Red Reposter: The Mysterious Johnny Cueto

First up, Hal McCoy over at DDN thinks something's up with Johnny Cueto. It seems to be mostly about a secretive meeting in Dusty's office with the trailer and then a sideways Dusty comment, but I guess we'll see! I haven't heard any news to the positive or negative personally.

Dusty also had a quote about keeping Broxton as his 8th inning guy. Which I don't really mind, because it keeps Sammy as the fireman and Hoover as the Other Closer. It's always weird to see people complain about the existence of bullpen roles, then complain about what those roles are. But hey, that's a philosophical discussion for the comments.

In an old but great article over at the Mothership, Eric Nusbaum talks about the greatest slugger in Mexican League history, Hector Espino. It's an amazing story. Espino also has the only nickname better than END's:

He was quiet, like his father, but he soon began to hit the kind of home runs that would later make him famous across Mexico. The nickname evolved too. The Kid became the Kid Killer, El Niño Asesino. Later in his life, Espino would say he hated the nickname - he never killed any children. But that was his way of deflecting attention. Espino would always be baby-faced.

I can't find the original article online anymore, but the AP story about how former Reds LOOGY Jeremy Affeldt overcame his homophobia is heartwarming, interesting, and definitely worth a click on this Calcaterra blurb.

BP and Votto are leading the 2b and 1b ASG votes. Rad.

Speaking of BP (who is expected back for the weekend Cards series), the NYT went to his hometown of Stone Mountain, GA to talk to some of his ancestors. It's a neat little read. Thanks to the finest muffins for finding it.