Phil Dumatrait vs. Edwin Jackson
Remember when the Dodgers turned down Edwin Jackson for Adam Dunn? Heh.
Jerry Narron isn't happy with Reds pitching so far this spring:
"Everyone thinks our club is set, but we're begging for somebody to come out there and step on the mound and dominate the game," he said. "Right now, I'm looking for guys to get in the game and throw strikes, command the baseball, not pitch from behind, not miss by three feet - miss by three inches."The one thing that makes Mike Burns really stand out is that he's thrown strikes. Gosling, the other day in Fort Myers, he was throwing strikes. When he missed, he was missing with a purpose, it wasn't because he had no clue where the ball was going. I've seen a couple guys get on the mound and it's like they had no clue where they were throwing."
I really wouldn't be opposed to seeing Burns in the bullpen, but who gets cut? There are a lot of bodies fighting for pretty much zero slots. I already see seven guys who I'd be shocked to see sent to AAA:
David Weathers
Chris Hammond
Kent Mercker
Rick White
Ryan Wagner
Todd Coffey
Matt Belisle
Leftover:
Mike Burns
Mike Gosling
Brian Shackelford
Allan Simpson
Jason Standridge
Add to that the fact that I'm almost certainly forgetting people, and you've got a fairly crowded bullpen situation. Which isn't a bad thing, but I'm just having a hard time seeing room for a Mike Burns, or anyone from that second list really.