It's Friday Red Reporters, and that means I revel in my favorite routine. I call in an order of Chili's baby back ribs for Curbside Pickup, queue up last night's Letterman on Hulu, and review Reds-related internet links for your reading pleasure. Who says RR is a haven of group-think?
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Ticket sales are brisk as us fans start to believe in this team
Drawing fans to GABP has been difficult since the place was opened for one reason: the team has been awful. This year's vintage looks totally fer reals and the fans are fired up. "We knew even toward the middle of last week how big this (Atlanta) series was going to be (at the gate)," said John Davis, Reds vice president of ticket sales. "Our walkup numbers have been good, but the last couple of weeks we're seeing people buying tickets a week, two weeks, a month ahead of time. They're planning their weekends." Slyde wrote a few weeks ago about how the team is showing signs of a first-class organization, and this here is probably the #1 example: if you buy season tickets for 2011 right now, you get August and September of this season for free. -
Walt Jocketty cannot confirm nor disconfirm the teams' trade prospects
But what he's saying publicly is that you shouldn't be getting your hopes up for Hanley Ramirez (yet). "I like our club. I've always liked our club," Jocketty said. "We still have plenty of depth at Triple-A. If something comes along that makes sense for us, we'll put a proposal together. Right now, I don't see anything that makes sense for us to get involved in." Jocko is an expert at this kinda stuff though. We never saw the Rolen and Jr deals coming, and so now it wouldn't surprise me if a deal came out of nowhere before the deadline. I'd still like another sturdy arm for the 'pen and a competent shortstop, but I'm a dreamer. -
Mike Leake will be skipped this time through the rotation
On his normal schedule he would have started tonight, but he will now wait until Tuesday in Pittsburgh. His pitch cap has also been lowered from 100 to 90. Leake seems cool with it though, as a cool guy like him is pretty much cool with just about everything. "I assume this is the last time (I'll be skipped)," he said. "After this, I'll keep pitching until my arm's tired or the season is done." -
The Fay says the Reds did a lot of little things to beat the Brewers' brains out on Wednesday
Mike Leake's pinch hit walk tops that list, but for me, the BeeP dynamo off the slide in LF was the biggest little thing of them all. Also, Dusty says Orlando Cabrera hurt his shoulder sliding into 3B. If I was a betting man, I'd put money on him being in the lineup this evening. I guess we can hope for a Paul Janish sighting, but whatevs. -
Hit Tracker lists Brandon Phillips' monstrous home run at 449 feet
It's only the 3rd farthest homer of the year for the Reds though, as Votto and Gomes have both hit one a bit farther. Neither of them were grand slams, however. -
Sheldon serves up a compendium of players availabilia
Of course, by the time this Reposter goes to press I'm sure at least a few of these names will have been scratched off. That being said, here are a few guys I wouldn't mind seeing had (at the right price, natch): Leo Nunez, Scott Downs, Kyle Farnsworth (wouldn't it be so badass to have him and Gomes on the same side in a bench-clearing brawl?), Josh Willingham, and B.J. Upton. -
The Twins set the reliever market last night by getting Matt Capps from the Nationals
The Twins are sending catcher Wilson Ramos as the centerpiece of the deal. Ramos ranked 58th on BA's List coming into the season, but has had a rough year in AAA. If a ~50 prospect and then some is what it takes to get a reliever in this market, you can count me out. No way in hell would I send Yonder Alonso on his way for a guy who will only throw around 20 innings the rest of the season.
Wait for it though. Here comes the sucks part: The Pirates dropped Capps like one of those dropping things this winter because they didn't want to pay him in arbitration. They then turned around and signed old man Octavio Dotel for more than what Capps got from the Nats. This little baseball tale reinforces two age-old axioms: relievers are more unpredictable than Steve-O (dated reference!) and the Pirates should give up and go back to school for their RN.