How 'bout those Reds 2006

The Reds, losers of eight of their last nine, made this trade today:

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The Washington Nationals today acquired outfielder Austin Kearns, shortstop Felipe Lopez and right-handed pitcher Ryan Wagner from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for right-handed pitcher Gary Majewski, left-handed pitcher Bill Bray, infielder Brendan Harris, shortstop Royce Clayton and right-handed pitcher Daryl Thompson. Nationals Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made the announcement.

Kearns, Lopez and Wagner are former first-round selections-none of whom is older than 26 years-old. Kearns and Lopez are expected to join the club tomorrow at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, as the Nationals kick off the season's second half with the first of three games against Pirates. Wagner will be optioned to New Orleans of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

Kearns, 26, was hitting .274 (89-for-325) with 21 doubles, 16 home runs and 50 RBI in 87 games for Cincinnati at the time of the trade. Currently in his fifth big league season, Kearns is a career .267 hitter (426-for-1593) with 92 doubles, 71 homers and 263 RBI in 452 games with the Reds.

Kearns-who currently stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 245 lbs.-was tabbed as the Reds' top selection (seventh overall) in the 1998 First-Year Player Draft. In 2002, Kearns hit .315 with 24 doubles, 13 home runs and 56 RBI in 107 games for the Reds and finished third in NL Rookie of the Year balloting.

Since arriving in the big leagues in 2002, Kearns' 71 home runs rank third among Reds. Only Adam Dunn (167) and Ken Griffey Jr. (94) have hit more. Kearns, however, offers more than power, as his .358 on-base percentage indicates. Kearns' career has been well chronicled since he was named Reds Minor League Player of the Year following the 2000 campaign. Since then Kearns was named Cincinnati's No. 1 prospect entering both the 2001 and 2002 seasons, and in 2003, he garnered the Joe Nuxhall Good Guys Award, which is given annually by the Cincinnati Chapter of the BBWAA.

Lopez, 26, was batting .268 with 14 doubles, nine home runs, 30 RBI and a career-high 23 stolen bases in 85 games for the Reds at the time of the trade. Lopez is currently on pace to establish career highs in walks, stolen bases and runs scored. Currently tied for fourth in the NL in stolen bases, Lopez's 47 walks pace all NL shortstops, and his nine home runs are tied for 2nd among NL shortstops behind only Khalil Greene (12).

A career .259 hitter (477-for-1843) with 93 doubles, 17 triples, 54 home runs, 216 RBI and 56 stolen bases in 505 career games, Lopez is coming off his finest offensive season. Last season, at the age of 25, Lopez hit .291 with 34 doubles, five triples, 23 home runs, 85 RBI and 15 stolen bases in 148 games. For his efforts, Lopez earned his first Silver Slugger award, given annually to the league's top offensive shortstop. He also earned a spot on his first NL All-Star team.

Originally Toronto's first-round (eighth overall) selection in the 1998 First-Year Player Draft, Lopez was acquired by the Reds as part of a December 15, 2002 four-team deal that sent, among others, Elmer Dessens to Arizona and Erubiel Durazo to Oakland. Lopez-who hails from Bayamon, PR-will form an all-Puerto Rican double-play combination with Nationals second-baseman Jose Vidro (Mayaguez, PR).

Wagner, 23, was Cincinnati's first-round selection (14th overall) in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft. The University of Houston alum later became the first player from the 2003 Draft to appear in the big leagues (edging current Nationals closer Chad Cordero for the distinction), and the first Reds top pick to debut in the big leagues the season he was drafted. Wagner justified his position on the fast track by posting a 1.66 ERA in 17 games for Cincinnati as a rookie in 2003.

Wagner is 8-4 with 26 holds and a 4.69 ERA (62 ER/119.0 IP) in 108 games spanning three big league seasons. He was pitching for Indianapolis of the Triple-A International League at the time of the trade.

With a roster spot opened up with the trade, the Nationals are expected to purchase the contract of right-handed pitcher Roy Corcoran from New Orleans. Corcoran, 26, is currently 2-3 with seven saves and a 2.45 ERA in 16 Pacific Coast League contests this season. He has posted a batting average against of .169 and fanned 11.8 batters per 9.0 innings since being promoted from Double-A in early June.

Terrible. Cincy just gave their season away.

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Animalman said:
I wrote this yesterday, but there seemed to be a problem with the boards so I wasn't able to post it.

The problem, I think, with the Reds, is that they had a lot of guys who were playing much better than they ever had, and probably much better than they ever will again. Scott Hatteberg has been having a career year. So have Bronson Arroyo, Ryan Freel, and David Ross. Rich Aurilia hasn't been this good since '01. This gave management the illusion that the Reds were much closer to being a playoff contender than they actually were.

Essentially, and I don't want to sound mean when I say this, the Red's are a fool's gold team(being a Ranger fan, I know a thing or two about such a concept). Instead of recognizing this, Jim O'Brien has given up two pretty valuable pieces of the future for what he seems to think will help them get to the playoffs. Unfortunately, a lot(if not all) of those aforementioned players are going to come back down to Earth pretty soon, and when that happens, Cincy will not only be out of the playoff hunt, but will have damaged their chances of getting back to that level any time soon.

I think you mean Wayne Krivsky. I understand you are one of those guys who calls the sportslines and thinks he's an expert, but reality is you dont really understand baseball all that well.

The Reds are going to need to aquire some starting pitching next year, they are going to need some $ to do this. I would say that if you pay Kearns arbitration numbers your gunna lock up your check book with money that could go towards a quality starter. Kearns bat isnt gunna make as much difference this year as having some bullpen guys with ERA's in the 3's rather than the 6's. So Kearns is prolly not going to be here in the future anyways, so when you are 1 q/2 games out of the wild card and 4 out of first you try for today.
As you say many of them are having career years, better to win today instead of waiting till next year with more holes.

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britneyspearsatemyshorts said:
I think you mean Wayne Krivsky. I understand you are one of those guys who calls the sportslines and thinks he's an expert, but reality is you dont really understand baseball all that well.

Dan O'Brien(not Jim O'Brien) is the former GM. My bad. I thought that since a page ago you referred to Felipe Lopez as "Encarcion"(not even the correct spelling of the guy you were confusing him with), you might cut me a little slack. I guess not.

I don't think I've ever called a sportsline in my life. Is that what the cool kids are doing?

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The Reds are going to need to aquire some starting pitching next year, they are going to need some $ to do this. I would say that if you pay Kearns arbitration numbers your gunna lock up your check book with money that could go towards a quality starter.

Kearns is making $1.85 million this year, so arbritration isn't going to raise his salary to an unreasonable amount. Furthermore, the Reds are in the bottom 10 in payroll, so if they were going to shell out the cash to get a quality starting pitcher(and, in this day and age, you almost always have to overpay to sign free agent pitching), I doubt the $3-4 million Kearns would be in line to make would have gotten in the way.

Of course, the last starting pitcher they spent big money on was Eric Milton, so maybe it's better they not spend anything.

Anyway, even if Kearns was about to get too expensive, that doesn't mean they should have given him up for nothing(which is essentially what they did). That's really the problem here. Not that they were trying to acquire the wrong type of player, but that they gave up too much to acquire players that aren't very good.

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Kearns bat isnt gunna make as much difference this year as having some bullpen guys with ERA's in the 3's rather than the 6's.

Unfortunately, the bullpen guys the Reds did get aren't going to get them into the playoffs. So, what did they achieve?

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So Kearns is prolly not going to be here in the future anyways, so when you are 1 q/2 games out of the wild card and 4 out of first you try for today.
As you say many of them are having career years, better to win today instead of waiting till next year with more holes.

Kearns should have been a part of their future. He was young, cheap, and finally healthy.

I think the worst move they could have made last offseason was signing Scott Hatteberg. That really made no sense, considering they'd finally gotten rid off the albatross that was Sean Casey. If they hadn't handed the first base job to Hatteberg, they could have moved Adam Dunn there(completing what would have been one of the best young infields in baseball, with Dunn, Phillips, Lopez, and Encarnacion; all 26 or younger). Then they could have moved Griffey to right field where he'd have been far less likely to injure himself, have Freel in center so he could play everyday, and kept Kearns in left.

They'd have been much better off trying to win with that now, and then trying to sign relievers in the offseason(Eric Gagne might be on the market). They do have arguably the best starting pitching prospect in the minors, as well.

Griffey will not move to right field. When the situation has been brought up before he has went into baby fits. Ideally he'd move to right to save some wear, or even first. But it doesnt look like it's gunna happen.

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Of course, the last starting pitcher they spent big money on was Eric Milton, so maybe it's better they not spend anything.

The guy who gave Milton the big contract is the one who gave Lopez the contract, and youve been singing his praises.

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britneyspearsatemyshorts said:
Griffey will not move to right field. When the situation has been brought up before he has went into baby fits. Ideally he'd move to right to save some wear, or even first. But it doesnt look like it's gunna happen.

He's starting to become a liability in center(understandable, given he'll turn 37 in November and he's had more knee operations than hot meals). They'll have to move him to a corner spot at some point, if they're going to keep him around. He's under contract another three years, with an option for a fourth year.

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The guy who gave Milton the big contract is the one who gave Lopez the contract, and youve been singing his praises.

It wasn't the same general manager, if that's what you mean. Not that it matters, since I wasn't singing anyone's praises. I said that it was clear that the Reds, at one point, recognized Felipe Lopez was a valuable shortstop. Notice I also said that this trade was terrible, the Reds shouldn't have signed Scott Hatteberg, and I've said many times that Eric Milton was one of the worst signings in recent memory.

It was O'brien

No, it was interim GM Brad Kullman.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/COL09/607180372/1071/SPT04

Reds want to win now
It's clear: In that vein, trade was smart
BY JOHN FAY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Wayne Krivsky has heard from many people since last week's trade that sent Felipe Lopez, Austin Kearns and Ryan Wagner to the Washington Nationals.

Five days and four straight wins later, the Reds' general manager is still a bit taken aback by how much controversy the moves generated.

"I heard from a lot of people," he said. "I've heard 'great trade.' And I've heard 'the worst trade in the history of franchise.' "

When I first heard the news last week, I was sufficiently thunderstruck that I didn't immediately grasp whom the Reds had obtained.

All I was sure of until the ESPN ticker came around was Gary Majewski was now a Red.

I learned about the trade in Paradise, Mich. That's on the Upper Peninsula, not exactly a hotbed of baseball news.

However, over the next few days, the trade kept spinning around in the back of my mind.

Here are the conclusions I arrived at in a baseball vacuum.

The Reds are playing for now. So much so that they were willing to buck the baseball adage that says you never trade an everyday player for a relief pitcher.

Krivsky is one brave general manager. I thought he might trade Lopez or Kearns - but not both.

The trade ultimately will be judged by what Lopez and Kearns do over the long haul. And it could look very bad in that light.

But, again, the Reds were willing to take that risk to have a better chance to win this year.

Going into tonight's game against the New York Mets, who at 55-37 have the best record in the National League, the Reds trail the NL Central-leading Cardinals by 3½ games.

The Reds led the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants by 21/2 games in the NL wild-card race entering Monday.

The trade clearly will help this team stay alive in the playoff chase. Anyone on the road trip leading up to the All-Star break could see the club was on the verge of falling back into the pack.

The Reds lost eight of the last nine games heading into the break.

Waiting until the July 31 trading deadline to make a move would have meant waiting too long. If Krivsky does nothing and the Reds collapse, how does the team sell tickets for next year? With this slogan? "The Reds: We're not hot when the weather gets warm."

So Krivsky made his boldest move. He did so after talking with his scouts - the same scouts who endorsed the Bronson Arroyo, Brandon Phillips and David Ross trades.

Not everyone agreed this time.

Krivsky sees the other side himself.

"We might have overpaid," he said. "But we had a chance to upgrade the bullpen. After the way we played coming into the break, we had to do something."

It goes back to the adage about not trading an everyday player for a reliever. That was Jim Bowden's rationale for why the Nationals did what they did.

But Bowden also believed in going for it when you have a chance. That's why he traded B.J. Ryan and Jacob Sequea for Juan Guzman in July 1999.

"Bowden told us that when a small-market team gets a chance to go for it, you've got to do it," said one person who was in the room when Bowden made the Guzman call. "That made sense."

It did in 1999, and it does now. Guzman went 6-3 and helped get the Reds into a one-game playoff for a wild-card spot. He left as a free agent. Ryan went on to be a great closer.

So it was a bad trade if you were playing for the future.

But it was a good trade if you're playing for the present.

If Majewski, Bill Bray and Royce Clayton help lift the cloud of losing that has been over the Reds franchise for five years and keep fans interested in baseball into September, then this is a good trade - no matter what Kearns and Lopez do down the road.

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060720/ap_e...DRrBHNlYwM3NjI-

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By JOE KAY, AP Sports Writer2 hours, 6 minutes ago

Actor Tom Hanks and two show business friends turned a rain delay into an event Wednesday.

Hanks, director Ron Howard and comedian Dennis Miller made Great American Ball Park their third stop on their hush-hush ballparks tour. A two-hour rain delay during the Reds-New York Mets game provided a chance to snap photos with fans and offer their opinions of the game.

The trio sat behind a table in an interview room behind the press box during the rain delay, cracking jokes and recounting their boyhood baseball memories for the media. They'd been to Baltimore — Hanks led the crowd in spelling O-R-I-O-L-E-S during the seventh-inning stretch — and to Pittsburgh before arriving in Cincinnati.

Hanks, a star of "The Da Vinci Code" that Howard directed, decided to visit seven ballparks as a birthday present to himself.

"I turned 50 10 days ago," Hanks said. "This is the dream you have all the way back."

The trio arrived without fanfare, and wouldn't say where they were going next. Hanks said they've shortened the trip to fewer than seven ballparks, but didn't provide more information.

"Tom is so influential that he's arranged a St. Louis Browns game," Miller joked, referring to the defunct team.

Hanks sold peanuts and soft drinks at Oakland's ballpark as a youth, and the Athletics remain his favorite team. Howard is a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, while Miller prefers the Pirates.

All three suggested that former Reds player/manager Pete Rose should be in baseball's Hall of Fame. The career hits leader accepted a lifetime ban for gambling in 1989, and has admitted to betting on baseball.

"Until they at least make him eligible, it's not complete," Howard said.

Asked what baseball should have done to settle the Rose scandal, Miller said, "They should let Ray Fosse crash into his blindside." Rose bowled over the former Cleveland catcher at home plate to score the winning run in the 1970 All-Star game at Riverfront Stadium.

Hanks recalled Rose's quote about how he would have run through fire in a gasoline suit to play baseball.

"Unfortunately," Miller interrupted, "he would have bet whether he made it through or not."

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060730/COL09/607300399/1071

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GM's shakeup paying off
Moves bolstered bullpen and ended club's pre-break funk
BY JOHN FAY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

MILWAUKEE - By 4 p.m. Monday, the non-waiver trade deadline will have come and gone.

But even if the deadline passes without a move, you can argue the Reds were one of the top players on the market.

General manager Wayne Krivsky has made about 79 trades in his short tenure, and he has kept word from getting out on each one until the announcement was made. (The actual count is nine, but you get the point.)

Ask Krivsky if any more trades are coming - and there can be deals even after the non-waiver deadline - you get this:

"It takes two. We're always looking to improve the club."

So much is made of the trade deadline. But Krivsky's best move was ignoring it and making his big move early.

Krivsky's biggest trade came 18 days before the deadline, on July 13.

You can argue the long-term merits of the deal that sent Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez and Ryan Wagner to the Washington Nationals for Gary Majewski, Bill Bray, Royce Clayton, Brendan Harris and Daryl Thompson. But you can't argue the short-term positive results.

The Reds lost eight of nine games going into the All-Star break. Anyone on the road trip leading into the break saw the Reds as dead men walking. They were a couple of series from being hopelessly out of the postseason picture.

Post-trade, they proceeded to win three of four series going into the weekend at Milwaukee. The only series they lost was two-games-to-one with the NL's best team, the New York Mets. And they were one big hit from winning that series as well.

Majewski, Bray and Clayton have not been responsible for the turnaround. Majewski, in fact, has hurt more than helped. Bray has been good for the most part. Clayton's been better than Lopez defensively and similar offensively.

The trade's biggest effect was that it shook the club out of its pre-break malaise.

The deal came a week after the trade for Eddie Guardado, which might have had a bigger effect. He went into Saturday six-for-six in save chances. He also closed a pair of games in which the Reds led by four. That doesn't get you a save, but those games were far from locks earlier.

Guardado, Majewski and Bray have made the bullpen so much deeper. That has helped improve the guys who have been here.

When Majewski and Bray nearly let a five-run lead slip away Thursday night, Todd Coffey was there to bail them out with a strikeout.

Two nights before, Bray bailed Coffey out. Jason Standridge, who got a mini-trial as a lead setup man, now is in long relief and has been extremely effective in that role. With the Reds' offense, if the bullpen can stop the bleeding early, there's always a chance. The one game the Reds won from the Mets was the result of a rally from a 4-0 deficit. The bullpen pitched seven scoreless innings, starting with two strong innings from Standridge.

Whether Krivsky did enough to get the Reds into the postseason for the first time since 1995 remains to be seen.

The club could use another reliable starter. But that probably can be said about 28 other clubs.

Another bullpen arm wouldn't hurt. Again, you can say that about 28, maybe 29 other clubs.

But we're two days from August and the Reds are in the thick of the postseason race. Yeah, that trade 17 days ago is looking pretty good.

Majewski and Bray have a combined ERA of 7.50, and Royce Clayton is hitting .261/.333/.304(amazingly, even worse than .269/.315/.348 line he was putting up in Washington). He's even committed 3 errors in 13 games for good measure.

The Reds have kept winning, and I may very well be completely wrong about them tanking in the second half, but it's not because of this trade.

Eddie Guardado looks absolutely nothing like the guy who couldn't get an out to save his life earlier in the year. He's been the biggest acquisition by far.

see it wasnt hard to say i was right and you were wrong!

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060731/SPT04/307310071/1071

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'All about winning'
Cormier also added for playoff run
BY JOHN FAY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Jerry Narron and general manager Wayne Krivsky both said on Monday that Reds CEO Bob Castellini held up his end of the deal.

Castellini approved the funds to facilitate two Reds' trades made Monday at the non-waiver deadline.

“The guy is all about winning,” Krivsky, the Reds general manager, said.

The Reds obtained left-hander Rheal Cormier and his $2.5 million salary for Justin Germano, then got Kyle Lohse and his $3.95 million salary for Zach Ward a little bit later.

To facilitate the Cormier deal, the Reds had to extend his contract to 2007 and offer a club option and a buyout.

“That’s not a small pittance,” Krivsky said.

The Reds didn’t get any of the big names that were out there at the deadline, but they obtained established major league pitchers making fairly big money at the deadline.

That a stark contrast to what’s happened on deadline day in Redsland lately.

“One thing I like and I know our players appreciate is how much we’re trying to win,” Narron said. “We’re trying to do everything possible. It might be lost on some people. We could have very easily not made a player move until (today). We made a player move (Sunday) to try to win one game.

Narron was referring to the decision to option Germano out Sunday and bring up Brandon Watson for a day.

Watson pinch-ran, stole a base and was on second as the potential winning run.

“Bringing a player in for one day is something a lot of teams wouldn’t do,” Narron said. “I hope that’s not lost on our fans.”

The Reds optioned Watson back to Louisville Monday to clear one spot. The Reds have to make another move today before the game.

Monday was the first time the Reds have been buyers at the deadline since they traded for Ryan Dempster, Brian Moehler and Shawn Estes at the deadline in 2002.

That didn’t work out so well: The Reds finished 78-84 and in third place in 2002.

There’s no guarantee that this year’s moves will work out either. But they're further evidence that the Reds are trying – and spending the money – to win now.

“This doesn’t happen without our ownership,” Krivsky said. “They stepped up here. We took on extra payroll here. They’re putting their stamp on some of the statements they made when they took over the club.”

Krivsky has added five pitchers to the bullpen since July 5.

“The bullpen is much, much better,” Narron said. “You get somebody like Cormier and he can just about be used as a right-handed specialist. His numbers against right-handers are outstanding. You want guys who can get left-handers and right-handers out.

“Lohse is a guy who could start for us, pitch long for us, even come in and pitch one inning. I’ve heard his velocity’s gone up. It’s big to have a guy who’s pitched down the stretch with a team that’s contended.”

The Reds gave up two pitchers that could end up in the big leagues to make Monday’s deals.

Germano, a 23-year-old right-hander, was 8-6 with a 3.69 ERA at Triple-A Louisville. Ward, a 22-year-old right-hander, was 7-0 with a 2.29 ERA at Single-A Dayton.

Krivsky targeted Cormier and Lohse a while ago. He knew he’d have to give decent prospects to get them.

“You’ve got to step up,” Krivsky said. “All these teams you’re dealing with have other alternatives. I’ve got to do what I think makes sense. They could have traded Kyle Lohse other places. I wasn't going to get Kyle Lohse without giving up something.”

Deadline deals have a way of looking bad a couple of years down the road.

The Mets gave up Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano. That was a bad deal because it didn’t get the Mets to the playoffs, and Kazmir turned out to be a star.

The Reds gave up B.J. Ryan for Juan Guzman in 1999. That deal looks awful in hindsight, but it helped get the Reds to a playoff for the Wild Card.

“I didn’t like giving up a guy like Germano,” Krivsky said. “He’s got a future. But in a situation like we’re in with a chance to win it, if you can get a guy like Rheal Cormier, you’ve got to go ahead and do it.”

The Reds are in a strong position to make their first run at the postseason since 1999 and break the streak of losing seasons at five.

That’s how Monday’s trades will be measured: Were they enough to get the Reds over the top?

“I feel good about it,” Narron said. “I would have loved to have this bullpen at the start of the season.”

The bullpen has a 3.45 ERA since the All-Star break. It was at 5.16 before the break, so the biggest weakness on the club hasn’t been a weakness lately.

“It goes back to bringing Eddie Guardado in,” Narron said. “That started things rolling in the right direction. We’ve got a chance to have a good pitcher out there in any inning.

“Right now, we do.”

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com

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Animalman said:
Majewski and Bray have a combined ERA of 7.50, and Royce Clayton is hitting .261/.333/.304(amazingly, even worse than .269/.315/.348 line he was putting up in Washington). He's even committed 3 errors in 13 games for good measure.

The Reds have kept winning, and I may very well be completely wrong about them tanking in the second half, but it's not because of this trade.

Eddie Guardado looks absolutely nothing like the guy who couldn't get an out to save his life earlier in the year. He's been the biggest acquisition by far.

Lopez is hitting .238 in July and Kearns isn't exactly tearing it up for Washington either.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=Ap61D3xF23bXLqvw9W2WDD0RvLYF?gid=260824126&prov=ap

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The Cincinnati Reds began a crucial stretch against the teams chasing them in the NL wild-card race with quite the comeback victory.

They scored their final four runs with two outs.

David Ross' solo homer broke a tie in the eighth and the Reds rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-3 on Thursday night.

Ross connected against Vinnie Chulk (0-2) with a drive to left for the Reds, who began a season-long 10-game road trip against contending NL West teams by pulling within .0004 of first-place St. Louis in the NL Central (.5238 to .5234).

"A big win," Ross said. "When there are so many teams in it, it's nice to gain ground on anybody. What everybody's worrying about in here is taking care of ourselves at this point."

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Ryan Franklin (5-6) got the final out in the seventh for the win as Cincinnati gained a half-game on idle San Diego for a 1 1/2 -game edge in the wild-card race. David Weathers pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 16 chances.

Edwin Encarnacion drove in two runs for the Reds on a cold August evening at San Francisco's waterfront ballpark, where the first-pitch temperature was 58 degrees. Juan Castro hit a two-run single in the ninth off Mike Stanton for the Reds' final runs.

"The big thing for us is every game is huge from here on out," Weathers said. "Every time we have a chance to get a win, we have to jump on it."

Pedro Feliz hit a two-run homer and Randy Winn added a solo shot, but the Giants didn't score a run after the second inning.

San Francisco had won eight of 10 to get back in the playoff chase after the Giants seemed out of it following their fifth straight loss Aug. 13 at Los Angeles to fall 7 1/2 games behind in the NL West race. The Giants now trail division-leading Los Angeles by 4 1/2 games, and the Giants are five games back in the wild-card chase.

Trailing 3-0, Encarnacion singled in a run to get the Reds on the board in the sixth. The ball bounced slightly in front of second and over the bag and rolled under lunging second baseman Ray Durham.

"That was a big play," Giants manager Felipe Alou said. "I still don't know what happened with the ball that went over the bag and into the outfield. ... That game was lost. You know what I mean? Lost. Not l-o-s-s. It was lost, l-o-s-t."

Cincinnati Reds' Ken Griffey Jr., left, scores past San Francisco Giants pitcher Brad Hennessey on a passed ball in the sixth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 24, 2006, in San Francisco.
AP - Aug 25, 12:04 am EDT
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Ken Griffey Jr. scored from third on a passed ball moments after Encarnacion's hit.

Encarnacion doubled in the tying run in the seventh.

Brad Hennessey had a better showing than his previous performance, when the right-hander didn't make it out of the second inning in the shortest outing of his career Saturday against the Dodgers.

Durham extended his season-best and team-high hitting streak to 14 games with a leadoff double in the second, then Feliz followed with a drive to left on a 2-2 pitch from Eric Milton for his 21st home run of the season.

Winn hit Milton's second pitch of the game over the left-field wall for his 10th home run and second leadoff homer of the year.

Barry Bonds went 0-for-3 with a walk in his 2,834th career game, tying him with Al Kaline for 14th on the all-time list.

Bonds, who hit his 725th career homer Monday night against Arizona and had produced back-to-back multihit games for the first time in two years, and Griffey have a combined 1,286 home runs -- the second most by two players in the same game behind Hank Aaron and Willie Mays (1,355) when the Mets played at the Atlanta Braves on July 17, 1973.

Bonds flied out to Griffey in center field to end the first inning, then Griffey hit a fly ball to Bonds in left in the fourth.

Notes

Bonds is second on the career homers list behind Aaron's record 755, while Griffey's 561 homers are good for 11th place. ... Reds SS Aurilia visited with fans and enjoyed another return to the city where he played the first nine years of his career before leaving after the '03 season. ... Kevin Correia pitched on his 26th birthday. ... A rally rabbi was on hand for the stadium's Jewish Heritage Night. ... Winn has 11 career leadoff homers and six as a member of the Giants, who he joined last summer in a trade from Seattle.

Cincinnati before trade: 46-44
Cincinnati after trade: 34-38

So...what do I win from the bet?

Nothing we found out Bowden didn't reveal Majewski's injury. Therefore you're disqualified.

Peter Gammons says the Reds just signed Alex Gonzalez to a three year, $14 million deal.

It's a good thing they traded a younger, better, cheaper shortstop six months earlier.

Cincinnati Reds
5 World Series championships in 9 trips.

Houston Astros, 0 in 1 trip.

I just felt like saying that.

At least the Astro's have been there THIS century!

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Jim Jackson said:
Cincinnati Reds
5 World Series championships in 9 trips.

Houston Astros, 0 in 1 trip.

Thank you for the "has nothing to do with anything" comment of the week. I'm not a Reds-hater. Actually, I like several of their players. Junior of course, Adam Dunn(who the Cincy media gives way too much flack for his strikeouts; see what you can do about that), former Ranger farmhand and Rob Bell giveaway prize Edwin Encarnacion, former Ranger farmhand Aaron Harang, former Ranger farmhand Rich Aurilia...they even have the former Ranger manager Jerry Narron.

As a fan of baseball in generall, though, it's hard not to notice that they're just a very poorly run team right now.

By the way: the Reds have been around three times as long as the Astros. If 80 years from now the Astros haven't won five championships, I'll concede the (currently lack of a) point to you.

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Animalman said:

As a fan of baseball in generall, though, it's hard not to notice that they're just a very poorly run team right now.

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NL CENTRAL W L Pct. GB Streak
St. Louis 83 78 .516 – Lost 1
Houston 82 80 .506 1½ Lost 1
Cincinnati 80 82 .494 3½ Lost 2
Milwaukee 75 87 .463 8½ Won 1
Pittsburgh 67 95 .414 16½ Won 2
Chicago Cubs 66 96 .407 17½ Won 1

yes, yes you can tell they are ran horribly worse then the world champion team, why krivsky ran them nearly 2 games worse

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Animalman said:

Thank you for the "has nothing to do with anything" comment of the week.

You're welcome. Like I said, I just felt like saying it. And thanks for Joe Morgan. We loved him.

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As a fan of baseball in generall, though, it's hard not to notice that they're just a very poorly run team right now.

ACtually, you must not have watched this season. The Reds, for the first time since 1999, were in it until the last week of the season (evinced by the fact that the Cardinals won only 3 more games than the Reds). The Reds of 06 made a variety of in-season trades in an effort to better themselves for a playoff run. Any "fan of baseball" should have seen that.

Get off his leg Jim!

Dear Blind Animalman,

The Reds bullpen put up a combined 5.16 earned run average in the first half of last season, the retooled bullpen went 15-11 with a 3.51 ERA in the second half. Krivsky really ruined the bullpen didn't he?

Reds trade LaRue
BY JOHN FAY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The Reds traded catcher Jason LaRue, their longest tenured player, to the Kansas City Royals today for a player to be named.

LaRue, 33, lost his starting job to David Ross last season and hit a career-low .194. He was due to make $5.2 million next season.

LaRue had played his entire eight-year career with the Reds. Ken Griffey Jr. is now the longest-tenured Red.

Also today, the Reds announced that they have signed shortstop Alex Gonzalez and left-handed reliever to Mike Stanton to multiyear deals.

Gonzalez, 29, was signed to a three-year deal. He is considered one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball.

He had only seven errors in 111 games last year. He led American League shortstops with a club-record .985 fielding percentage. He went 57 games without an error, setting a Rod Sox team record for shortstops.

Gonzalez hit .255 with nine home runs and 50 RBI for the Red Sox. Gonzalez played the frist eight seasons of his career with the Florida Marlins.

Stanton, 39, signed a two-year deal with a club option for 2009.

He went 7-7 with a 3.99 ERA and eight saves in 82 games for the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants last season. He began the season with the Nationals and made 56 appearances before he was traded to the Giants on July 28 in exchange for a minor leaguer.

He finished the season as San Francisco’s closer. He was 4-2 with eigh saves and a 3.09 ERA after the trade.

Stanton is the active leader in appearances with 1,108. He is third all time behind Jesse Orosco (1,248 relief appearances) and John Franco (1,119).

Stanton has a career ERA of 2.10 in 53 post-season appearances. He was with Yankees for their run of three straight titlte for 1998-2000. He is 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA and a save in 20 appearances during six World Series.

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britneyspearsatemyshorts said:
Dear Blind Animalman,

The Reds bullpen put up a combined 5.16 earned run average in the first half of last season, the retooled bullpen went 15-11 with a 3.51 ERA in the second half. Krivsky really ruined the bullpen didn't he?

That's about when the Reds got Eddie Guardardo from Seattle! Obviously, he CARRIED the Reds bullpen!!!

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britneyspearsatemyshorts said:
yes, yes you can tell they are ran horribly worse then the world champion team, why krivsky ran them nearly 2 games worse

The World Champion team was not terribly good in the regular season, mainly because of the staggering number of injuries. Pujols and Rolen both missed 20 games, Edmonds missed 50, Spiezo missed 40, Mulder missed half the season, Isringhausen missed the last month. Chris Duncan and Anthony Reyes weren't promoted until well into the year.

The NL Central is by far the worst division in baseball, and that is the only reason the Cardinals even got the chance to win the World Series.

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Jim Jackson said:
And thanks for Joe Morgan. We loved him.

Not the Astros finest moment(I'm not a Lee May fan), but if you're trying to wound me, you should probably try referencing an event that didn't occur 15 years before I was born.

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ACtually, you must not have watched this season. The Reds, for the first time since 1999, were in it until the last week of the season (evinced by the fact that the Cardinals won only 3 more games than the Reds). The Reds of 06 made a variety of in-season trades in an effort to better themselves for a playoff run. Any "fan of baseball" should have seen that.

The Reds very well might have won it if not for those in-season trades you mention, though saying they were "in it" is pretty misleading, considering they finished seventh out of the 16 NL teams overall. Barely middle of the pack. Plus, although they did win 80 games, their pythagorean record was about five games worse, and their runs scored/runs allowed differential was not very good at all.

For Jim Bowden's many faults, he did leave the last two GM's with a pretty nice collection of offensive talent...which O'Brien and Krivsky have almost entirely squandered.

There was the lowballing of Barry Larking back in '04, who, even at 40, was still a pretty effective player. There was the signing of Scott Hatteberg, which negated arguably the best move they made in years(getting rid of Sean Casey), and prevented them from moving Adam Dunn to first base and thinning out the logjam in the outfield rather than senselessly trading valuable parts for nothing...which then led to one of the worst trades of the '06 season, where they gave up two of their best young position players for replacable middle relievers who weren't that great before they got to Cincy, and weren't even good after they arrived(Majewski had his 8.4 ERA, Bray a 4.23 ERA). It was a terrible move. I said it was a terrible move, a lot of people said it was a terrible move...the only people outside the Cincinnati front office who didn't seem to think it was a terrible move was bsams(who also thought the Eric Milton signing wasn't bad), and some local reporters who seemed to change their minds a few times in the assessment process.

And now they've replaced one of those aforementioned young, quality position players by overpaying for Alex Gonzalez, who will be 30 in February and just finished stinking it up in Boston.

There were a few other bad decisions. They extended Hatterberg on the basis of a first half they should have realized was fluke(the guy is 36 and has been mediocre everywhere else...why would he suddenly become great?). They didn't give Chris Denorfia consistent playing time at all, even though he completely outplayed the more popular Ryan Freel in September(Denorfia hit .352 that month, but for some bizarre reason split time with Freel, who bombed after a hot start to the year, hitting .208). They really should have forced Griffey to a corner spot eons ago, and that is an error that most likely cost him and the Reds a great deal of wins and money.

The Reds did make one or two small moves that paid off, a little. They traded for Eddie Guardado, who gave them about a dozen innings of quality work before tearing a ligament in his elbow, possibly ending his career. They also got Scott Schoeneweis, who gave them about the same number of innings, and was suprisingly, if not miraculously, good. I give them props for that. Still, it's two small successes buried under an avalance of failures, if you get my metaphor.

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britneyspearsatemyshorts said:
The Reds bullpen put up a combined 5.16 earned run average in the first half of last season, the retooled bullpen went 15-11 with a 3.51 ERA in the second half. Krivsky really ruined the bullpen didn't he?

I don't believe I said Krivsky ruined the bullpen, but whatever improvement that was made came from the players they already had, and the two small trades I just mentioned(not from the big trade which we've discussed in this thread). Of course, the stat you're mentioning there, which I'm not going to check but will assume is true, belies what was a collapse in almost every other regard for the team in the second half. Most notably, their offense crumbled thanks to the gaping hole left by the Kearns/Lopez trade and the fact that veterans like Aurilia, Hatteberg and Freel all came back down to earth and played more like they had been for the past decade; something you didn't exactly need a crystal ball to predict. It's called "regressing to the norm".

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jafabian said:
Quote:

britneyspearsatemyshorts said:
Dear Blind Animalman,

The Reds bullpen put up a combined 5.16 earned run average in the first half of last season, the retooled bullpen went 15-11 with a 3.51 ERA in the second half. Krivsky really ruined the bullpen didn't he?

That's about when the Reds got Eddie Guardardo from Seattle! Obviously, he CARRIED the Reds bullpen!!!

yes jafabian, he pitched a inning or less, and finished the season on the dl. you sir are a mathematical genius

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They traded for Eddie Guardado, who gave them about a dozen innings of quality work before tearing a ligament in his elbow, possibly ending his career.

Dear Animalman,

Nice try on trying to make excuses, but the Reds, finishes almost in first, bolstered their bullpen via trades. Were leading the wild card until 2 weeks left and their horrible west coast collapse. So please do continue trying to save face, but really we all know better.

Sincerely,
The real baseball experts

Quote:

britneyspearsatemyshorts said:
Dear Animalman,

Nice try on trying to make excuses, but the Reds, finishes almost in first, bolstered their bullpen via trades. Were leading the wild card until 2 weeks left and their horrible west coast collapse. So please do continue trying to save face, but really we all know better.

Sincerely,
The real baseball experts

Dear real baseball experts,

I am trying to properly translate certain phrases. Certain expert phrases. For example:

"almost in first" - seems to mean, "third, in the worst division in baseball"

"bolstered their bullpen via trades" - seems to mean, "traded for eight pitchers who combined for an ERA of 4.05 in 131 innings, and in the process gutted their offense"

"were leading the wild card with two weeks left" - seems to mean "were leading with one week left...in August"

Sincerely,

(Blind) Animalman

Dear Animalman,

At least you finally admitted they made some good moves. It wasnt hard was it.

Does this mean you'll finally admit I won the bet?

I'd like some jolly ranchers.

i got your fucking jolly ranchers.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061207/SPT04/312070012/1062/SPT

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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The Reds pulled off one of the shockers at the Winter Meetings this morning when they traded for Josh Hamilton, the talented but troubled outfielder.

"It's worth the gamble," general manager Wayne Krivsky said. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

The Reds worked out a trade with the Chicago Cubs for Hamilton after the Cubs selected him from Tampa Bay in the Rule 5 Draft.

"It was a prearranged deal," Krivsky said. "We did a lot of homework. We talked to ownership. Hopefully, this will work out."

Hamilton, 25, had spent two years on suspension as the result of drug problems.

He was the No. 1 pick in the 1999 draft and signed for $3.95 million. He was suspended in February 2004 for violating baseball's drug policy.

The outfielder didn't play from July 2002 until June this year because of injuries and unspecified personal issues.

He was cleared to play June 30 of this year and played at Single-A Hudson Valley.

Under the rules of the Rule 5 Draft, the Reds must keep Hamilton on the roster or offer him back to Tampa Bay for half the $50,000 fee it cost to select him.

"I'm excited," Hamilton said. "I wasn't expecting this after all I've been through the last two years. I don't think (Tampa Bay) thought anyone would take the chance on me."

Hamilton began having drug problems after being injured in a car accident in 2002. He is drug tested three times a week.

"No one ever said he was a bad kid," Krivksy said. "Obviously, he has his problems."

Hamilton is confident he can return to form on the field.

"Baseball has never been the problem," he said. "I know I have the ability. I'm excited. I know I'll do well."

Krivksy said Hamilton has been cleared by Major League Baseball to participate.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound outfielder was suspended March 19, 2004. He was allowed to return to baseball, but not play, this spring. He was cleared to play in June. But his season was cut short by knee surgery.

"I'm a drug addict," Hamilton told USA Today in March. "It's not terminal, but there is no cure. It's hell on earth. It's a constant struggle. And it's going to be like that for the rest of my life."

He told the paper he was addicted to crack.

"It got so bad at the end that I just started smoking (crack). I did it so much it was like smoking cigarettes," Hamilton said.

"I remember one time I woke up in a trailer with about five or six total strangers. It must have been 98 degrees in there. There was no air conditioning. Nothing. My truck was gone. I had no money. But I didn't care. I was just looking for that next high."

fire away animalman, i have no defense for this.

steve howe!

except steve howe produced in the majors

Hamilton is infamous for his drug problems; a cautionary tale amongst baseball talent advisors. I can't help but root for him(everyone deserves a second chance), but Josh did not hit well at the very lowest level of professional American baseball last year, so his chances of contributing much of anything next year at the highest level are remote.

Still, the trade was just for some cash and a roster spot. Not exactly a savvy veteran move...but hardly a catastrophe. It's unlikely to bear fruit(now or in the longrun), but at least they didn't give up anything much.