and I have one of my own. Edinson Volquez will be in contention for the Cy Young again this year. My heart has seen how great his stuff is and knows that he has the potential to strike a lot of guys out, making him the anchor of the rotation and will keep the Reds in the race until September. But, my head saw the league start to figure him out at the end of last season and his strikeout numbers drop off, and I’m kind of expecting more of that this season. He won’t be the dominant 1B starter he was last year, which sucks, because he needs to be for this team to be in contention.

has been pretty valuable.

Last 3 years he has WAR of 3.8, 3.9, then just .9 in 2008 (only 357 PA).

His projection for this season is about 1.8 WAR (assuming 75% playing time and him being a +4 defender). Not bad. If he stays healthy, there’s upside to that number.

my heart says he has all the tools to be Curtis Granderson-lite, but my head says he will be 27 next year and last year was the only year he ever had an OPS over .800.

the bullpen – my head says we have a legit closer now and last year it was the strongest part of the team, but my heart tells me its been broken by the ’pen 100 times before and Stormy and Rhodes are old men and Coco was decent at best last year and Burton has been injury-prone and there is no way in hell i will ever ever trust a Reds bullpen.

the difference between its and it’s?

My heart tells me that the future ex-mr.-andromache will pull it together, learn another pitch, and dominate with a 98mph fastball for seasons to come.

My head tells me that he’s never going to go anywhere in Cincinnati, and that we should start putting him in middle relief.

Also, my heart tells me that if this team had Calvin Medlock and Carlos Guevara, EVERYTHING WOULD BE OK.

my head tells me its not about championships- but rather hustle, bunts, stolen bases, and playing the game the right way

My heart says that Ohio State has beaten Colt McCoy once and they can do it again. Beanie Wells is the best big game back this side of Darren Sproles, and Ohio State will be happy to introduce a Big XII team to this thing that’s called a “defense.” My heart says that Ohio State owns the Fiesta Bowl, and that Texas can’t handle Vince Young when he’s playing against them.

My gall bladder is full of bile for everyone immediately writing off this game, writing off Ohio State, writing off the Big Ten. My bile is also directed at the Big Ten for proving them right, the SEC for maintaining its claims to superiority when it was a terrible conference this year, and USC for getting to play a home bowl game every time they go to the Rose Bowl. In fact, I am pissed that none of the BCS bowls are played in cold weather. If I have to hear about how every other team in the country has so much more “speed” than any Big Ten team, they can damn well come up and be speedy in the cold and the snow.

Creamsicle uniforms are stupid. “Hook ’em horns” is retarded. “Colt McCoy” is the most Texan name I’ve ever heard. God I’m so full of rage! Someone play “Hang On Sloopy” to get me worked up in a more positive way.

an old man turns 79, he won the lottery, and died the day he bought the ticket. (hat tip: CTR)

Rosenthal says a 2-year 16 million dollar deal is about to be signed. I wouldn’t have minded a contract like that for him here. Makes you wonder what Dunn is gonna get. It looks like he is gonna get a big pay cut from the 13 Mil he made last year…..

1. My heart agrees, but my head thinks it might be easier than your head does. Sure, lots of pitchers need down years, but they’re pitchers. Pitchers get hurt/fall off the cliff all the time.

2. My heart and head agree.

3. Neither my heart nor my head agree. My head thinks Castellini thought it needed done; further, it doesn’t see the constraint on the rest of the payroll (see Tavares, Willie). My heart wanted Kerry Wood.

4. My heart wanted Furcal at SS and Holliday in LF (with Dickerson in CF) on opening day. My head, in retrospect, is glad we didn’t get involved with Furcal, and realized Holliday would most likely be a rental on a team that doesn’t have any business renting anyone. Now, my heart and my head agree (at least on CF): Tavares should be on a very short leash, and if Stubbs continues to hit in AAA he should get a quick call-up.

5. My heart has a huge man crush on Kearns. My head is torn. On one hand, there’s no way, even with a softball-style defensive alignment, that Washington can use all of those outfielders, and Kearns should be cheap; on the other, Kearns only played in 68 games last year and slugged .316 last year (while Judy-hitting Tavares slugged .296, his career SLG is .337)

6. Here, I think your heart is in the right place. I think Votto has the talent to be a multiple-time All-Star. Also, Fielder and Howard will be DHs very, very soon (they already are; their teams just don’t know it yet) and Lee is in the decline part of his career. Unfortunately, he’s in a situation similar to AL SSs in the early ‘00’s, where there’s a wealth of talent at one position. The one thing that might actually help him is a move to LF.

7. As a Dish Network subscriber, my heart and head have the same reaction: Screw MLBAM, or whatever entity gave DirectTV exclusive satellite rights.

8. My heart tells me the Reds have an owner that will pay money when he thinks it will help the team enough – you’ve never heard "X player would bust our budget". My head tells me that he isn’t even in the St. Louis payroll neighborhood, let alone Mets/Dodgers/Flubs.

9. My head tells me the Rays will be contenders simply because their pitching is that good. When David Price is unlikely to crack the starting rotation, that should tell you a lot.

10. Well, yeah.

When Mrs. M and I tied the knot in 1976 we purchased a13 inch black and white. in 1992 (?) we gave into our kids and purchased a srcatch and dent 25" color Sony (which we still have) from Stienbergs! Last year I broke down and got one of them Digital LDC jobs – 42". TV is only worth watching on a superior set.

BTW I withdrew from society many years ago, if not for the internet..I would at this moment either be reading or down in the basement building electric trains with my grandson…butlike so many things in this life withdrawal is over rated.

On the other hand sites like Red reporter and Barely Legal have provided purpose and hope where there once was only disdain and futility.

and I know a lot of folks on the streets on either side of us. The area is really diverse, Black and white, old and young, gay and straight, well enough off and pretty poor. The catalysts are the older Africanamericans who’ve lived here for years. they make a point of meeting and greeting everyone. I can’t say the same about Mt. Lookout (7 seven years there) and Hyd Park (12 years there).

But my earlier comment was an hommage to the ‘New NeoCon american Society’ where if you really don’t know anyone then you really have a hard time caring about their plight. I mean after all ‘they’ take all our money in taxes for those lazy bastards who can’t seem to get a job or off drugs. Meanwhile all the kids are watching fucking Rainbowel Brite.