What began humbly as a pretentiously-titled section on the left sidebar of this website now contains "several" pages rather than "a couple." The Reference Desk is your easily-accessible resource for up-to-date player information - contract status, injury histories and now, Twitter handles. Here are some of the recent additions to our holdings, which I hope will help answer FAQs about the Reds and better prevent you from ever having to visit any other site.

Reds Players on Twitter

This section dropped just this week. I'm not nearly as proficient on Twitter as many of you, but this is my attempt to put together a listing of all current Reds players who have active Twitter handles. Some Tweet more than others. I've left off Ryan Madson, who it seems had an authentic handle at some point but hasn't Twatt (not positive that's the past tense of Tweet) in nearly two years. I'm hoping to add Reds media personalities, veterans and a Dallas Latos category soon. Feel free to offer your additions and corrections.

Complete Org Chart (MLB Daily Dish)

This was discussed in a FanShot, but MLB Daily Dish - SBNation's news and trade rumors pub - mapped the players and contract vitals in the Reds' system from low-A to the majors. You should offer your feedback here or on their thread if you haven't already.

2012 Spring Training Invitees

Hopefully this is a current list of all non-roster invites to big league camp this Spring. I'm not sure yet if Wifrin Obispo - who was just signed to a minor league deal and who may actually be a food and drug conglomerate - received an invite. Let me know if we missed anyone.

Any suggestions for information that isn't currently easy to find and might fit in this section would be more than welcome. As soon as we wrap the Community Prospect Rankings, we'll be looking at Composite rankings of Reds' farmhands and logging prospect histories, leaning on past Community rankings. Stay tuned. That is, stay near the Desk and please be quiet.

I'm fascinated by relief pitchers. They are interesting because they are clearly the third-most important squad on any baseball team. Bullpens are overwhelmingly populated by cast-offs, riff-raff, no-good-nicks, and ne'er-do-wells. Building a bullpen is less like selecting a playground kickball team and more like staffing a pirate ship. The only ones willing to take the job are ones that can't get jobs doing anything better.

See, most relief pitchers end up in the bullpen. What I mean is, they begin their baseball lives doing something else. Dennis Eckersley was a 20-game winner as a starter before he became a dominant closer. Mariano Rivera was a promising starting pitcher prospect before he magically invented the cutter and became the best closer ever. Trevor Hoffman began his career as a shortstop before going on to set the saves record. Countless guys like Nick Masset and Sean Marshall wash out of the rotation for various reasons, frustrating their managers and GMs, only to end up making careers for themselves as relievers. So most relievers end up in the bullpen, because they started doing something else and failed at it. It's the cold truth, but it's the truth all the same. The bullpen is like grad school for ball players.

The guys that really fascinate me the most are the guys that begin their careers as relief pitchers. These aren't the straight-A students who fell in with the wrong crowd and gradually turned into high school misfits. These are the badass kids who showed up late the first day of kindergarten with half a pack of Marlboro Reds rolled up in their t-shirt sleeve and someone else's blood on their jeans. They didn't become relief pitchers, they were born relief pitchers.

I bring all this up because I've had a secret crush on one of these bad boys for a while now. The week after the Mat Latos trade, the same day as the Sean Marshall trade, the Reds made a much less interesting move. They picked up Josh Judy off the waiver wire. He had been DFA'd by the Indians to make room for whatever. He was the 41st man on a 40-man roster, and so the Reds were able to pick him up for nothing. Teams collect relievers like him every off-season, pulling them out of the bargain bin with the slim hope they might turn into something valuable. This year, the Reds have picked up the likes of Andrew Brackman, Luis Atilano, and Kanekoa Texeira to go along with Judy. I think I can confidently say that none of these guys will throw meaningful innings for the Reds this year. But there is just something about this Judy fella that I can't quite let go.

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Barring an unforeseen - and probably unfortunate - move, the Reds will enter the 2012 season with Zack Cozart and Scott Rolen at the top of the depth chart for SS and 3B, respectively. Both players, though at opposite ends of the career spectrum, suffered major injuries to their moving parts last season (requiring surgery). While you consider the most depraved way to misinterpret that vague description, let's turn an eye to the younger half of that triple play combo; which should be called: "the Old Man and The C."

Let's look at the young master Cozart. After a very nice, contact-driven showing in Louisville, Cozart sustained his AAA success over 38 plate appearances in Cincinnati (though with nary a walk). His defense has often been described as only a small step down from Paul Janish and his error-free performance in the bigs did nothing to gainsay that. Though of course it's hard to get a read on him if you haven't seen him up-close in the Reds' system.

On July 23, Cozart left a game against the Braves after injuring his elbow applying a tag. Initial x-rays were negative, but further investigation and abortive attempts to hit in the cage led to a decision to have reconstructive Tommy John Surgery on his non-throwing elbow in mid-August. He was projected to be ready to go for Spring Training 2012, but there's no way to know for sure - even if you are Zack Cozart. On top of that, team-given timetables are notoriously lowball.

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Saves by Francisco and homers by Votto,
"Blogging since 1869" was our motto,
Trades for pitching that promise us rings,

These are a few of my favorite things.

It might have been a forgettable baseball season for the Reds this year. But outside of the frustrating one-run losses and bases-loaded strikeouts which #occupied way too much of my attention, there was plenty to celebrate in the greater world. And not just inconsequential events like political revolutions or the end of a war, but important things like movies, music, and video games. Jamie Ramsey polled various Reds about their favorites in 2011 - here's a snippet:

• Latos: Favorite "Thing" - Getting a late birthday gift of being traded to a talented team ready to compete!
• Heisey: Favorite "Thing" - Shooting my buck in Arkansas with Travis Wood. (check out the pic)
• Homer: Favorite Video Game - Video games are making kids FAT and LAZY, I dont play them.

So what were some of your favorite things in 2011?

I'm a little late to this as I've been touring the holiday travel delay circuit. But, I have to say, I wasn't exactly "amped" when I heard about this trade - one that could potentially become harder to defend if the two prospects are revealed to be more than roster-filler. Sean Marshall is a reliever with one year before free agency, while Travis Wood is a starting pitcher with 5 years of team control who - as recent as last year - was getting everyone all excited as a potential rotation fixture.

The best thing to recommend it is that it's an all-in move. If it wasn't abundantly clear before, eliminating roster redundancy and playing for next season is Walt's MO this winter. This deal undoubtedly makes the Reds better in 2012, as they needed a top-flight reliever AND a second lefty in the bullpen, while Wood was on the outside looking in to the rotation. Depending on whether you weight next season's playoff hopes above all else, this trade could easily be spun as a winner.

Of course, evaluating the players involved is essential to forming an opinion about this trade, regardless of whether you're more into years of control vs. 2012 success. A closer look at Marshall reveals that he's much more than just a second banana to Bill Bray in the bullpen (bang). He started his first two seasons in the bigs and has both shown durability while, judging by his 2010-11, just hitting his prime years. He's been an elite, closer-caliber reliever during the last two seasons who, while better against lefties, has nice-looking splits against righties too. And even though Marshall is a free agent in 2013, he's a good candidate to be a ranked by Elias (UPDATE: this doesn't exist anymore, but Marshall could still be a top free agent under the new CBA) and be offered arbitration - so the Reds could get Marshall back or a 2013 first-round pick out of the bargain.

Wood, entering his age 25 season, has plenty of room to grow into his minor league line. He's been impressive both in the minors (PitcherOY in 2010) and during the first half of his 2010 debut , but was eminently hittable last season. With a fastball that averages 89-90 and some scouting opinion that put him in the 5th starter/journeyman range, the brain trust may have seen something that wasn't fixable for Wood's future as a major league starter.

I don't like giving up 5 years for one, especially since I thought Wood had a role to play next season and would see some kind of bounce-back, but I see a lot of virtue in Walt's strategy to take the org's best players who were either blocked or on the margins on the 25-man roster and turn them into a major upgrade of the pitching staff.

Surprising news from John Fay that the Reds are "likely" to take someone in tomorrow's Rule 5 Draft and that they are trying to arrange a trade with a team who has an earlier pick. As you may remember, this is how Josh Hamilton came to town prior to the 2007 season. The Chicago Cubs, who had arranged to pick for the Reds, selected Hamilton and traded him to the Reds for cash considerations.

Having cleared Jeremy Horst off the 40-man to make room, the Reds must have their eye on at least one player they're hoping to fill that open spot. According to the Rule 5 Rules (which is also the name of a GM rock power trio at the Winter Meetings), drafted players must stay on drafting team's active roster or MLB DL for an entire season or else be offered back to their original team for a pittance.

Given that these players were left vulnerable by their parent clubs, we're almost certainly not dealing with 2012 starters out of the gate. But they need to be at least potential bench contributors with upside to justify parking them on the roster - even if only until the end of spring training. So whoever the Reds are targeting would have to fill their needs in the bench and lower rungs of the bullpen: a back-up SS, a 5th OF, a lefty reliever of a middle/long relief mop-up guy. If they luck into spot starting and impress, then it's all gravy.

Vlad over at Buc's Dugout has done an incredibly detailed run-down of Rule 5 eligibles, complete with videos for every player. It's one of the most thorough Rule 5 posts - or, really, posts about minor leaguers in general - I've ever read. So there's no point in reinventing the wheel. Taken with a general scan of the major-league ready players available in the Reds' areas of need (as opposed to high-upside players a rebuilding team would have to "hide" on their active roster), here's a list of players in whom the team should be most interested (2012 age and highest level in parentheses):

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Well, it's that time of year again. The time of year where we're reminded of what we love the most. The time of year to come together with friends and loved ones and celebrate. The time where we get all kinds of cool stuff. Yes, it's Redsfest.

When I originally had the idea for this article, I was surprised that we hadn't done it sooner here at RR. I mean, who's more qualified in Reds-related good times than we are? What we've decided to do is a "do's and don'ts" format list to help you get the most out of your Redsfest experience. Being one of the RRs most familiar with the area, FordhamRam is providing the suggestions of stuff to do downtown, while Redsfest veterans 'tHan, obc/Ewok, and myself want to make sure you have a great time and avoid rookie Redsfest mistakes.

DO:

Make sure you're up with the Reds social networking sites. Now, more than ever, because they've announced that they'll be announcing where players are signing on their twitter feed (@Reds). If you can keep up with it throughout the day, you're likely to get to autograph lines faster, which is especially important since they're introducing a cap of 225 autographs per session this year. (BK)

DON'T:

Overpay for parking. If you’re from out of town or a serial suburbanite, parking downtown near the Duke Convention Center may appear a bit intimidating. This does not have to be the case. Metered parking can be found downtown until 6 PM on Friday and Saturday (and after 6 PM, it’s free). Many of these meters give you the opportunity to pay by credit card. If parking garages are more your thing, your best bet for a deal will involve a bit of a walk. Parking for as low as a $1.00 an hour may be had at the Garfield Garage (Enter from Ninth between Vine and Race Streets)

or the Gramercy Garage (Enter from Seventh between Elm & Race Streets) on Friday. If you’re willing to pay a bit of a premium, you can find closer parking to Duke at Fountain Square or one of the privately-owned lots, but prepare to pay a premium. Obviously, parking will likely be cheaper and more plentiful on Saturday. (FordhamRam) ('tHan mentions carpooling if you're able to, which I think is a good idea)

More after the jump...

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Position: Starting Pitcher

2011 Innings breakdown: Bronson Arroyo - 21%

                                            Mike Leake - 17%

                                           Johnny Cueto - 16%

                                            Homer Bailey - 14%

                                           Edinson Volquez - 11%

                                           Travis Wood - 10%

                                           Dontrelle Willis - 8%

                                           Sam LeCure - 2%

                                          Chad Reineke - 1%

                                          Matt Maloney - 0%        

2011 Composite pitching line (over 32 starts):

2011 Composite NL average starting pitcher pitcing line (over 32 starts):

2012 Contract status:

Arroyo - signed through 2013

Leake - not yet arbitration eligible

Cueto - signed through 2014

Bailey - arbitration eligible (1^st arb year)

Volquez - arbitration eligible (2^nd arb year)

Wood - not yet arbitration eligible

Willis - free agent

LeCure - not yet arbitration eligible

Reineke - free agent

Maloney - with Minnesota

Advanced minor league depth:

Pedro Villarreal - age 23, 4.39 ERA at A+, AA

Daryl Thompson - age 25, 4.26 ERA at AA, AAA

Tom Cochran - age 28, 3.55 ERA at AAA

Scott Carroll - age 26, 5.39 ERA at AAA

James Avery - age 27, 4.70 ERA at AA

Kyle McCulloch - age 26, 5.25 ERA at AA, AAA

Matt Klinker - age 26, 5.50 ERA at AA, AAA

Relative win increase, 2011 vs. 2010: -5

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