were rumored to be interested in Arroyo, and are rumored to still be interested. But they think he’s overpaid, and wouldn’t do the deal unless the Reds ate some salary. Which Bob wouldn’t agree to.

The Dodgers were also among the interested parties. They and the Yankees had scouts at Arroyo’s and Harang’s last starts before the deadline.

1. Dusty is a terrible manager. He won in San Fran simply due to Bonds and Kent, and a weak division. If I realize this, how come Castellini doesn’t?
2. No fan of the Reds would have signed Tavares and Lincoln. Again, how come we realize this but Castellini doesn’t?
3. They start the youth movement by amazingly trading away Dunn for Owings and Herrera, on a rent-a-player deal, and by actually getting something (Masset) for KGJ.
4. They bolster the bullpen with Rhodes, Weathers, and earlier signing – Cordero. Also added Masset and Herrera.
5. Why does Brook Jacoby still have a job?
6. Every Reds fan knew SS needed to be addressed in the offseason, but strangely enough, Castellini & Co. didn’t do anything about it.
7. Castellini & Co. said in the offseason that signing a RH power bat was priority #1. Hmmm……..was it?

Ownership has now proven that when it opens it’s mouth, don’t listen. They don’t say what they mean. Who is making decisions? What direction are they going? It appears even they don’t know these answers.

To the (great) disagreement by some of his development staff, Jocketty was the final word on the Rolen deal after the financial end was mapped out. Castellini has a fairly standard line he uses: “Will it make the team better?”

as BubbaFan explained upthread, the Arroyo/Yankees rumor was pretty solid, but the Harang thing came from Twitter, iirc.

You can sort by team and by player:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/cincinnati_reds/index.html

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/bronson_arroyo/

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/aaron_harang/

what would marge schott do?

I think it is the best one yet.

i’m going for a walk…

That really sucks. Made my Monday just that much better.

At least we have some pitching depth in AAA…….wait a second….

my worry, and i admitted it was based on conjecture, is that Bob is unwilling to rebuild and make the moves that need to be done because he sees it as more losing. he doesnt want to eat money on Arroyo’s and Harang’s contracts but then he’s ok taking on money for Rolen? there may be some other unseen circumstances influencing these decisions, but to me it seems Bob wont let the team move vets because that is a negative in the public’s eyes. on the other hand, picking up a proven vet like Rolen is seen as making a push. im not accusing Bob of any of this, im just saying that this is my worry.

and many people here refuse to listen, but the whole issue of “refusing to eat salary” stems from a basic misunderstanding of sunk costs.

Bob has some money but in this eceonomic free fall we are in, I don’t blame him for not wanting to eat salaries and I sure wouldn’t expect him to DFA a player if he could anything for that player.

It was stuff like, “Do you think the hype surrounding the trade deadline is good for the game?”

The one thing he said of substance is that Cozart/Valaika/Frazier/Janish could all be in on the SS thing next year.

He also talked a lot about Frazier, how they would feel comfortable plugging him in anywhere in the infield or in LF

The other three are. Pitching-wise, Travis Wood and Matt Maloney could be darkhorses for the rotation, and Pedro Viola should be ready to contribute in the bullpen, and you might be able to throw Ben Jukich and Enerio Del Rosario in there too. Juan Francisco and Chris Valaika will see lots of time in the infield too.

with the need for a SS, they’ll probably give him a shot, and word is he’s going to be moved up to AAA as soon as he’s healthy. (he’s dealing with something minor right now, should be back this week)

He has the best SS defense in the minors, almost as good as Janish, and he’s shown an ability to hit, walk, and show some pop this season. He’s gotta be in the discussion.

but it still means The Wagon will be in the barn pretty much all season next year.

Let Travis Wood get a start or two to see if we’ve got anything for next year.

timely AND insightful!

Great article

With all of the change and stress these guys go through, it’s a wonder they can play at all, although I guess the ball field might be the one place they truly feel comfortable.

That movie from earlier this year, “Sugar” was about the same type of thing. Anyone seen it? I’ve heard it’s good and I want to check it out.

I didn’t know Janish spoke Spanish. He pitches, he catches, he speaks Spanish. A man of many talents.

Funny how teams provide translators for Chinese and Japanese players, but not Hispanics.

Exemplary use of clubhouse access

I had it Bengals draft day.. and I haven’t seen you enough since then.

Thanks, Dusty.

Janish is alive after all.

(not saying I wouldn’t rather have Rolen in there…) Is there any word on his status?

On the contrary, Rolen for Encarnacion seems like a steal for the Reds.

Wrong. The Reds got a nice player, but they overpaid.

Sure, Rolen is 34. But he is still pretty damn productive. Much more so than Encarnacion, who, like so many prospects, never really developed into anything.

I won’t argue with you that Rolen is a productive player, but saying that Edwin is shit is completely off-base. He’s been OPSing .901 since coming off the DL, which was second on the team (behind Votto) in that span. He developed into a strong bat in the middle of the lineup, who doesn’t contribute much defensively. That’s something. That’s not Brandon Larson.

Why anyone would rather have Encarnacion at 3B over Rolen is beyond me.

Have you been reading the reactions on here at all? I don’t think anyone thinks that’s the case.

The other two prospects are just that. Prospects. Anyone remember a prospect for the Reds named Homer Bailey? Prospects are prospects. Most of them are just guys to fill out AAA rosters so these teams have enough minor leaguers to field a team.

This is the most asinine thing I’ve ever read. You are aware that some prospects are more valuable than others, right? And yes, I remember Homer Bailey. He’s still only 23, and is now one of the most solid arms in the Reds rotation. And you seem to have trouble distinguishing between a “prospect” and a “AAA player”. Allow me to enlighten you. Prospects are players that a team spends a high draft pick and a signing bonus on, because they’ve shown potential to be a major league player, as analyzed by the team’s scouting and development department. Zach Stewart was a 3rd round pick. You don’t draft a guy in the 3rd round to use as AAA roster filler. Those are normally free agents and high round prospects who don’t pan out. They play when there isn’t a prospect who needs playing time at a certain position.

As far as Harang rumors, I can’t imagine the Reds would get much for him. Who wants a player who, for two years in a row, has taken three months off in the middle of the year? It’s not like he’s a Cliff Lee type with a decent ERA but a W/L record that belies his talent. He is a former near-ace who is on the downturn of his career.

Aaron Harang may be on the downturn of his career, but he’s still a solid pitcher. Getting injured because he was misused isn’t “taking 3 months off”, which is what happened this year. He hasn’t pitched well for the past month, but it’s not for lack of trying. As Slyde pointed out, his W-L record could be 12-8 right now with better run support and bullpen support, and if that was the case, you wouldn’t be bitching about it.

This team is in bad shape. I can’t see them having the pieces to make a deal to get significantly better. And I don’t think they have too many pieces that are going to get better at the major league level.

True, but part of me thinks this is more Marty-speak. They have lots of young players, who in theory, should be able to get better. Votto, Bruce, Phillips, Bailey, Cueto, and Stubbs should all be improving with major league playing time, but that’s not going to happen without proper coaching. I’m almost to the point where I think Stubbs may be better off in Louisville for now, because at least there he has a decent hitting coach. You’re right about them not being a good team right now, but it’s not because they’re devoid of talent. It’s because the talent they have isn’t being developed.

It’s going to be a long decade.

With rants like this, I can’t disagree.

Rolen is better than EdE right now and likely will be next season as well. but i think you are short-changing EdE a bit. he’s no world-beater for sure, but he’s still likely a league average 3B. that is not something to dismiss out of hand.

while Roenicke is old for a prospect, he only started pitching in college. he’s only been throwing a baseball at hitters since he was like 21. so his age is a bit deceptive.

you completely glossed over the loss of Stewart, who for many is the key to the whole deal. i would have applauded a deal that sent EdE and Roenicke for Rolen, but Stewart is at the height of his value as a prospect. he may never turn out to be anything in the future, but his prospect status right now is that of an incredibly valuable top 50-60 pitching prospect.

as for the Lee deal, i think Cleveland did pretty well. Carrasco and Knapp and legit pitching prospects and Donald and Marson could easily turn into league-average performers. while they didnt get the true stud they should have, i think they did ok. and dropping Francisco is not a minor achievement on their part.

He gets a little room on his age, I think. And would you put it past the Reds to overvalue veteran presence in the bullpen compared to a young pitcher with stuff?

Not that I’m overly upset about losing Roenicke, but I think you shortchange him too much.