The TA94 series, dedicated to performing 2023-24 evaluation to the transactions of the 1993-94 offseason, rolls into December. It was a comparatively quiet time on the winter conferences right here within the current, however for our previous selves, it was a busy week, with function gamers and veterans alike flying off the cabinets.
December 1
The Cincinnati Reds signal PH Lenny Harris to a three-year, $1.5 million contract.
It’s fantastic when the wire tosses some baseball nonsense at us proper off the bat. Think about a crew in 2023-24 making a three-year dedication to a pinch-hitter. It’s ludicrous. Certain, Harris is the archetype; his 212 whole pinch hits stays a document, and on condition that the lively leaders are Enrique Hernández and Austin Slater at 73, he’s going to have the ability to autograph his baseball playing cards with that little bit of historical past for a bit of longer.
Nonetheless, a thousand-day dedication to a bench man: Harris began 103 out of 292 video games performed for the Reds between 1994-96, pinch hitting 163 occasions and serving as a defensive alternative the opposite 36, masking primarily the 4 corners. It’s maybe unsurprising that DRC+ is dismissive of his work (79 for his profession, even decrease throughout this explicit stint): Not solely did he undergo beneath the well-known pinch-hitter penalty for many of his profession, hitting 11 factors higher as a starter, it was additionally his job to hit singles somewhat than go all-or-nothing; his slugging share was 30 factors decrease as a sub. Harris wasn’t good, and his job was designed to make him look worse.
Nonetheless, the Reds have been a wonderful crew, so possibly he was only a glue man, the kind of participant good groups get themselves, as a deal with. They completed in first place in each 1994 and 1995; in 1996, the ultimate 12 months of his contract, they slipped to 3rd. It was additionally when he acquired probably the most enjoying time, coincidentally.
