ROLLING THE DICE WITH LATOS:
Of all the offseason moves that Reds GM Walt Jocketty made, from signing closer Ryan Madson out of nowhere to trading for set-up man Sean Marshall to giving the outfield more depth with Ryan Ludwick, for my money the deal with the biggest risk is the one for Mat Latos.
Of course--the knee-jerk reaction (and a fair one at that) is pointing out that the Reds gave up a boat-load of talent to put Latos in a Cincinnati uniform: three first round picks (Alonso, Grandal and Boxberger) and a one-time 17-game winner in Edinson Volquez, all for a guy who went 9-and-14 a year ago with a decent ERA (3.47).
What I'm most interested to see is how Latos handles the change in ballpark, from Petco Park in San Diego where batters have to hit the ball to Tijuana to get it out of there to the bandbox known as Great American Ball Park.
"My first couple of years in the big leagues, it was more me pitching to my strengths and pitching to hitters' weaknesses. That's not going to change," Latos said. "I'm excited about the ballpark. It being a hitter's ballpark and Petco being a pitcher's ballpark, it's going to be a big change and a challenge. I'll take this challenge head on."
The Reds have the 24-year-old Latos under contract for four more years. Baseball insiders describe his stuff as electric. And it has to be, given the price that was paid to get him.
What Might Have Been?:
Paul Brown thought so highly of a former University of Cincinnati quarterback named Greg Cook, that back in 1969 the Bengals used a first round pick to make Cook the fifth overall selection in the NFL/AFL Draft. It seemed like a wise choice. Cook holds 17 school records at UC, but in his rookie season, Cook suffered a shoulder injury that required several surgeries and was never the same after that.
"He's the single most talented player we've ever had," said Bengals Owner Mike Brown.
Cook died last night in Cincinnati. He was 65 years old.
It makes you wonder what might have been. This is a guy that averaged an astounding 9.41 yards per attempt, which still stands as a Bengals team record, and it came before the days of teams spreading the field out and throwing the ball everywhere. What if Cook had never gotten hurt and achieved his full potential? There's another side to that story. If Cook had never suffered the injury, then there's a good chance the Bengals never draft Ken Anderson in 1971. He's a guy on the cusp of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Please follow me on Twitter. @WellsZach. Leave a comment and have a great weekend!
