after his first five or six weeks in the majors to prove anything. He was statically one of the worst hitters in the league in the second half of the season with a ton of strikeouts.
Wittenmyer:
And he knows it. That’s why he’s been working specifically on the strike zone this winter. He said at Redsfest that he doesn’t expect anything to be handed to him in the spring.
Williams: Yeah, then how does your depth start to look?
Wittenmyer: Right. And some people think that trading Jonathan India is a good idea. Until they got Candelario, India was the only projected infielder in the mix who was not a rookie last season.
Williams: That brings us back to how they’re going to get the pitcher they need.
Wittenmyer: Great point. My understanding is the Reds are looking hard at the trade market, guys like Shane Bieber in Cleveland and Dylan Cease with the White Sox. And the Reds are linked to Tampa Bay’s Tyler Glasnow.
Williams: It’s going to take various levels of prospects and organizational pain to get a deal done for any of those guys.
Wittenmyer: If the trade deadline in August wasn’t the time to do it, the time is certainly now. And dammit, JDub, they call them prospects for a reason.