Record level bad - not an aberration - a reality. You posted above, accurately, it is a AA level line-up. Their only hope hope now it that they correctly identified the players who can develop into legit big league players within the metrics they have chosen to operate. When one considers the wannabes and has-beens they signed from other orgs, it is hard to believe they do
Which is and has been my point, for years, despite Z's dumb drive-by assertions.
Choose a method of operation as an org. Solely analytics driven, old school, or something in between - whatever. Totally commit to it from the top down through the least players in the org. Get the players for it. Implement it. See what happens.
That means not implementing it fully before you have enough players who can execute it. Which is what this org did. The tail should not wag the dog. That never works.
Had they held on, retained key guys, and brought in a few others that kept the existing method going at the 40 man roster level while they built the farm in the new method - the transition would have been much smoother. Don't just jettison the guys with contracts in a salary dump who have performed at a high enough level in the previous season to win more games than they lost whole bringing in a bunch of wannabes and has-beens from other orgs to keep the payroll down when your farm has not developed enough new method guys. The org loses the winning mentality in that process, which drives the fan base away. Which is part of analytics, FWIW, along with wins per dollar spent on individual player compensation.
They did not do this or did it very poorly and we all know it who follow Reds baseball. This ownership does not have deep enough pockets and competency to get it done IMO.
