Wladimir Balentien had been a disappointment for the Seattle Mariners, but when the Reds picked up the 25-year old native of the Netherlands Antilles they found a very talented player.  His .213 average in 56 games with Seattle became a .264 average in 40 games with Cincinnati.  The Reds could have played him every day down the stretch to judge his ability to become a regular next year, but instead used him as a part-time player.  That was not a good decision.

Balentien now has 511 major league at-bats, and had a .221 average to show for it.  But, that started when he was 22, and he has been young.  If we can judge by what he did with the Reds, he is improving, as he should be.  He has 15 career HR and 52 RBI.  He has struck out 149 times and walked 52.  His defense has ranked a little above average in the corner outfield as well.  So, what is his role for 2010?

That is an open question.  The Reds have an unsettled outfield, and decisions to make this offseason.  Balentien did not seem to capture Dusty Baker’s fancy, and found himself unable to take playing time from even Darnell McDonald down the stretch.  That doesn’t speak well of his chances to win the left field job in spring training.  It’s hard to win a job if you don’t have the manager’s confidence.

It comes down to two decisions, one which will be made soon and one during spring training.  The first decision is whether to re-sign Jonny Gomes.  If Gomes is on the team, Balentien’s role decreases substantially, since Gomes has a similar skill set but more experience.  The next, if the field is cleared by Gomes’ absence, is how playing time is distributed between Balentien, Chris Dickerson, Drew Stubbs, and Willy Taveras.  We can assume Jay Bruce will play right field, but how the other two spots play out is still very much up in the air.

Balentien has some pop, the question is whether he will ever hit for a decent average.  The odds are against him, but he did show enough to warrant a shot.  His window might be closing, because the Reds seem ready to convert prospect Juan Francisco into a left fielder, which if successful would shut Balentien out, and send him on his way once again.  It is likely that he will spend 2010 as a bench player in Cincinnati.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 11:02 pm and is filed under 2009 review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.