Reds GM Dick Williams joins the Reds Beat Podcast

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — As the Reds ready for the 2017 season, Reds general manager Dick Williams sat down with Enquirer Reds beat writer C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan to talk about the upcoming season and where the Reds stand in the team’s rebuild.

Williams is in his second season as the team’s general manager, but first as the primary decision maker.

Among the things Williams has done in his short period in charge is put an emphasis on sports science, analytics and reinvestment in the Reds’ minor-league system, not just with the players, but in the health and nutrition of minor-league players.

In our 40-minute discussion with Williams, he touches on several topics, including how a smaller-market team like the Reds must be able to try different things. The craziest idea he has? How about 12 pitchers with no definition between starters and relievers.

“On a given day, you just pick a guy and he goes two or three innings and then the next guy comes in and you’re flipping pitchers in and out and the other team doesn’t know what’s coming,” Williams said. “I think that would be really cool.”

Williams says there are “logistical challenges,” but “if you want to win, you have to be creative. And if you want to win in a small market with less resources, you have to be extra creative. I think we can win without disrupting the current model.”

But Williams would like to do something different.

“I’d love to be an innovator in one regard or another,” Williams said.

In addition to the discussion with Williams, we revisit some early-winter predictions. Finally, in this week’s edition of “What’s Zach Watching,” we nerd out about “Star Wars Rebels.”

How to listen:

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