Links

-- From USA Today:

Nationals general manager Jim Bowden would love to reacquire Reds outfielder Wily Mo Pena, recently offering pitching prospect Mike Hinckley

Toss in Zach Day and I wouldn't hesitate if I were DanO.

-- Batter's Box has a nice Reds preview up, and it's actually fairly optimistic:

Now, 15 years later, it's poised to happen again. The Reds need, say, seven of the following nine things to happen for a shot at the post-season:

   1. Ortiz, Milton and Wilson combine to win 40 games.
   2. One of Claussen and Hudson steps up to nail down the fourth starter's role with 12 wins.
   3. Weber, Weathers and Wagner get the ball to Graves consistently.
   4. Graves repeats his 40-save season of 2004.
   5. At least one of Kearns and Griffey stay healthy.
   6. The four outfielders, Griffey, Dunn, Kearns and Pena, combine to hit 115 homers.
   7. Casey wins, or at least makes a run at the batting title.
   8. Randa bounces back to his 2003 levels offensively.
   9. Some combination of Freel, Jiminez and Lopez solidifies the Reds middle infield, if not to Concepcion/Morgan levels, at least to Duncan/Larkin levels.

It won't all happen, of course. But enough of it will. And the 94-68 Reds will snag the NL Wild Card and ride an October wave into the World Series.

And you read it here first.