There's plenty of news on this day for lovers in Reds' land.
- Miguel Cairo will be joining the Reds again this year - Relax. His .492 OPS will not be available to Dusty Baker. Cairo has been hired as a special assistant to the GM. Good guy, good for him.
- "Arbitration Showdown: Homer Bailey" - From Baseball Prospectus, so it requires a subscription. They make the arbitration cases FOR and AGAINST Bailey. Pretty great stuff. In the case FOR Bailey, they point out the consistent improvements he's made over the years. 2012 represented the 5th consecutive year in which Bailey improved his ERA, WHIP and BB/9 from the previous season.
- #JoeyVotto - the "Face of MLB?" - Major League Baseball is doing a silly promotion to identify the "Face of MLB." You vote through twitter, which means Votto should have a good chance. For some odd reason, Cincinnati is one of the most social-media savvy cities in the county. Anyone remember the #HatsOff contest?
- Barry Larkin will represent the US State Department in India - Larkin is helping to promote a program that encourages global participation in sports.
- Q&A with Ryan Lamarre - MiLB.com has a nice interview with the Reds prospect. Doug Gray has Lamarre as the Reds 18th best prospect.
- Topps Baseball Cards wants to rewrite history - Pete Rose never existed...
- Blind Baseball Championship - Great read. Blind people play a version of baseball where the ball and bases have a buzzer as a guide.
{Edit} - FanGraphs had an awesome piece on Votto yesterday - The quote of note: "Since Votto debuted, there have been more than twice as many no-hitters as Joey Votto pop-ups. Since 2009, there have been two (or three) more perfect games than Joey Votto pop-ups." Yeah... Awesome