It’s a little known fact among baseball enthusiasts, online betting fans and even pundits, but the Cincinnati Reds haven’t been in arbitration since 2004.

As the 2011 season approaches, they are doing best to keep that streak alive.

At the beginning of the offseason, the Reds had a slew of arbitration-eligible candidates and slowly, one by one, they have been chipping away.

Joey Votto agreed to a three-year extension worth $38 million, which takes him through his last three years of arbitration eligibility. The Reds also agreed to contract extensions with Johnny Cueto, Bill Bray and Jay Bruce as well.

Cueto received a four-year $27 million extension, Bray earned a one-year, $645,000 contract and Bruce picked up a six-year, $51 million extension.

That leaves Edinson Volquez as the final piece of the puzzle. It’s reported that Volquez is asking for about $2 million in arbitration while the Reds are countering with $1.3 million.

Aside from their major moves to keep their core intact, the Reds also signed a couple of free agents. They signed World Series star Edgar Renteria from the San Francisco Giants and outfield Fred Lewis from the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Reds led the National League in virtually every major hitting category and will return virtually their entire core intact. The funny thing is that it’s actually their young pitching staff that is projected to be the franchise backbone in the future, so the Reds should not only be playoff contenders again in 2011 but they should rise up to be serious World Series contenders as well.

OK so I know we don’t have sole possession of first place in the NL Central, but even being in a three way tie for first is something I never thought was going to happen. Not even two weeks ago!

Since the last time I posted alot of stuff has went down. Is that Rosales guy fun to watch or what?? Of course, I don’t think he’ll continue with his .295 average the rest of the year but, at least he would be a good guy off the bench. 15.6 seconds around the bases for a home run.. HAHA! I sure hope, if he continues hitting the way he has, that he stays the starting 3b…I’ve never been a big EE fan.

Besides Rosales, I can’t pick out one particular player that has improved because EVERYONE has! It seems like everyone has started hitting better, which is always fun to watch!

BP has as many RBI as Votto- 26

Willy T is hitting .322

Ramon Hernandez is hititng .279

Votto is hitting .374- highest BA in the NL!

Hanigan is hitting .310

Look at our starting pitching- We could have four 15 game winners! Cueto 1.93 ERA

Even with all the good… there is still going to be somebody that is bad. Take in part, Mike Lincoln. God, I hate him. 13.1 IP 19 Hits and a 9.35 ERA… JESUS thats awful!

PLEASE, OH PLEASE Walt bring up Pedro Viola to replace him. We could add another lefty to the pen and look at his AAA stats… WOW. 14.2 IP 6 hits and a 0.61 ERA. Bring up Pedro!

I apoligize for not posting in awhile, however, I hope people check back more often because I will be posting more frequently.

I posted awhile back talking about how much I loved the Reds 5’6 relief pitcher Danny Herrera. Is this guy fun to watch or what?! I mean I wouldn’t care if the guy was 5’6, 6’0 or 6’8 the dude can pitch. Watching a screwball pitcher is something not every fan gets to see so Reds fans… you are lucky. He doesn’t do anything fancy or throw 98 MPH fastballs but he does do one thing…. gets outs.

I remember reading an article not too long ago which talked about Josh Hamilton. The article was based around how Josh is a type of player that people stop whatever they are doing to watch… kind of like a Barry Bonds or Albert Pujols. Well, the entire time i was reading this article, I thought to myself who my “stop-to-watch” player is. It didn’t take me long to think who it was.. it is Danny Herrera. Laugh all you want but Reds fans that watch games regularly can back me up that Herrera is fun to watch. It’s been noted that he can throw 12 different pitches, with his fastball topping out at 81 MPH.

People forget that Danny Herrera was the “throw in” player in the Josh Hamilton trade. Sure Edinson is struggling right now and I’d love to have Josh Hamilton bat in this lineup but I want people to not forget about Herrera. He has posted a 2.35 ERA w/ 6 SO in 7.2 IP.

I’m going to close on this note. Sure everyone loves the drug comeback story of Josh Hamilton, or the pitcher turned outfielder story of Rick Ankiel, but what about the life story of Danny Herrera. Both Hamilton and Ankiel were destined to be great players, Herrera was not. He doesn’t have the flam throwing arm or the excellent power behind the plate.. all he has is 12 different pitches none that reach over 81MPH. He throws pitches that are normally thrown in a wiffle ball game. Herrera is more than an underdog story… his story is a miracal. So Reds fans… who is your “stop-to-watch” player??

First off, let me apologize for not posting anything for about a week and a half. My life has been pretty crazy, however, I’ve still manage to catch every reds game. As you know the Reds are looking pretty decent, besides their hitting, oh and Volquez and Lincoln.

Taking 2 out of 3 against Houston was great but man… taking 3 out of 4 from the Cubs was even better! I sure do hate the cubs and watching Votto tear them up was just so sweet to watch. Every Reds fan knows they aren’t hitting right now and every fan knows that Volquez is struggling (walking 5 straight batters in one game… JESUS) but some fans might not know the unfamilar facts and stats that are listed below:

1. Is Chris Dickerson a strike out machine or what?! What happened to the old Dickerson from last year… apparently he went away. 16 SO in 42 AB… GOOD GOD MAN!

2. Does AGon look smooth at short or what?! Man, he sure has been playing really good D lately. I forgot how nasty he once was. Although he is still struggling, he does have a hit in each of his last 5 games.

 3. Ramon Hernandez has played much much better lately… bringing his average up to .255. He has had two hits in each of his last three games.

4. Jay Bruce has brought his average up to .286 with 34 total bases. If he can lower his strike outs, he would be much much more consistent.

5. I made this bold because Mike Lincoln is the most frustrating player on the entire Reds team. The guy has pitched 7.1 innings and given up 12 ER!! That is TERRRRRRRIBLE. He has a 14.73 ERA and has walked 9 batters. He has WALKED more batters than IP! WOW. What is the world is he doing on this team?!? I hate hearing over and over from the announcers that he did great last year and hadn’t pitched in 3 years blah blah blah. I don’t care if he didn’t pitch for 3 years or 10 years.. ending the year with a 4.48 ERA doesn’t mean you “great” and “spectacular”.

Jeff Keppinger was traded to the Astros yesterday for a PTBNL. The PTBNL will be made soon. I think it wasn’t a bad plan for the Reds and was definitly a good thing for Jkepp. Jkep hasn’t been the same since he broke his kneecap and seemed last year to prove that he wasn’t anything but a player off the bench. Bench players are something the Reds have an abundance of and Jkepp is someone they could trade to get somebody in return. Jkeep benefits because he will probably get a chance to play everyday, probably at his best position- 3B. I wish Jkepp my best and I’m sure all Reds fans will do the same.

I’m not sure if this is completly accurate but the average height of a Major League pitcher is 6’2.

The Reds Pitcher Danny Herrera is 5’6.

With Danny Herrera, I have had nothing but positive things to say about him ever since he got a chance to pitch last year. Dude is a stud and I really hope he makes the team. He is a long shot but man, he is such a great story! He is 5’6, 140 pounds and has an 86 MPH fastball. He apparently has 12 different pictches in his arsenal and is a screwball pitcher. How sweet is that!

You have got to be kidding me. Three days after I post about Jacque Jones still being on the team, he FINALLY got sent down! It’s unknown if he is going to accept the Minor League deal because he may want to test the free marker and see if anyone is going to give him a Major League offer. Jacque, come on man, NO ONE is going to give you a Major League deal.

Not only did Jones get sent down, Pedro Viola and Josh Roenicke got sent down as well. That was nothing to surprising.

Hello All!

Let me first start off my saying that I’m sorry I haven’t been able to post an blogs for awhile. I went down to Florida for a week, caught two reds games, and have been busy busy ever since. Anyways…

Well Jacque, you’re not the only one who is lost. Every Reds fan is lost as to why in the world you haven’t been cut yet. As if a .141 BA and a below .250 OBP wasn’t bad enough last year, you are hitting a wopping .105 in Spring Training with a .171 OBP. HOW HAVENT YOU BEEN CUT YET?!? Not only havent you been cut yet, you have got the 4th most AB’s on the team! Go ahead and cut him Dusty so Gomes and Taveras can get more AB’s. What do you think the chances of Jacque making the opening day roster? With Dusty at the healm, i’d say 292939%.

Since my last post, cuts have been made but no one significant or surprising. More recently the two players you have actually probably heard of (HAHA) that got cut were Daryle Ward and Juan Francisco. They both got optioned down to AAA, Juan being for the purpose of getting some AAA time and Daryle to get some extra practice. My guess is that Daryle Ward, once he has found his swing, will get called up to be that Left handed pitch hitter of the bench. But hey… if Micah Owings can hit, which he can, do we need him??

We all know the comments that Spring Training mean nothing and blah blah blah but take a look at the battle for the #5 spot. Both Owings, 1.23 ERA 14 IP 16 SO, and Homer, 2.25 ERA 14IP and 12 SO, have pitched great. Owings has looked like he has fully recovered from his surgery and Homer really looks as though he has found his control. My opinion, give Owings the starting job and put Homer in the bull pen.. but we’ll see that happens!

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.