Paul Daugherty wants the Reds to be "bold"
"The Reds chances of trading for Matt Holliday are slim and none, and slim just left for the church festival. That’s assuming Cincinnati would be interested in paying the price for the big-hitting outfielder (dubious) and that the New York Mets would not be. That’s borderline insanity. Holliday would cost the Reds precious prospects and some $7 million in salary for the rest of the year. The chances of him remaining a Red next year wouldn’t be good. There aren’t a lot of reasons even to contemplate it. Except this one: It’s a bold move. Without boldness, the Reds will never catch the Cubs, Cards and Brewers."

So Doc wants the Reds to be "bold". So who should they go for? Hernando De Soto? Vasco De Gama? Francisco Pizarro? Spaceman Spiff?

The Fay talked with Walt Jocketty about the DeRosa situation
He says the Reds were willing take on the remainder of DeRosa's salary (somewhere north of 3 mil) so that should give us an idea of where they are regarding payroll flexibility. Fay thinks Matt Holliday is too expensive money-wise, not to mention the prospects.

Hall o' Famer Hal gives us update from Dusty
regarding the return of Edwin Encarnacion. "Hopefully we’ll have Edwin back in the next week to 10 days," Baker said. "Slowly but surely we’re getting things back together, hanging in there until we can make our run."

Bronson Arroyo is contemplating having surgery on his right arm in the off-season
to fix his nagging carpal-tunnel syndrome. Though it doesnt effect his pitching much, he confesses he isnt at 100%. "Every little thing you do with your fingers, it feels like it’s irritating itself," Arroyo said. "I haven’t been like I was in spring training. The cortisone shot (just before the season started) definitely helped, but I’m past that point now. I’m just trying to maintain it the way I am."

Doug at RML has an updated list of the Reds' '09 draftees who have signed contracts
The biggest one so far is 2nd round pick Billy Hamilton who has been playing pretty well so far over the first few games in the Gulf Coast Rookie League.

Here's a cute little fluff piece about Daniel Ray Herrera from MLB.com
"Despite his 5-foot-6 frame, Herrera is anything but intimidated." I hate these kinds of things. Why are sports writers always surprised to hear that short ballplayers arent intimidated (or if they arent really surprised, why is this device always employed when writing about short ballplayers)? This isnt Bloodsport or Thunderdome or, hell, even football, where being the biggest SOB in the fight is mostly to your advantage. This is baseball.

Dave Cameron at FanGraphs gives his 2 cents on the Ian Snell situation in Pittsburgh
If you hadnt heard, the Pirates are pretty well fed up with Snell. They signed him to an extension last offseason for something like 8 mil (3 mil this year and 4.25 next) and he hasnt performed to their liking. GM Neil Huntington said yesterday that the whole thing was a "mistake". Snell has apparently had some attitude problems too. The Pirates just sent him down to AAA.

So it looks as though Snell is not long for Pittsburgh, whether he is traded or released. Cameron thinks Snell could be a real nice find for whoever is willing to take him. At this point, the Pirates would probably be really happy to just get out from under the money, so they probably wouldnt ask for much in return. Snell's FIP this season is an averagish 4.56, meaning his 5.36 ERA is due to a bit of hard luck. He also struck out 17 in his first start down in AAA after the demotion. He looks like the ideal candidate for a change of scenery. Though pitching is an area of strength for the Reds now, this is the kind of deal good teams make. I want him.