I usually buy a book of true ghost stories around Halloween every year.  This year, I got this one.  It's sort of a sequel to Haunted Baseball.  I ended up really busy at the end of October/beginning of November, so didn't get to read it before Halloween, but I'm reading it now. 

It has a section on Scranton, PA, and the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel.  That's the hotel where AAA teams stay when they come to play SWB Yankees.  It used to be the town's train station, and has a reputation for being haunted.  Many players who usually room alone arrange for roommates when they're playing in Scranton, and won't stay on the fifth floor, rumored to be the most haunted.

via carlsonhotels.com

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No RIWIAW because I was swamped with work this week. But, hey! That week's over! Let the GIF's commence! 

via jemima.files.wordpress.com

And folks, let's keep it within the boundaries of the terms of service. No simulated nasty-stuff. I don't want to see anyone get warned or ban-hammered over this.  Oh, an remember your x's (and your exes) in the subject lines! 

Devin Mesoraco heads Baseball America's Reds Top 10 prospects list.

The catcher ranks ahead of shortstop Billy Hamilton and firstbaseman/left fielder Yonder Alonso, respectively, in the top three. Catcher Yasmani Grandal rankes fourth and shortstop Zack Cozart is fifth, followed by right-handed pitchers Daniel Corcino and Robert Stephenson, shortstop Didi Gregorius, infielder Todd Frazier and right-handed pitcher Brad Boxberger.

I'd love to see what BA thinks of the Reds organization as a whole, but the information at the top of the article mistakenly pertains to the Miami Marlins, an error I'm sure BA editors will fix at some point today.

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I've got a good one to start.  There's little to think it's possible, but that's what makes rumors fun!

Evidently, everyone's favorite future Reds shortstop is unhappy his current team is trying to sign another SS.   What to do?  The Marlins can't afford to have a disgruntled, highly-paid player destroying their clubhouse chemistry (especially since they have no veteran presences to staunch said disgruntledness).  So....

I heard from a reliable source* that the Reds have traded Yonder Alonzo (LF, Mike Stanton moves to CF, Chris Coghlan moves to AAA (where he belongs)), Yasmani Grandal, Homer Bailey, and Todd Frazier for Hanley Ramirez.  I was told** the press conference announcing the trade will be at 3 pm.

*not really

**this is a lie also

Back in 1984, Sparky Anderson called Bill James "a little fat guy with a beard who has no knowledge of anything." For the 4th year in a row FanGraphs has Bill James' projections available for the upcoming season. His projections have been considered to be wildly optimistic by some, especially regarding young players. As with all projection systems, take them with a grain of salt ... Here's his take on your 2012 Cincinnati Reds, after the jump.

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Here is a look at how the Reds 2011 actual results stacked up compared to what the Vegas odds makers thought of them throughout the season.  If you take the win Vegas win expectancy from all 162 of the Reds games and add them up, you get a seasonal win expectancy of 0.5157 which translates to an expected win total of 83.54 games.  If you do the same for my simulation of each Reds game you get a seasonal win expectancy of 0.5197 or 84.19 wins.  The Reds actually went 79-83 on the season.  It appears that the Reds underplayed their likely true talent level as a team this past year.   Below is a list of all 162 games with the Vegas odds for every game, the list is sorted by games in which the Reds were the largest favorite to win.

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Welcome one and all to the Innaugural Edition of The Repooper. Yesterday brought the first snowfall of the season and that is usually the most unwelcome sight of the year, White (and Black) Death will soon follow. I don't mean to offend the big fans of winter out there and i do think winter is pleasant in extremely small sample sizes. Anywho, RR Reporter has run its course and it seems SIS's have jumped the shark, too. Time to talk some shit!

I found this more than a little interesting and I do wonder why folks use their cel phones as telephones as much as they do, putting up to their mouths and all. Ick. 16% of cel phones have shit of them

 I wanted to include a little music in The Poop Report, does it surprise you that the artist I selected was the Dave Matthews Band? Shitty DMB fans along with shitty non fans!

Some folks learn better visually, some orally, some by sense of touch. Sometimes a good pat on the back works better in corporate settings than telling someone job well done. Well, this is for the other third of people who learn best visually. Channel 12's Guide to Understanding Poop

Disclosure: I love Trip Advisor. So far, it hasnt steered me wrong in all my travels. The ability to read first hand reviews of hotels/resorts prior to booking them is one of my favorite things about the internets. Its not always an exact science, but it usally it pretty damn spot on if there's a big enough review base. What is the closest hotel to BK's office and what does it have to do with poop?

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Maybe you remember this somewhat-beloved and somewhat-ignored series from the last hot stove season. As a way for us to keep our baseball minds warmed up and our senses of irony attuned, I'd like to welcome back the series for a second half. I've gotten the imprimatur from our feared leaders to continue this, and I really want you all to get involved. So let me and us know which names you like most, which names are boring, and in which ways I'm trying too hard. We can't get anywhere without criticism.

Old people names are funny. To go back to our old introductions...

I want to celebrate the names, the ridiculous and the sublime, that make baseball what it is. This is largely inspired by a Joe Posnanski post where he said that Wally Moon was the most 1950’s name ever. That sparked me to take on this new project. The rules are that we begin with the decade they started their career in (i.e. Wally Post comes up in the 50's, not the 60's).

Let’s go through each decade of Reds’ history, from 1890s through the 2000’s and select the greatest names. We will have three categories: Best Name, Most Cincinnati Name, and Most 1960’s Name. I will list the names and how they got on the list below, and then choose my winners. Feel free to disagree in the comments.

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So with all the early Votto trade talk focused on teams that actually match up well with the Reds for a trade, I got to thinking about how trades with the other teams might look.

So here's your mission: list who it would take to give up Votto to any or all of the 29 teams in the MLB.  Does it take 12 players to send Votto to Houston?  Do the Cubs build a package around Castro?  Straight up for McCutchen?

The rules: none.  Also, the prizes: none.

Give it your best shot.  And what better way to drive home the fact that WE ARE NOT TRADING JOEY VOTTO?

From Baseball America

Cincinnati Reds
Released: RHP Cesar Caceres, RHP Po-Cheng Chi, RHP Scott Gaffney, RHP Pat Quinn, LHP Tom Cochran, LHP Matt Leonard, LHP Luca Panerati, 2B Jake Kahaulelio, 3B Jorge Jimenez, SS Cristobal Rodriguez, OF Phil Bauer
Elected free agency: RHP Jared Burton, RHP Daryl Thompson
Added to 40-man roster: OF Denis Phipps
Removed from 40-man: RHP Jared Burton, RHP Daryl Thompson (both players outrighted to Triple-A)

The Reds quietly re-signed Dominican outfielder Denis Phipps last offseason following a season in which he topped out in Double-A and batted just .228/.295/.336 in 104 games for Carolina. Cincinnati believed in his raw tools, athleticism and bat speed, even though he hadn't produced results since rookie ball. The 26-year-old Phipps rewarded the organization in ’11 by batting a composite .346/.397/.527 with 12 homers in 122 games at Double-A and Triple-A. He still struck out more than you'd like to see (nearly 25 percent of plate appearances with Louisville) for a batter with gap-to-gap power, so don't be surprised if he gives back some progress next season. The Reds added Phipps to 40-man roster to prevent him from leaving as a minor league free agent.