Red Reposter - You Buying?

Baseball Prospectus lists the Reds as potential "buyers" at this year's trade deadline. Ben Lindbergh thinks the Reds might target an outfielder and he mentions Alex Rios as a good fit. Rios will likely cost too much for Cincinnati, both in salary and prospects, but he would be a nice fit I suppose. Here's the gist of what Lindbergh had to say:

In a perfect world, Billy Hamilton would be tearing up Triple-A and the Reds could call him up to play center, simultaneously filling an offensive hole and sliding Shin-Soo Choo back to right. In this world, though, Hamilton is hitting .243/.302/.339 and hasn't heated up lately, so he's unlikely to help. Ludwick threw for the first time since his surgery last Friday and won't return until mid-August at the earliest. Even then, he might not be back to full strength. Heisey should begin a rehab assignment soon, but he's more of a supporting cast member than a first-division starter. (PECOTA projects a .254 TAv.) Cincinnati's in-house solutions either aren't prepared to hit big-league pitching, aren't close to coming back from injury, or aren't that great to begin with.

Enter an outfielder from another organization-Alex Rios, for instance. Rios' successful season has made him one of the only marketable trade chips on the White Sox, and he started in center as recently as 2011, so his glove would probably be better than Choo's. He's signed for next season at $12.5 million (plus a $1 million buyout of a $13.5 million option for 2015), a rate that looks more reasonable than it did a few years ago, and his presence would give Cincinnati some insurance in the event that Choo walks away this winter.

Fangraphs: "Homer Bailey Arrives." - This was posted in the "Rotographs" portion of the site, so the piece is somewhat fantasy-centric. Nonetheless the praise of Bailey is glowing. Many in Reds-land were unwilling to be patient as young Bailey was forced to hone his craft at the major league level. For those of us who were patient, this season has been doubly rewarding. As Chris Cwik points out:

Through 90 innings this season, Bailey has nearly matched his season-high in WAR. His 2.68 FIP rates 11th among qualified starters. Bailey may have taken a while to reach meet his lofty expectations, but the wait is well worth it given his current performance.

BP talks about the walk-off win. Losing sucks. Winning is fun.

Nine years ago, Griffey hit his 500th HR on Father's Day. That was cool.

Taking a page from the KMiB playbook...

• With Bailey on the mound, we're looking for the series win today. "Bring it on Home(r) to me"
• Jay Bruce has hit 4 HR in his last 6 games, that's certainly not a "Bad Thing."
• There's no need to be an asshole you're not in Brooklyn anymore.
• You know you're livin', when it all becomes a blur.