Red Reposter: Vote or Die

On his blog, Mo Egger defends the Homer Bailey contract, despite the fact that Bailey's slow start is causing some grumblings in Reds country.  Egger's point is that the thinking behind the deal was sound, even if the results aren't what people were hoping for at the time.  He draws comparisons to several other deals in recent Cincinnati sports history.  I think Egger is right as far as he goes, but by comparing the Bailey extension to other moves that unambiguously hurt their teams, he seems to be ignoring the fact that Bailey is but two months into a five year deal.  Between Bailey's track record of year to year improvement and the skyrocketing price of starting pitching, there's no reason at all to write off the Bailey extension as a mistake at this point.

John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer has an article about Donald Lutz, with some nice quotes from Bryan Price about what Lutz brings to the Reds.  Price also drops the hint that Lutz is likely to get a start during the Arizona series that begins tonight.

On his excellent blog The Baseball Codes, Jason Turbow analyzed the scuffle between the Rays and Reds Sox from this past weekend.  He points out the hypocrisy inherent in Boston's taking offense at a stolen base with a reasonably large lead, using an example from last year's postseason, and debates the continued relevance of that particular unwritten rule in the modern game.

The first round of voting results for the National League All-Star Game were released yesterday. As usual, there are no real surprises as far as which players lead their positional lists.  Unfortunately, but probably deservedly, only two Reds cracked the top five vote getters at their respective postions:  Brandon Phillips is in third place at second base, and Devin Mesoraco is in fifth at catcher.  It's pretty unlikely that any Reds start in the All-Star game this year.

If you're looking for something to read this afternoon, SB Nation's Joe DePaolo has a long form piece about a sophomore right handed pitcher for the Iona College Gaels baseball team named Mariano Rivera.  The son of the Mariano Rivera you know about wants to be his own person and make his own way in baseball.

Today is Eric Davis's 52nd birthday.  Eric the Red was one of my favorite players as a kid, so the idea that he's on the wrong side of fifty makes me feel a bit old myself, but the man still looks fantastic.  In honor of his birthday, take a moment to peruse his stats and imagine what he could have accomplished if he had been able to stay healthy.

Finally, if you're a University of Cincinnati Bearcats fan, their blogDown the Drive needs your help.  They're looking for contributors in all kinds of areas.