Basement Dwellers: What's wrong with Bronson Arroyo?
Jinaz is worried about our boy Bronson Arroyo. "Arroyo hasn't been good this year. He's 8-7, but has a 5.69 ERA, a 6.03 FIP, a 5.15 xFIP, a 6.79 tRA, and a 5.59 tRA*. None of those is encouraging." His home run rate is up and his K rate is down, and Jinaz thinks it likely has something to do with his fastball. And as always, there are some cool graphs.

nycredsfan has a FanPost up linking to The Fay
who spoke to Walt about Danny Richar and EdE. Richar hurt his shoulder sliding into home and will have an MRI today. Could this mean EdE is on his way back?

Asst. GM Bob Miller held another chat with fans yesterday
Here a few of the highlights:

greginin: Where would DeRosa have played if you had acquired him? Edwin Encarnacion is due back this week and Jonny Gomes has been great as a right-handed bat in left field.

Miller: One of the great things about DeRosa is he can play first base, second base, third base and outfield. We would have found a place for him to play, believe me.

KPreds: Are there any offseason moves that, in hindsight, the club regrets making?

Miller: I've heard rumors that Bob C. regrets not signing me for 10 more years, but I haven't been able to verify that.

bb_ump: How much longer will the Reds wait for Homer Bailey to reach his "forecasted" potential?

Miller: Homer just turned 23. My question to you would be did you like Volquez last year? During Edinson's first three seasons in the Majors with Texas he had a 14.21, a 7.29 and a 4.50 ERA. Then he came to us at 25 years old and had a 3.21 ERA with 17 wins. Worth the wait, wasn't it?

This one absolutely slayed me
"Reds Should Make Winning More Important". I couldnt agree more. While we're at it, they should also make sure not to schedule games on rainy days, keep all their star players from getting hurt, and put in luxury recliners instead of stadium seats. Seriously though, on to the article: Marc Katz says the Reds minor league system is full of losing teams (5 of the 6 teams have losing records). Apparently all this losing has something to do with the fact that the Reds focus more on developing individual talent rather than teaching them to win as a team. And that's it. It's barely 200 words. All early reports indicate he got paid.

Jay Bruce Bobblehead day is Saturday
Look at those pearly whites!

In the latest edition of Redleg Nation Radio
They talked with Sarasota Reds manager Joe Ayrault and RLN Spotlight Player Matt Klinker.

Ken Rosenthal makes his All-Star Game selections
and he mentions three Reds: Johnny Cueto makes the team as the Reds lone representative, and Franciscoco Cocordero and Brandon Phillips are mentioned honorably. I'm ok with leaving Coco at home, but to take Freddie Sanchez over BP seems ridiculous to me. I guess he had to pick a Pirate, but I would choose Zach Duke as my Pirate instead.

Doug at RML wonders if Devin Mesoraco is starting to come around
When he was drafted out of high school in the first round in '07, he was scouted as a tremendous defensive catcher with a raw but promising bat. Then last year, his first full year in pro ball, saw his defensive reputation betray him. But Doug thinks he's been improving in that regard the past few months. It always takes catchers a long time to develop and I dont expect him to make it to the bigs for a good while (if at all), but I would like to start seeing these kinds of improvements from him. When I saw him in Sarasota I was really taken aback by his size; he's a pretty imposing looking fella. He certainly has the physical attributes necessary to be a great ballplayer, it's just a matter of getting there.