Column: Tools in place for Baker, Reds to make multi-year run

Scott Rolen’s final swing — the last of the 2010 season for the Cincinnati Reds — brought a sudden ending to an unpredictable season in game three of the National League Division Series.

While Reds fans across the region and country might see the 3-0 sweep to Philadelphia as a disappointment, it could also be an indicator of a very bright future for this young Cincinnati team, who previously had not been to the playoffs since 1995.

Take, for instance, the jump this Reds team took from a year ago. The 2009 squad won 78 games, 13 less than the 2010 team.

It’s been a building process ever since manager Dusty Baker took the job prior to the 2008 season, as Cincinnati has won more games each succeeding year under Baker.

Yeah, it’s easy to look at what Baker did on the north side of Chicago after the Cubs’ 2003 run to the National League Championship Series. But what’s different about Baker’s situation in Cincinnati is the condition of his personnel.

There isn’t a risky, injury prone, over-hyped pitcher on the Reds’ roster as there was in Mark Prior back in Chicago. Nothing against Prior, but it just wasn’t meant to be after multiple Achilles and elbow issues.

Better yet, this team’s two biggest stars aren’t aging players who are on the last leg of their career — no pun intended.

Joey Votto, a non-juiced power hitter, is a rich man’s version of the 2003 Sammy Sosa. And, luckily for Baker, he’s got a rising flamethrower in Aroldis Chapman — a guy who Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo said throws as hard as anyone in the history of baseball.

Not only that, but there is also a ton of talent — more young talent — in Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs to complement the pitching foundation Chapman could set.

What about the fan base? Think the old-time Big Red Machine fans and now much more interested Reds fan won’t be filling up the ballpark each night as the 2011 season gets underway?

It’s really a win-win situation for Baker, who just signed a meaty two-year contract extension a few weeks ago.

He’s got the tools in a relatively new stadium, the right players and the contract stipulations to make this his final stop in baseball — and a winning one at that.

One has to think that Baker knows he can become a recognizable manager in Cincinnati and forever be linked to that franchise.

He was just a game away from winning the World Series with the San Francisco Giants in 2002 but left for Chicago that year.

It’s fair to say that with the championship drought continuing, the five-out fiasco and four subpar seasons that marked his time in Chicago, he’s no Wrigleyville legend.
What the Reds cannot do is get greedy and make drastic changes should they miss the playoffs or lose in the NLDS again next year.

Give the building effort some time.

It’s a win-win for Reds General Manager Walt Jocketty and the coaches, players and fans with the right people in place. With a few offseason moves here and there, this team could become even more lethal than it was this past year.