by Al Behrman - AP

5 months ago: Cincinnati Reds center fielder Chris Dickerson makes a diving catch on a fly ball hit by Chicago Cubs' Mike Fontenot for an out in the eighth inning of a baseball game, Friday, June 5, 2009, in Cincinnati. Chicago won the game 2-1. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

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I had hoped to do a Red Reporter After Dark show tonight, but my schedule is getting in the way.  Alas, we'll just have to settle for the traditional open thread.  Here are some questions to get you started:

• Based upon what you've seen so far, and assuming these are the only choices, who should be the starting center fielder for the Reds on Opening Day - Willy Taveras, Drew Stubbs, or Chris Dickerson?
• With the Reds for all intents and purposes out of the race, who are you rooting for to make playoffs this year?  Are you hoping to see any specific players that you'd like to see or is it teams themselves that you are rooting for?
• Who should be in the Reds 5-man rotation right now (not counting pitchers who are injured)?
• If you could sign Matt Holliday or trade for J.J. Hardy, but only one or the other, which would you do?  I'll let you determine the terms of the deals that would be acceptable to you.
  
• What is the one sporting event in history that wish you could have seen live?  What is the most memorable sporting event you actually attended?
• Which 9/9/09 release item are you more excited about, Beatles Rock Band or The Machine by Joe Posnanski?

If you are watching the Bengals game tonight, might I suggest giving some love to Kirkendall, jsl413, and the rest of their crew at Cincy Jungle?

Tonight we will have another episode of the show that, for some reason, people say that they like.  It's Red Reporter After Dark (brought to you via TalkShoe), a talk show designed to give you an opportunity to hear the nasally tones of the Red Reporter crew set to the hollow echo of their parents' basements.  The show will air live from 9-10 PM ET and you can call in to the show toll free at (724) 444-7444 using show ID 98957.  If the talking thing is not for you, you can also participate by logging into the show and dropping your text comments in the chatroom.

Tonight's topics:

• What will the Reds record be at the end of the season?  Where will they finish in the standings?
• Shortstop, left field, center field, third base: who should be playing there?
• Should Johnny Cueto start again this season?
• Off Topic: Which baseball movie had the most realistic baseball action?
• Plus: minor league update and we'll be playing a game through the hour that I made up called, "Keep, Release, or Set on Fire?"

I hope you can join us.  It should be a lot of fun.  Well, at least it won't be the worst way that you've wasted an hour this week.

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

Plus, we'll pick out baby names for Lou Piniella!

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After a dubious first attempt at crossing over into a new medium last week, Red Reporter is once again going to give a shot at this talk show thing.  Join us tonight with your questions and comments about the Cincinnati Reds or whatever is on your mind.  The show will start right around 9:30 PM ET and will take place using TalkShoe again.  If you want to join the conversation, you can reach us via the TalkShoe software, available here, or you can call into the show and listen that way at (724) 444-7444 with the show code as 58957.  The call is toll free, though minutes will be used for cell plans and such.  If you want to listen, but only want to make your views known via text, or not at all, you can join the conversation via the link above without actually having to talk.

I hope you'll join us.  Hopefully we won't suck too much this week, but we're still learning to do this.  It feels a bit too much like being out of the basement though.

Tonight's topics:

• Winning, boy that sure beats losing.
  
• Minor League update.
  
• What will the 2010 rotation look like?
  
• Preview of the Giants series.
  
• If you could see one make believe concert, who would it be?
  

Plus, we'll take your questions about whatever is on your mind.

More photos » by Paul J. Bereswill - AP

Brandon Phillips is a very good 2B, but is he good enough that you would keep him at all costs?

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No big league baseball tonight, so if you are drinking, you're probably just a drunk.

Since you are a drunk, let's play some games.  Tonight's game is "Who would you keep?"  Here are the rules: Imagine you had to protect 10 players from the Reds organization from an expansion draft.  Who are the 10 players that you would keep?  For this experiment, imagine that salary doesn't matter.  Just pick the 10 players who you would hold on to at all costs.  This includes minor leagues and unsigned draftees.  You only get 10 and you can keep whatever positions you'd like to keep.

In other news, the Reds have announced their rotation for the Brewers series:
THUR: Homer Bailey vs Braden Looper
FRI: Bronson Arroyo vs Jeff Suppan
SAT: Aaron Harang vs Manny Parra
SUN: Johnny Cueto vs Yovani Gallardo

Enjoy tonight.  For good or bad, the season starts back up tomorrow!

These are the eight men that you will be watching tonight.  These are the eight men that Chris Berman will spout countless lame nicknames about tonight.  Can you feel the excitement?

As is tradition, just about anything goes in tonight's thread.  Try to keep it clean though.  Have fun!

More photos » by Tom Uhlman - AP

Will you come to the game if I promise that Joey Votto will hit a home run?

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I know not everybody has been following along with the FanPost that I set up, so I wanted to make sure I put this somewhere that all interested parties might see it.

Here are the details:

What: Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds
When: Saturday, July 18th
Where: Starting at Bar Louie at 5:30 PM, moving to GABP at 6:15 PM
Why: Edinson Volquez Bobblehead day, plus a big game against a division foe
Who: You, hopefully

What I need to know from you is if you want me to buy tickets for you so that you can sit with the Red Reporter group.  Right now, I am planning to buy tickets on Friday, July 10th, so I kind of need your answer soon.  If you would like me to pick up a ticket for you, please say so in the comments section.  If you plan to fend for yourself, that's cool, we can still meet up and you might even be able to sit with us if the crowd is not too huge.

At this point, I am planning to buy one ticket each for BK, obc2, ash, jch24, chandrathan, farneyismycopilot, Madville, and myself.  If you would like a ticket, please make sure I find out about it before Friday.

Also, if you are coming and would like me to buy a ticket for you, please let me know where you'd like to sit by answering the poll.  Keep in mind that because it is a bobblehead game, it will likely be difficult to move down to better seats in the park.

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I don't feel like reliving today's spectacular debacle, but I know some of you might be interested in talking about what is going on around the league tonight.  The Cubs have already beat the White Sox and the Pirates lost to the Twins.  Houston plays Texas this evening and the Tigers go into St. Louis to play the Cardinals.  Or you can talk about whatever is on you mind, even if it is just to vent about the Reds.

By the way, I've done a little research into this Paul Janish character.  Turns out he is a graduate of the Milford Academy.  That explains a lot about why we never see him.

Bud Selig is very charming when you see him on television, don't you think?

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Get your popcorn popped and put your slippers on, it's time for the time honored tradition of gathering the family around the high definition television and watching watching a confused, wrinkly old man talk about teenage boys.  Is there a more awkward sports commisioner in the history of sports commissioners than Bud Selig?

In case you've forgotten, the Reds have the 8th pick in this year's draft.  Most experts agree that they will take pitching with their first pick, though that's about the point where the agreement stops.  After the first two picks, this draft is pretty much wide open.  It really all depends on who is there when the pick comes around because it seems like nobody is sure who is going to be taken 3 thru 7 this year.

Ultimately though, it may not matter who the Reds take with their first pick.  The baseball draft is 50 rounds of yummy goodness for a reason.  It's basically a crapshoot and what teams lack in certainty they try to make up for with volume.  The Reds appear to have gotten some MLB potential out of the first round in recent drafts, but the past decade of first round picks leaves a lot to be desired:

2008 - Yonder Alonso
2007 - Devin Mesoraco
2006 - Drew Stubbs
2005 - Jay Bruce
2004 - Homer Bailey
2003 - Ryan Wagner
2002 - Christopher Gruler
2001 - Jeremy Sowers
2000 - David Espinosa
1999 - Ty Howington

Bruce and Sowers are the only picks currently on a Major Leaguer roster, with Bailey being the only other player with MLB experience this season.  Stubbs and Alonso could be up some time this year though, making the second half of this decade's drafts look a lot more promising than the first half.  Even still, the Reds are depending on several players taken in later rounds to make an impact in the next couple of years (Chris Valaika, Todd Frazier, Neftali Soto, Zach Cozart, Travis Wood, etc.).  Unlike the NBA and NFL, the distance in time between draft day and your big league debut means that a lot can happen to make that 30th round pick just as valuable as the 1st round pick.

The draft starts at 6pm ET and Thundering Turtle will be our guide through tonight's proceedings.  He's a fountain of knowledge when it comes to amateur baseball, so if you've got a question, don't hesitate to ask.