Red Reposter - Could Dusty Baker be Hitting His Namesake Trail?

I think most of us figured it was a foregone conclusion that Dusty Baker would be back with the team next year
But there are rumblings that Banana Bob could ditch him to complete his secret master plan of recreating the Reds in the image of the early-2000's Cardinals. Both Tony LaRussa and Baker are known quantities here, so I'm sure we all have an opinion one way or another. If given the choice, which one would you take?

The Fay doesnt see the Reds increasing payroll next year
and he actually expects them to decrease payroll, closer to $65 mil than $70 mil. He also says increasing payroll would likely do little good, as most good players are searching for multi-year deals. So a temporary increase wouldnt help much.

Hall o' Famer Hal says he's come to an agreement with the DDN
and he'll stay on as a freelance writer. He'll keep writing his blog "The Real McCoy" and doing his weekly "Ask Hal" segments. This is great news. He wont be following the beat, but he'll still be offering daily columns. This could be advantageous for us the readers, as he may be able to more freely speak his mind since he wont be so beholden to the team for access. We've certainly seen more of that since his retirement announcement. Congratulations Hal, and thanks for sticking around!

Speaking of Ask Hal
Here's a few of more interesting questions posed to him this week:
Q: Former GM Wayne Krivsky once intimated he was close to a trade with the Cleveland Indians for pitcher Cliff Lee, who threw 25 first-pitch strikes against the first 27 batters for the Phillies in game one of the NLDS. How close was that trade? — Bill, Villa Hills, Ky.
A: Krivsky was as tight-lipped about possible trades as a CIA agent with the FBI looking over his shoulder. However, there were rumblings out of Cleveland that there were talks. I don’t think a deal was close, unfortunately for the Reds. And what would the Reds do with a left-hander in the rotation?
Q: Why wouldn’t the Reds move Brandon Phillips to shortstop and try Juan Francisco at second instead of add another name to the already overstuffed outfield of Jonny Gomes, Jay Bruce, Drew Stubbs, Laynce Nix, Chris Dickerson and Willy Taveras? — Mike, Houston
A: Why wouldn’t they? Because manager Dusty Baker says over and over and over and over again: "I won’t move a Gold Glove second baseman to another position and weaken two positions." Phillips, though, would do it in a millisecond. Francisco at second? Don’t think so. From what I’ve seen of him at third base, he is Edwin Encarnacion’s twin brother.

Redleg Nation has a nifty list of all the Reds prospects to show up on the BA lists that have come out for each league
So it's a nice reference tool to see where all the young Reds are at right now.

THT runs down a list of the greatest last games in stadium history
inspired by the thriller that went down between the Twins and Tigers last week. Of course it wasnt the last game in Metrodome history, but if the Tigers had won it would have ranked pretty high up there. The last game at Crosley Field makes the list at #10, when the Reds bested the Giants 5-4.

"The Reds were rarely able to put together great teams in their many decades in Crosley Field. They were rarely particularly bad, but they didn't win many pennants. I suppose it's somehow oddly fitting then that they departed the place in the middle of a season in which they won a pennant, their first of four pennants in seven years. The Giants took a 4-2 lead and with Hall of Famer Juan Marichal on the mound, victory seemed well at hand. Instead, the Reds rallied, culminating with back-to-back homers by Johnny Bench and Lee May to lead off the bottom of the eighth."