Imagine that picture with the players wearing nationals uniforms instead of yankees uniforms and number 11 being number 32.

Then go ahead and say this over and over..

Swing and a miss.

                  Swing and a miss.

          Swing and a miss.

Anyone watching the WBC is going to see alot of that from team USA’s left fielder, Adam Dunn. I saw that Adam Dunn was asked to be in the WBC after an injury to Brad Hawpe, and have been asking myself WHY ever since. My first reaction is WHO IN THE WORLD IS BRAD HAWPE?! I looked up his stats, and although they aren’t bad (.283 avg in 08 with 25 yacks and 85 RBI’s), are they worth an invite to the WBC?? There is no other player better than Hawpe that we could invite?? Not only was Hawpe a huge mystery but when he got injured, they replaced him with the imfamous Adam Dunn. I can’t express how much I laughed out loud when I heard he made the WBC. Expect Dunn to swing and miss, swing and miss, and swing and miss some more. Can’t wait for the world to see what an atheltic, well polished left fielder looks like.

Team USA is DOOMED!

Other RT news, how about Bailey and Owings?? They have looked pretty good in their starts, especially Bailey. Has he figured it out and turned it around?? I wouldn’t be so sure of anything yet.

Today the reds won their first spring training game 7-0 with 14 hits and allowing only 4. Jerry Hairston hit a grandslam in the 5th with Rosales contributing 2 RBI’s and McDonald with 1. Volquez pitched 3 scoreless innings; giving up 2 hits one walk and 3 SO’s. Volquez was good but also throw close to 50 pitches. He needs to get his pitch count down if he wants to last longer than 6 innings come regular season. Cueto was unstoppable today. He pitched 3 scoreless innings, giving up NO hits 1 walk and striking out 3. Bailey also looked good, throwing a scoreless 7th with 2 SO’s. Will we see more of that come this season?

There was some question on reds message boards about Hernandez missing a throw over to 3rd base. However, on the radio Brantley said the pitch was in the dirt and Edwin missed the tag.

Check out the reds box score:  http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2009_02_25_cinmlb_tbamlb_1

Dusty announced the other day that BP will bat cleanup for the reds this year. Dusty, honestly, what are you thinking? BP is the biggest free swinger on our team and you want to put him in a run producing situation?? BP needs to bat 3rd, a spot where the their is less pressure and he can put the ball into play more often. Then you put Votto at 4th because he is a smart hitter AND can hit from both sides of the plate. You also put BP’s speed in-front of Votto rather than behind him.

Giving BP the cleanup role before a ST game has started is flat out wrong. Not only does he not fit in the 4 hole, Dusty is completly forgetting that everyone on the team needs to “win their spot”. Giving BP the cleanup spot before ST starts isn’t making him work for anything!

Dusty strikes again.

In a recent interview WIlly Taveras was quoted saying “I can steal 100 bases”. Is this really possible? Well, in order for this to happen Willy HAS to get on base more. A .302 on base percentage will NEVER get him 100 steals. Jamie Quirk, a bench coach for the rockies last year, said that Willy is still learning. “Willy didn’t even know how to steal third base until last year” Quirk said.

The main thing I really like about Willy is that he knows what he needs to do get better. In that same interview he admited that he needs to get his on base percentage up and get more infield hits. He said in order to do this, he needs to play more consistently. As a leadoff hitter, he only had 479 AB’s which is very low for a leadoff hitter. An everyday leadoff hitter can get up to 600 AB’s in a season. It sounds like Willy T really has his mind in the right direction and really looking to improve his game. “It is a pleasure to play for Dusty Baker, a pleasure to play with my friend Edwin Encarnacion and a pleasure to play for the Reds” Taveras said.

Maybe 100 stolen bases is not so far fetched of a goal.

Today the Reds avoided arbitration with 3B Edwin Encarnacion by agreeing to a 2 year contract. According to the reds home page the details of the agreement haven’t been made available but Hal Mccoy said the 2 year deal is believed to be worth about $5 million.

I think the deal is pretty fair for both sides and is a safe deal for the reds. The reds are telling Edwin he better “paint the town red” or he is gone in 2 years. Edwin better step up this year or a long term contract seems definently out of the question.

So whats more important for you.. Celebrating Valentines day with your loved one or Celebrating that the Reds pitchers and catchers reported today?? Following a physical, pitchers and catchers will report on the field at 1:30 today. 29 pitchers are reporting and 8 catchers.

Aaron Harang, Fransico Cordero, Bill Bray, Jay Bruce, and Chris Dickerson came to came early. They got their before the weekend. I appreciate that. Especially from veterans like Aaron Harang and Fransico Cordero.

I’m really hoping for Micah Owings for that 5th starting spot. Hopefully he will be healthy and pitch well enough to earn the 5th spot. Besides Owings, we don’t really have a dependable 5th starter.. Malony is a couple years away and who knows with Homer!

It’s about that time of year again which all reds fans look forward too- Spring Training. I personally am heading down for two games in the second week in March. Should be great to get away from the cold and rainy weather and be able to relax, drink some beers, and watch some baseball. LOL. Going into this ST without Dunn and Griffey penciled in as starters, poses a lot of questions.

1. Like the previous blog I posted, who is going to be our left fielder? Almost too many options to list!

2. Walt throughout the whole offseason was stressing the fact that the reds need a right handed run producer. Well Walt, we didn’t exactly acquire one. So, who is going to step up? Gomes? Hairston?

3. Do we have a dependable and serviceable catcher? Hanigan has alot to prove and Hernandez didn’t prove ANYTHING last season.

4. Volquez and Cueto. Can Volquez pitch like he did the beginning of the year and can Cueto pitch more innings and avoid the “sophomore slump”?

5. Will Harang pitch in his 08 form or his dismal 09 form? That will make or break out pitching rotation this year.

6. Who will step up to be the 5th starter? Josh Fogg was PATHETIC last year and so was pretty much everyone else they put into that spot.

7. Micah Owings. Owings has been kind of overlooked this offseason and could surprise. He is definitely a serviceable 5th starter when healthy and the guy can flat out rake. I can see him as definitely being a fan favorite.

8. Can Crusty Dusty not play favorites and prevent Jacque Jones from being a Corey Patterson clone?

9. Is Alex Gonzalez healthy? The guy hasn’t played in forever and is 31.

10. Homer Bailey. This is the season for decision time for Homer and the Reads. If Homer doesn’t show any promise, he is gone. However, if he does he could contend for the #5 spot.

11. Arthur Rhodes. A good, low risk signing in the offseason but can he fill the shoes of Affeldt. Many people overlooked the great job Affeldt did for us against lefties last year. If Rhodes puts up the same performance he did in 09 against lefties he could be an all-star.

What do Norris Hopper, Chris Dickerson, Jerry Hairston, Lance Nix and Jacque Jones all have in common? They are all competing for one starting outfield position- a position that none of them will win. So, who is going to win it? With Spring Training right around the corner, this seems to be the biggest question. The favorites have to be Dickerson and Hairston who heavily contributed to the club last year. However, Hairston may be the starting SS, making Keppinger number one off the bench. Dickerson produced last year batting .304 on the year BUT only played in 31 games and had only 102 AB’s. Can the career minor leaguer keep the stats of last year being the starting day left fielder? I wouldn’t be so sure. Remember, the best he hit in AAA is .287; which is far from spectacular. Hopper coming off of surgery which prevented him from playing all year will probably make him a strong canidadate to be starting at AAA. Layne Nix, although young and able to play all three outfield positions, has no chance to make the starting day roster. He has never found a grove hitting in his entire major league career and has only played in 91 games over the past three years. Jacque Jones, because of Dusty’s love for his former players, will most definitly be on the bench to start the year but I can’t see him being our starting left fielder.

You might be asking yourself well if it’s not any of them, who will be the starting left fielder? You heard it from me -watch out for Jonny Gomes. What seperates him from the other potential left fielders is that he is right handed. The reds desperatly need a right handed hitter to step up and produce. Gomes has shown he could do that in 2005 when he hit .282 with 21 HR’s and 54 RBI’s. for the Rays. He has never been able to get back to his 2005 form because he hasn’t been given the chance to play consistently. In order for Gomes to regain his 05 form his must play everday. He has been given the chance to prove himself and to earn a starting spot. A change of scenery will benefit Gomes and you WILL see him as our staring left fielder.

I just have a short and quick update for everyone today as the Cincinnati Reds have signed former Chicago Cub players Daryle Ward and Jacque Jones. Yep, it sure seems like Dusty will take any player that once put on a Cub uniform lol. Both contracts are minor league contracts with invitations to spring training.

It will be interesting to see if Jones does much after sitting out the second half of last season after being cut by the Tigers and Marlins. He did go down and play winter ball in Mexico this off season and batted .314 (37-for-118) with three homers, 15 RBIs and a .349 on-base percentage in 29 games.

Spring Training is just around the corner so keep checking back! We are also interested in having one or two more Reds bloggers help out on the site this weekend. If you are interested please click the contact us link at the top of the site and send us an email!

The Cincinnati Reds have probably found their shortstop for the 2009 season as they have came to terms on a one year deal worth a guranteed $2 million with utility player Jerry Hairston Jr. Hairston will fill the stop at shortstop since Alex Gonzalez will not be ready to go by opening day. Hairston has the opporitnuty to raise his pay all the way up to $4 million if he hits all of his incentives.

The Reds have also invited 11 players to spring training which kicks off next month. Laynce Nix, Aaron Fultz, Ryan Jorgensen, Darnell McDonald, Ron Flores, Jeff Kennard, Adam Pettyjohn, Chris Kroski, Wes Bankston, Kevin Barker and Luis Bolivar were the 11 player that received invites.

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