The Gotham Baseball guy sent me an email after the last Reds rumor he wrote was posted here, and he's apparently an experienced writer with a decent contact list. He's got something new up on the Reds:
Tigers' GM Dave Dombrowski's asking price for Jeremy Bonderman remains high, and most teams are now moving on to less expensive options. It's now looking as if he'll stay put. However, Detroit is still interested in Adam Dunn, but for a fraction of what Cincinnati GM Wayne Krivsky is demanding Bonderman) or a similar top of the rotation starter) in any return. According to team insiders, Krivsky was one of the GMs pestering the Marlins about Dontrelle Willis last week.
Who knows if this is true obviously (even writers with good contacts get it wrong sometimes), but it's really disturbing if true. It would mean that Krivsky really doesn't get that the offense is going to be a problem next season.
At this point if Adam Dunn is traded I could easily see the Reds losing 90+ games. There's nothing in the system to replace his bat, and the Reds don't seem to be going after any hitters so far this offseason. Carlos Lee would make a ton of sense for the Reds, but I haven't seen even a suggestion from the Cincinnati media that the Reds might want to look at him, let alone an actual rumor.
Lot of time left, and like I said I don't really hate the Gonzalez signing, but I'm losing faith in Wayne Krivsky more and more and more as the days pass. He may very well be putting this team into a Pittsburgh Pirates like depth, and it's never easy for a major league team to extricate itself from that sort of situation.
If Krivsky turns out to be wrong with everything he's done since last July (and early returns don't look good) then it might be many, many years before the Reds are good again. Because Krivsky is betting big on his philosophy, and win you bet big you have a lot to lose.