Former Reds GM Jim Bowden is once again trying to explain himself. This time after recent acquisition Brian Lawrence came down with a season-ending rotator cuff labrum tear — nine minutes into his first throwing session as a Nat.

“Did we give him an MRI? We did not. That’s our bad,” manager Frank Robinson said. “We chose not to give him an MRI. The physicals should include everything. Why are we giving you a physical? To see if your eyes are gray? No. It’s to see if you are sound.”

General manager Jim Bowden defended the club’s decision.

“It’s expensive to do MRIs on every single transaction,” Bowden said. “In the case of Brian, he had made every single start the last four or five years. We saw him throw a three-hit shutout [in his final start of 2005]. We were trading a player [Castilla] with a bad knee. We felt that there was MRI risk on both sides if the deal was made, and we made a decision not to.”

It can cost several thousand dollars to administer an MRI to a player. But given the millions of dollars clubs hand out to top free agents and first-round draft picks, Robinson said it’s worth the extra cost.

It still blows my mind that teams are willing to throw millions of dollars around (their share of Brian Lawrence , is about $3.0M this year), yet skimp on the most effective diagnostics and preventative medicine. So what if an MRI costs a couple thousand - Lawrence would be making $100k a game, if he didn’t miss a start.

Also: I didn’t even catch Bowden’s idiotic statement the first time — he didn’t order an MRI because he saw Lawrence throw a three-hit shutout last fall?

One year ago today, Redleg Nation entered the baseball world.

I can hardly believe it’s been a year. More than a thousand posts (and almost 4,000 comments) later, we’re still chugging along. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy some of the things we have planned for this season, as well.

I know that all of our contributors still enjoy the conversations we have here — and we’re all still obsessed with the Reds. Redleg Nation looks to be a place to have some fun and discuss the Reds for the foreseeable future. I hope all of you will stick with us. With a new owner, things should be interesting in Redleg Nation this season.

If you have any suggestions for ways to improve RN, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

Article from the DDN about Adam Dunn’s adjustment to 1B.

Every day now, he is on the bag snagging ground ball and snatching low throws out of the dirt.
Hitting coach Chris Chambliss, a first baseman during his illustrious major-league career, pounds grounder after grounder at Dunn.

“He has good hands, has no trouble making the plays and catching the ball at first,” said Chambliss. “The biggest thing is his footwork. But anybody who played quarterback at his level has to have good footwork.
“You have no time to think about your footwork,” Chambliss added. “You have to anticipate quickly. If you’re late with the footwork, try to get it after the play is halfway over, it’s too late. But he is working on it.”

Said Dunn, “I feel good over there but there is a lot of little stupid stuff I have to learn. We’ll get it, we’ll get it done.”

Like it?

“Oh, yeah, but I don’t get to look around in the stands as much and talk to the fans,” he said. “It’s something. I won’t be talking to baserunners as much as Sean Casey did. That’s impossible.”

Sounds like some learning to be done, but I think the point about his QB background is valid, as is the point about not talking as much as Casey.

Dunn also addresses what he thinks he needs to improve on offensively:

He doesn’t want to lose his control of the strike zone that gets him 100 walks a year, but he wants to do a better job of being aggressive on good pitches to hit — indeed, a fine line.

“I need to be more aggressive early, not let myself get down in the count,” he said. “I need to make good contact with my pitch, not foul it off or miss it. I did that too many times last year. When I get my pitch, don’t miss it.”

In yesterday’s Enquirer and today’s Post, John Fay and Marc Lancaster take an early look at how they believe the position player end of the roster will end up shaking out.

In addition, Fay writes an article today on how Pena and Griffey leaving will help Narron get a better look at some of the veterans, as they’ll have more PT available in the exhibition games.

But one thing is certain from reading these three articles, this team’s bench is going to be made up of older players. One name almost totally absent from any mention is Chris Denorfia. I’d say he has to have an unbelievable camp to have any chance of making this team or one of the old guys has to be horrible.

It’s always interesting to see what’s going on around the Reds blogosphere. Here’s a look at what Reds bloggers are talking about:

–Over at The Red Letters, Matt has a quick cup of Coffey during a discussion about who will close this year for the Reds.

–Red Hot Mama has this post about the ongoing negotiations surrounding the Reds’ spring training facility in Sarasota.

–In addition to putting his picture on his blog, Marc Lancaster looks at where some former Reds — including perennial disaster Jason Romano — have landed. Stick with Marc daily for great updates from Spring Training.

–Shawn notes that the Reds’ all-2B lineup will have to wait.

–JD is talking about the possibility of Justin Germano making the rotation to start the season, and he doesn’t see how there’s a fit. I agree.

–Blade is also talking about the starting rotation.

–Finally, here’s this post from Reds (and Blues) that says that trading Wily Mo Pena or Austin Kearns before the trade deadline is a bad move. Indeed.

It’s that time of year, I suppose, but the Redleg Nation blogosphere is growing. I have added three new Reds blogs to the Redleg Nation Blogs blogroll over in the right-hand column. The new additions are:

The Big Red Mechanic
The Red Letters
We Heart The Reds

Add them all to your daily reading list.

Meanwhile, the Reds blogosphere got together for another roundtable discussion about the Reds. Unfortunately, Redleg Nation was unable to make it this time, but it was an interesting session. Here’s Part One, hosted by Blade. It’s worth a read.

New GM Wayne Krivski will chat online on Monday. After that, the Reds will have one player available for chat every Monday throughout Spring Training.

Prospect guru John Sickels (buy his book!) has issued his list of the Reds Top 20 Prospects.

1. Homer Bailey, RHP, Grade B+
2. Travis Wood, LHP, Grade B
3. Jay Bruce, OF, Grade B
4. B.J. Szymanski, OF, B-
5. Phil Dumatrait, LHP, B-

The good news is the top 3 guys are all recent high picks. O’Brien may have been on to something. The bad news is the top 3 guys are all recent high picks. That means they’re still a long way from contributing, have to pass the “injury nexus,” and are to great extent, still living on pre-draft reputation and scouting reports.

Prospects 6-20 are all graded C+ or worse, who are “more or less interchangeable,” and most likely destined to be roster-filler, at best.

As Sickels says, “Not exactly a top system by any means.”

Depressing.

From the Hamilton Journal:

For most of last spring, 280-pound Rob Stratton was a cult figure in the Cincinnati Reds camp, grabbing attention by hitting .314 with four home runs and 10 RBIs in 35 at-bats.

He was in camp as a nonroster invitee and he was sent to Class AAA Louisville. Just a week into the season, he tore his Achilles tendon. Told to stay off it, he walked down some steps during the healing process and tore it again.

Well, he’s back. Mostly, he works by himself, part of a small group invited to a minor-league minicamp, which means he’ll probably play in some of the Reds exhibition games.

“The Achilles is good,” he said. “I worked hard on it all off-season and I’ve lost 20 pounds.

“This is the way I’ve had to battle all my career, fight through injuries. I’m just grateful to the Reds that they are giving me another chance, and if I can stay healthy, maybe I can get back where I left off last spring.”

Stratton, according to reports, looked great last year in ST, was sent to Louisville to find out if his new stance and swing would resurrect his career and he blew the Achilles.

Hopefully, he’ll pick up where he left off and do well at Louisville. A big bat in Louisville will come in handy at some point this season for the Reds.

From Cincinnatireds.com:

I invite you to read the entire article, but I’ll show some of the “highlights”…

It proved to be one of the most difficult seasons of a 12-year big league career.

“I went through it because they put me through it. It wasn’t like I did it to myself,” Womack said. “I still like to play. It’s no fun knowing that you can still play and contribute to somebody when this team is holding you back. The Yankees held me back.”

For the record…Womack hit .249 with 15 RBIs in 108 games and had an OBP of .276. Yep, the Yankees did that to him.

“The only thing that makes me mad is it messes up my baseball card,” said Womack, who reported to Reds camp Tuesday and completed his first workout. “I was consistent for a long time and then that comes up. It was a learning experience for me. I’m a stronger person. I had to be. I had to bite my tongue a lot. I had to keep myself going and make sure I got my work in.”

Yeah, Tony, don’t worry that you didn’t help your team or that you didn’t earn the $2M you were being paid. Be upset that it “messes up your baseball card.”

A plea to Reds management…cut this bum. I can’t spend the entire year listening to this type of drivel come out of someone’s mouth that should be thanking God every day that he’s fooled people enough to be collecting a baseball paycheck.

From the Enquirer:

Castellini is busy shoring up things in the Reds’ Florida operation. He said the club is in the final stages of purchasing a Florida State League franchise from the Boston Red Sox.

The Reds had a team in the FSL last year, playing out of the Sarasota.

“We operate it,” Castellini said. “We don’t own it. That’s a big difference.”

I had assumed the Reds had bought the operation from the Red Sox before putting a franchise there last year. This purchase would be good news for Reds fans like myself, who vacation in the Sarasota area in the summer.

As I posted last year, you can get the chance to catch a Reds GCL game during the day and a Reds FSL game at night. I’m very happy that it seems the Reds are going to stay in Sarasota.

Ed Kleese:

Castellini and his partners purchased the team from Lindner and immediately started using words such as “competitive, pride, and winning.” They made a decisive move right off the bat by firing bumbling general manager Dan O’Brien and replacing him with Wayne Krivsky, a well-respected man from a successful front office in Minnesota. Instead of bemoaning their small-market status as an excuse for not improving the roster, the new ownership signed the Reds most dynamic young player, Adam Dunn, to a contract extension. The status quo no longer seems acceptable to Castellini and company.

But why can’t Bob just leave well enough alone? I’d reached the acceptance stage– how do you go back from that? How do you un-die? Does this man not realize the havoc he may be about the unleash? Reds fans may actually start caring again. We might actually start thinking beyond Memorial Day. We might feel the sting of a blown save in early June, and feel the exhilaration of a walk-off homerun in late August. Hope may be re-born. And with re-born hope comes the possibility of dashed dreams, broken hearts, and maddening summer nights. I thought I’d left all that in the past.

I know this feeling. I just hadn’t been able to put it into words like this.

And this:

Now, I’m investing in the Reds again. Investing in a stock that has gone belly up for the past decade. I’ll have no one to blame but myself when my return comes up empty again this year. Actually, I will. I’ll blame Bob. I’ll blame Bob for bringing me back from the peaceful quiet of acceptance stage.

The wound had closed. The scar barely visible. Now, Castellini has come back and re-opened that wound. In one hand, he holds my hopes and dreams of a winning team in Cincinnati. In the other hand, he holds a giant salt-shaker, ominously eyeing my old wound.

It feels good, though, doesn’t it?

I just watched an interview with new owner Bob Castellini on FSN. One word: wow.

It’s amazing — and refreshing — to hear a Reds owner marketing the team, talking about the great tradition of the franchise, and how we are going to be great again. It’s fantastic; this guy is the anti-Lindner.

I’m a Castellini convert. Very, very impressed.

From Cincinnatireds.com:

The rehabilitation from shoulder surgery continued to be positive for starting pitcher Paul Wilson. The right-hander stretched his long toss regimen to 120 feet Monday, and he will be throwing in a side session from flat ground Wednesday.

Reds head trainer Mark Mann said that Wilson could be throwing in a live batting practice session next week.

Wilson’s last bullpen session was Wednesday. He was given a longer rest period since the volume and intensity of his pitches had been increasing. He was throwing at around 75 percent but ended sessions working at 90 percent intensity

Sounds like so far, so good for Wilson. Here’s hoping he’ll be ready when that 5th spot comes up in April.

From the Enquirer:

Adam Dunn was being diplomatic. He never mentioned Carl Lindner. He never mentioned Dan O’Brien.

But he gave the distinct impression that he would not have signed a two-year contract with a club option for a third had there been no change in ownership and management.

“I’m very happy here,” he said. “I honestly didn’t want to go anywhere. Having ownership that wants to win - and not just be competitive - is big. They’ve got the right two men to do it.”

Dunn was referring to new Reds CEO Bob Castellini and new general manager Wayne Krivsky.

Dunn spoke to both men before signing the deal.

“Not to knock (the old regime),” he said. “(Krivsky and Castellini) are two people I can actually talk to,” he said. “I talked to them on the phone. I’d like to talk to them more. They’re as normal as can be.”

Under former GM O’Brien, the Reds began negotiating strictly a one-year deal after the Jan. 17 deadline for exchanging salary figures passed.

That approach changed after O’Brien was fired Jan. 23. Interim GM Brad Kullman opened up the possibility of a multi-year deal. Krivsky closed it out Feb. 13, avoiding an arbitration hearing.

“They handled it like a negotiation is supposed to go,” Dunn said. “They were very professional. They knew what they wanted to do. That was very good for me.”

Well, this is the first major sign that new ownership has had a positive influence on the “on-field” product.