Let me start by saying: This is NOT a scam. You will only be scammed by this website when we explicitly warn you.

With that legal mumbojumbo out of the way, I'm extremely excited to announce that Red Reporter will be ON LOCATION at the Reds' spring training complex in Goodyear Arizona very soon.

Specifically, UncleWeez (John), -ManBearPig (Bryan) and KevinMitchellisBatMan (Wick) are traveling to camp for a long weekend beginning March 23. With any luck, they'll be timing up their visit with some important cuts and roster decisions. Maybe even a trade. I'll leave it to the thread to have them introduce themselves further, explain that they are not zombie Bitcoin generators and tell you about their hopes and dreams for our coverage. John Wilson, everyone's favorite uncle with a breathing problem, will serve as the CFO for this venture.

Which brings me to my next point. I'm keeping this to the sidebar because there will understandably be some distaste for the idea of asking for financial support to cover baseball. This is not a pay site and does not have any designs whatsoever on becoming one. It's fundamental that Red Reporter provide free access to content and a community that is minimally beholden to interests outside itself.

So I apologize in advance for being tacky, but we're humbly asking for donations. Just a couple bucks. Even just a buck, if you feel compelled, to help put a dent in their expenses. Our correspondents are going out of pocket to make this happen and I'd like to see if we can support them a little. Whatever you can give, no amount too small, is immensely appreciated.

All you have to do is go to PayPal and send a payment to jhwilson4@gmail.com

Whether you choose to give or not - and even if you think this is incredibly poor form and should be a FanShot - we'd love to know what content you'd like to see from our team of correspondents.

We know we're not a charity. I would use a different word than "donate" if I knew one. For this trip, we're simply asking for a little help to ease the sticker shock. Our writers are volunteers who are committed improving your experience here with experiments just like this. With a successful trip, this can be a jumping off point for a new level of influence for the blog, which benefits all of us.

I know our writers are going to represent us well in Goodyear, helping to gain exposure for our blog and make it a better platform for all of you.

You should know that you will be investing on a return of creative spring training coverage outside the echo chamber. We have video camera, inroads with some players and I know the guys are not planning to settle for run-of-the-mill. We would be grateful for whatever suggestions you might have for videos, interview questions and ways to quietly pry open locked equipment closets.

You should feel a stake in this, regardless of whether you choose contribute. Get excited.

A little more from John:

First, a quick preemptive THANK YOU for even putting up with this. I know Bryan, Wick, and I are all pretty pumped to be doing this.
The PayPal account is under my email, jhwilson4@gmail.com. Note the "h" in there.
I do feel dirty shilling for cash, but we will do our damndest to get some quality content!