Baseball is coming back to your tv on March 5th at 3:05
so remember to ask to your boss to get off work early that day. FSN Ohio is showing the Reds' first Cactus League game against the Indians. They will also be showing the games on March 18th and 22nd. WLW will broadcast games on the 6th and 7th and the 13th and 14th. They will also broadcast every game starting on the 20th.

The Fay discusses LF
and he thinks Chrises Dickerson and Heisey will feature as a platoon. I would be ok if it turned out to be a 3-way platoon with Drew Stubbs in LF and CF. That could be interesting.

Sheldon lists the Reds who are out of options
Wladimir Balentien is the only one who looks to be in trouble of getting cut. I don't think it's likely though, as the Reds don't have anyone in LF who is clearly better. At least, not better enough to justify losing him on waivers.

Redleg Nation has some video from RedsFest
It's good to see Bronson is playing guitar again. Dude had me worried.

The Fay is back from vacation
and he was shocked to hear about the Taveras trade. It sounds like he loves it almost as much as I do. He also thinks Jonny Gomes will return to the Reds. He likely won't receive a guaranteed deal so Fay figures, all else equal, he'll want to return to Cincy because he did so well here.

Stan McNeal at the Sporting News runs down 10 rookies looking to make an impact out of Spring Training
Aroldis Chapman makes the list, I suppose because his high-profile signing gives him some name-recognition on this list. It certainly isn't because he has a chance of making the team out of Spring Training. Firstly because he most likely just isn't ready to pitch in the majors. But most importantly because his contract gets real unfriendly if he's in the majors that quickly. The Reds will likely start him in AA.

FanGraphs has introduced a new feature to their site
So what does a stats site that has everything do to improve? They added "splits" to their database. BBRef has had splits for as long as I've been visiting there, and it's been one of the last reasons I've had to check over there. At least we can still sponsor the pages.

Does low walk rate predict a failure to develop as a hitter?
James (via Tango): "Essentially, there is no reason to believe that the walk rate plays any predictable role in the future development of a young player." This is good news for both Juan Francisco and Jay Bruce.

Fastball Losses | FanGraphs Baseball
Jared Burton lost 1.7 mph on his fastball last year. However, depending on which source you use at fangraphs, he also moved to throwing a lot more change-ups or a lot more cutters than in prior years. I wouldn't worry too much, as Burton's pitches are of a type that can be very difficult to classify (cutters vs. sliders, for example, are pretty similar).

Lawmaker's bill would raise car-rental taxes to keep Chicago Cubs spring training in Arizona - ESPN Chicago
The Cubs keep coming up with new and creative reasons for us to hate them.

The Astros' GM Ed Wade says they could bring in Willy Taveras on a minor league deal
I'm getting really excited about the Reds prospects this summer.  It seems like all other teams in the NL Central are developing unfortunate habits of regularly f**cking that chicken.