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Red Reposter - In preparation for going to San Francisco, Reds make rookies wear flowers in their hair

By Charlie Scrabbles

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"Also, let's not forget - let's NOT forget, Dude - that keeping wildlife...an amphibious rodent, for uh...domestic...you know, within the city...that aint legal either."
"Also, let's not forget - let's NOT forget, Dude - that keeping wildlife...an amphibious rodent, for uh...domestic...you know, within the city...that aint legal either."

  • It's getting towards Trades Season
    And with that comes Blogger Overreaction to Stupid Trade Ideas Season. Hall o' Famer Hal is reporting that the Padres are willing to deal Ryan Ludwick, and the Reds could be a match if they were to offer up Chris Heisey, or perhaps prospects.  The Reds offense is one of the best in the league, but LF has been an obvious sinkhole and any boost in production, whether pitching, fielding, or hitting, should be welcomed and encouraged. Shockingly though, Ludwick represents a lateral move relative to Jonny Gomes, as he is out-wOBAing Gomes .323 to .322 so far this season. Honestly, Ludwick is probably a better candidate for the DFA than a trade. Oh yeah, and he's also making $6.7 mil this year. Cripes. Would you trade Heisey (.344 wOBA) for a more expensive Gomes, or would you just rather install Heisey into the starting lineup? Yeah, me too.

  • You know why they call him "Clutch Man Monie"?
    So far this season, his Opening Day four-hit performance (including the walk-off three-run-homer) stands as the best performance in the league as measured by WPA. Party on, Clutch Man.

  • Homer Bailey will start Saturday for the Bats
    and likely make one more before rejoining the Reds. He says he feels great and is experiencing no pain. A healthy happy Homer could be a very welcome boost to this embattled rotation.

  • Injury updates
    Jared Burton pitched off a mound for the first time yesterday, and "it went pretty good". He says he's still about two weeks from throwing live BP. Scott Rolen is still dealing with a viral infection in his throat, but Dusty thinks it should be better when they get to San Francisco. Hopefully he'll be back on the field tonight or tomorrow. Edgar Renteria is feeling better and should be back today or tomorrow as well.

  • Echoing the strains that have been sung in the Farmer's Only posts of late
    MLB.com says Bats' bats Yonder Alonso and Devin Mesoraco look ready to join the Reds. Pugsley is OPSing .968 while Yonder is at .890. Problem is, Ramon Hernandez is at .902 and Joey Votto is at .987 so far for the big club. Alonso could easily out-perform the Reds' hot mess in LF right now though, and appears to be getting the hang of playing the outfield. It would not surprise me to see him and Zack Cozart or maybe Todd Frazier make the leap in the coming weeks.

  • The new guy at Redleg Nation argues in favor of extending Brandon Phillips beyond his $12.5 mil option for next year
    Basically, he does the standard half-win decline projection and comes to the conclusion that BeeP will be a good sign at something like 3 years and $30 mil. I think this is going to be one of the most difficult decisions the Reds make in the coming few years. 3 years and $30 mil is probably a reasonable contract for a 31-year-old BeeP, but I'm afraid it's far too slight for him to sign. Dan Uggla got 5 years and $62 mil at a similar age, and unfortunately for the Reds that stands as a pretty reasonable comp (and Uggla's ugly decline so far this season should only give them more pause).

    Linden makes the argument that BeeP's speed makes him a good candidate for a graceful decline, but I'm more likely to argue conversely that second basemen in general tend to decline very fast (Roberto Alomar?). And that disregards just how debatable it is to label Phillips a "speed" guy. Either way, this is definitely something to keep an eye on moving forward.

  • Here's a sample of the FayChat from yesterday
    Why does Dusty Baker think Jonny Gomes is a solution to our problems in LF? He's a carreer .240 hitter- thats not going to take us very far Career .247 with a lot of pop.

    Fay - He hit .266 and drove in 86 last year. Baker's loyal.

    Do you think San Francisco is seriously considering on of the Reds catchers. If so, which one would the Reds be more likely to deal?

    Fay - I think there's a chance they'll make an offer for one. If the Giants want offense, Hernandez is the guy and he's only signed for this year. Hanigan is good fit for the Reds going forward. He's cheap, solid and can help Mesoraco a lot.

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