Doug Gray at Reds Minor Leagues did a breakdown of how Homer Bailey's groin injury may have impacted him last year. He compared Bailey's innings pitched before his groin injury on June 26th and after he returned from the DL, versus the approximately nineteen innings he pitched while injured. The difference is staggering and should give Reds fans great cause for optimism in 2008:

Non-injured innings pitched (93.1): 2.89 ERA and 1.17 WHIP
Injured innings pitched (19.3): 10.24 ERA and 2.24 WHIP

This year is Davey Concepcion's fifteenth, and final, year for election by the BBWAA to the Hall of Fame. Concepcion was a nine-time All-Star and won five Gold Gloves. He appeared in the World Series four times as part of the Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s. A strong argument can be made that he was the best shortstop in baseball during the 1970s.

In light of the fact that Concepcion has never received more than 16.9% of the votes (75% is needed to make Cooperstown), it's highly unlikely he'll be voted in this year. But does he deserve to be? Offensively, Davey posted a line of .267/.322/.357 with an OPS+ of 88. He also stole 321 bases, with a success rate of just under 75%. Per Baseball Reference, Davey top ten offensive comps are:

1. Bobby Wallace .268/.332/.358 OPS+ 105
2. Tony Fernandez .288/347.399 OPS+ 101
3. Omar Vizquel .274/.340/.357 OPS+ 84
4. Royce Clayton .258/.312 /.367 OPS+ 77
5. Bert Campaneris .259/.311/.342 OPS+ 89
6. Frank White .255/.293/.383 OPS+ 85
7. Luis Aparicio .262/.311/.343 OPS+ 82
8. Pee Wee Reese .269/.366/.377 OPS+ 99
9. Tony Taylor .261/.321/.352 OPS+ 88
10. Red Schoendienst .289/.337.387 OPS+ 93

Wallace, Aparicio, Reese, and Schoendienst are Hall of Famers. Of the four, the only player that Concepcion was better than offensively was Aparicio. However, Aparicio was probably better defensively (he at least won more Gold Gloves).

Concepcion was a great player, and a key part of the Big Red Machine teams of the 70s. He's always been one of my favorite Reds players. Although an argument can be made that Concepcion is Hall of Fame worthy, I think he falls just a bit short.

I thought I otter give a welcome to some of the new Reds for 2008:

• Dusty Baker. As much as I liked Pete Mackanin, it's hard to fault Bob Castenilli for hiring Dusty Baker. Dusty Baker has certainly had some success as a manager. (Btw, I love it that he has his own website, even if it's sorely in need of an update.) Although he has a reputation for overworking young pitchers, his reputation has probably been a bit overstated. Let's hope that's the case as he's being entrusted with some talented young pitchers in Homer Bailey and Edinson Volquez, with Johnny Cueto and others in the pipeline. We'll trusty in Dusty for now.
• Francisco Cordero. It's hard to overstate what an important signing this was the Reds, even if the contract was a bit pricey. The signing allows Weathers to move back into a setup role. With the emergence of the Stealth Bomber (Jared Burton), and the return of a hopefully healthly Bill Bray, I'm cautiously optimistic the bullpen won't be putrid next year.
• Edinson Volquez. Although I'll miss Josh Hamilton, I thought the trade was worth the risk. Volquez is suppose to have great stuff, and pitched decently for the Rangers when he was called up late last season. Good starting pitching is always harder to find than offense. And I liked this trade much better than giving away the farm for a two year rental of Erik Bedard. You have to figure that between Bailey, Volquez, Cueto, and Maloney, at least one or two of these guys have to work out.

Overall, I like what the Reds have done so far. I'd like to see them add an experienced starting pitcher, such as Jon Lieber, as at reasonable price. An upgrade at catcher would also be nice (although JinAz makes a somewhat convincing argument that Ross was a victim of bad luck last year). It will be interesting to see what else Krivsky is able to accomplish before spring training.

It's hard to believe it's already the end of 2007. Unfortunately, the end of the year means the demise of the Cincinnati Post, which means the Consigliere's Blog will also come to end. Although I think we all appreciate the job that Marc Lancaster did, Trent created and fostered an environment that developed a real community of Reds' fans. He took time out of his busy schedule to blog the games, keep us apprised of breaking news, and answer our questions (no matter how stupid they might be). He even blogged on his off days. (The blog did have a few perks, as the picture on the right shows.) I can't tell you how much fun I had interacting with Trent and other Reds' fans during the games. One of the things that made the blog so great was that we discussed not only the Reds, but topics ranging from music to beer to barbeque. Even though the Reds didn't have a great season, Trent and everyone who commented made it fun and memorable. I hope that everyone who commented on Trent's blog will congregate to another blog during the 2008 season, but I fear it won't be same. Although Trent's blog at the Cincinnati Post has come to an end, hopefully it's not goodbye. Here's hoping to blogging with all of you in 2008!