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The Reds designated for assignment 1B Scott 
Hatteberg, who is batting .173 with seven strike outs and three extra base hits in 52 at bats this season.
In a post to his blog for Newsday, in which he discusses the alleged difficulty of the in-season manager switch, Ken Davidoff writes:
“The Mets have some, but only some, interest in Hatteberg…There would be more interest if Hatteberg hit righty. Once Hatteberg clears waivers, the Mets will likely gauge his interest in a minor-league contract.”
Hatteberg hit .289 in 2006, and hit .310 with a .396 OBP in 361 at bats last season for the Reds, during which he hit .323 against left-handed pitching.
It took some searching but they have found it. A guy with worse numbers than Delgado. I guess if he wants to wait in AAA for Delgado’s release and try and show something there then why not? Otherwise I would just as sooned to have Easley and Tatis there as this guy.
At first I didn’t like the idea of picking up Hatteberg, but after watching Damion Easley play 1B last night I think we should sign him to a minor league deal.
Just do it. We have nothing to lose right now.
if we don’t give up anything i wouldnt see why not. he can’t be any worse than conine was last year.
Don’t know why we don’t bring up Carp, or just move Evans to 1B, put tatis in left, and have chavez in RF until church comes back.
Carp and Evans are not ready yet, Carp is repeating AA this year and appears to be DH’ng as much as playing 1b
I love how obsessed fans get with minor league names. This team is not winning jack with Mike Carp and Nick Evans in the startingl ineup…not in 2008. Neither is Jay Bruce or Joey Votto.
Well, we’re definitely not winning with Delgado, so why not try something different?
Toasty, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again until someone convinces me that I’m wrong.
99.9999% of the time when a young player is brought up to the bigs too soon (when is “too soon” is obviously debatable…) he falls on his face and damages his confidence as well as his value inside and outside the organization.
I don’t know why we don’t let him develop and when he’s shown a consistent command of his bat (or his pitches depending on the player) then bring him up. Carp may be our starting first baseman soon, but if we push him up now it may delay his progress.
Look at Evans. I know we brought him up out of necessity in this instance, but if we could’ve left him in the minors we should have. I don’t think 0-4 with 2 Ks and 7 LOB yesterday was very good for his confidence…
I dunno. I think an intelligent young hitter could actually learn a lot from an 0-4 with 2 Ks and 7 LOB. The bigger question is whether or not Nick Evans is the type of hitter who can learn from failures, because that’s the type of player who will be able to enjoy long term success.
I’m not saying he can’t or won’t learn, I’m just of the mind that most of a young players learning should happen before he gets called up to the big leagues…
its the same classic story, guy comes up from the minors and theres no tape on him. He has 1 successful game, major league pitchers figure out his weaknesses, falls on his face for the next few games (0-12 and counting) and gets sent back down. Nick Evans and Mike Carp are not the answer, please stop suggesting that they might.
Hatteberg hit 310 last year when given the chance to play everyday. Some guys find it extremely difficult to transition to part time/bench players. I guarantee if you make Delgado a bench player/pinch hit guy his average is well below .173
Evans REALLY shouldn’t be at the show right now. His ABs get worse and worse.
yup, he is scuffling after showing he can handle the fastball right down the middle. No adjustments so far, give him a few days though before calling him overmatched.
I agree. He did look bad last night. The night before he almost put one out in CF. He has alot of potential, I think he just looks uncomfortable now.
Evans will have the same thing happen to him that Gomez did last year.
Start out hot and then be exposed to MLB pitching. Now can he hit at least .225? maybe? Would we start booing him if he did, hey some prob. did last night so what does that matter.
Yes I agree, its part of the development process even though we would like everyone to tear it up from the start without the learning curve.
Which is why you have to give him a solid 2 weeks and if he hasn’t made any adjustments or shown some kind of improvement then we can say he doesn’t belong up here.
And honestly- would Endy be any better right now? I’ll trade a couple weeks of Endy’s defense for the chance that Evans pans out.
Evans didn’t start out hot – he got 3 doubles in his first game and I don’t think he’s had a hit since…and unlike Gomez he has no clue what he’s doing in LF either.
Let the kid keep developing.
How is gettting 3 doubles in his first game not starting out hot?
Great, problems solved! Another 38 year old left bat that can’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. Are you kidding me?
I’m really wary of signing any player who’s numbers have had such a steep drop-off in the last few years. I don’t know much about Hatteberg, so I hesitate to lump him in with a broader crowd and could be way off base here, but given the increased recent focus on drug testing and the Mitchell Report, there’s inevitably going to be a high number of players who are going to have a steep drop off in production. Just as we look back on the 90s/00’s as a time when a lot of players boosted their production, I think we’ll look back on this era as one in which some players took a noticeable downturn – from Delgado to Gagne to LoDuce to Pettite. I sure wouldn’t be looking to pick up any more players who have shown such a steep decline. Let’s focus our efforts on building a future, not patching with a bunch of has-beens.
Well Delgado is 36, it is a natural time for a player to decline
Steep decline?? the guy hit .310 last year with a .394 OBP when given a chance to play alot. he is hitting .173 in only 52 AB’s this year. GIve him a chance to play and you aren’t going to see this “steep decline”
I for one would like to bring this guy aboard.
Seems to me we need a replacement for Marlon as a primary LH pinch-hitter.
Sometimes you have to patch – unless you want to throw the season away to develop overmatched youngsters like Evans.
And this is the best we can do? he is batting .100 against righties. That is pretty much the definition of over matched isn’t it? No thanks I will pass.
Knucklehead comment. He’s batting .100 agst lefties in 10 at-bats.
Sorry he is batting a whole .190 against righties, Sorry Omar! My bad.
He has a total of 52 AB’s this year. He hit .310 with a .394 OBP last year. BA is not the end all tell all stat.
with Marlon gone for awhile, he wouldn’t be a bad left handed bat off the bench
I agree. You can’t judge him on 2008 too much, he’s only had 52 at-bats. The guy hit .310 last year.
Delgado tore it up in 2006, Wait Mcquire had an incredible 97. He is 38 years old, we need to get younger not older and more crippled!
You don’t bring up 22 year olds and sit them on the bench. Your bench players are usually vets, who are willing to accept a diminished role. Signing hatteberg to a minor league deal or perhaps using him in a lefty ph role and possible temporary replacement for Delgado, is a no risk move.
I agree, I don’t think Evans is the answer right now. He does need to be in the minors getting at bats. I just don’t think this is the answer either. There are other options. Something is wrong as Koosman stated, there is some reason for his sharp decline.
Possibly, its just a thought and a free option. I think we all agree, a diminished role from Delgado is optimal. A LH bat to platoon with Easley or Tatis would be nice.
absolutely!
I don’t understand the comments about focusing on getting younger and to not sign older players. If we brought in Hatteberg it would clearly only be for the rest of this year and without any logical options in the minors to be blocked, whats the problem with giving him a shot?