Cincinnati Reds Links - 11/18/2015

The season is all wrapped up and with that comes the down time between the World Series and the Hot Stove League. Sure, there's been movement, but the real fireworks will begin at December 7th in Nashville, Tennessee at the MLB Winter Meetings. All of Redsland will have their eyes, ears, and attentions pointed toward the Music City to see how big of a fire Bob, Walt, and Dick really set to the current roster.

Until then, we're going to sit idly by and speculate whether or not Todd Frazier is actually going to be traded and by which weekend Aroldis Chapman will be traded from the Reds. Meanwhile, the Reds are busy cranking out promotional news and scheduling.

First, the Reds rolled out their scheduled promotions for the 2016 season. You'll notice that for however-many-consecutive years now, the Reds will be celebrating Star Wars weekend or whatever the heck. So for you Star Wars fans out there, the weekend of May 6th, 7th, and 8th is going to be a treat for you. On Friday, there will be a Star Wars themed Reds poster (or, presumably, a Reds themed Star Wars poster, there's no way to be sure). On Saturday, there will be an X-Wing fighter Mr. Redlegs bobblehead, and though I'm not a Star Wars geek, I'm assuming that's a thing that people will be interested in. On that Sunday, there will be a Star Wars fathead wall decal aimed at the children in your family. May the force be with all you, Reds fans.

Also of note, May 21st will feature a Ken Griffey, Jr. Dual Bobblehead, presumably in anticipation of his upcoming Hall of Fame induction. As I understand it, the bobblehead will feature both Junior as a Mariner (skinny) and as a Red (less skinny) to celebrate Griffey's entire (meaningful) baseball career. It's a pretty cool gesture from the Reds, and let's all get out the vote and get Griffey to the HOF.

That's not actually how it works, I'm told.

You'll notice on that handy schedule of promotions that it features less active player bobblehead giveaways for the home team. Actually, after my quick perusal over the list, I can't find a single regular Reds bobblehead giveaway. Probably because those who decide these things haven't a clue how many of the current Reds will still be current Reds when Opening Day rolls around. Couple that with the projected season ticket turnover and, man. It projects to be a bleak time at the ballpark.

We now have a hard target date for when baseball returns to our lives. Reds pitchers and catchers will report to spring training on February 18th, with their position player counterparts February 23rd. The Reds will begin their Cactus League domination against the Indians on March 1st, and will conclude their undefeated run through March 31st against those same Indians. And, of most importance, they will finish their exhibition schedule against the Pirates on April 2nd... at Victory Field in Indianapolis, Indiana. Yeah, I'm for sure going to be in attendance for that one.

Yesterday, the news broke that Paul Lessard will be taking his medical talents to our nation's capital, as Dusty Baker done went and pulled him right out from under us. Presumably, Lessard was tired of catching F-bombs from Bryan Price and was getting nostalgic for some good Dusty Stories, so away he went. The Reds promoted his assistant, Steve Baumann, to the head of the table.

Finally, our friend John Fay has transitioned from his beat job into his editorial role with WCPO, and, well, he's jumped into "taking" with both feet. Here's John's opinion on what the Reds should do with Aroldis Chapman, because John might be the only person on Earth who doesn't believe this ship has sailed far, far away.