From the DDN:

Nuxhall has agreed to do about eight games with Dayton Dragons broadcaster Mike Vander Wood on Time Warner Cable (Channel 25) this summer.

When Nuxhall isn’t available, former Reds pitchers Tom Browning and Ted Power, as well as former Cincinnati outfielder Ken Griffey Sr., will work the games.

Today’s News : MLB’s announced it will have statesman George Mitchell lead an investigation into steroid use. Professional scolds John Dowd and Fay Vincent announce that they don’t like it, since their opinions are so important.

This is obvioiusly Selig’s attempt at damage control — by my count, this is the third or fourth time he’s had to deal with “a steroids controversy.” Each time it’s the same story, recycled and pumped full of life by a hypocritical media struggling for viewers and subscribers.

This whole steroids thing is a colossal case of hypocrisy, on all parts: Selig, ownership, management, players, Congress, and media. Even the team trainers are culpable, in my opinion.

Everyone is shocked - shocked that there are steroids in baseball?!? Who honestly didn’t know? In 1996, my buddy told me in 1996 that a lot of the guys in A ball (where he was playing) were on the juice. That was 10 years ago. If he knew, and I knew, you can bet everyone else with access to a major league clubhouse knew.

Everybody knew, but nobody said anything, or even wanted to. Fans didn’t care — they liked the offensive explosion. Selig and the owners liked the money brought in by the increased attendance. The players liked that there was a bigger pie to fight over. Everyone loved (reading and writing) the heartwarming Tale of Sammy & Mark.

Certain members of “The Media” deserve a special dose of contempt - did anyone write an investigative piece on steroids in 1999? 2000? 2001 or 2002? No. It was “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Partly because the system is set up so that writers need daily access from the players; partly because it’s irresponsible (and possibly tortious) to write an article without solid sourcing. That said, someone should’ve tried.

My problem is with the stuff that’s being written now, castigating Selig for looking the other way, (just like the media did), or making Barry Bonds the Boogeyman, when all accounts show him to be one of the last guys to jump on the Steroid Bandwagon.

I just don’t know what this investigation is supposed to accomplish. Lots of guys were juicing, but there was no testing policy or league rule against it. This bell has been rung. It’s time to move on. The media wants its pound of flesh, but I have no clue who’s supposed to supply it.

Baseball history isn’t just numbers, it’s also stories. And even if Barry Bonds gets 756 HRs, there will always be a story that goes with the number. Selig doesn’t need to add an asterisk. Fathers will do it, when they pass the game on to their sons.

From today’s DDN:

Pitchers? Ryan Wagner (2-1, 3.00 ERA) and Mike Burns (0-0, 1.98) are arguing over the 12th and final spot on the pitching staff. Narron insisted all spring he will go with a 12-man staff on his final 25-man roster.
“I haven’t wavered and I’m still 99 percent sure it’ll be 12,” Narron said. “I’m giving myself just a tad wiggle room, but I really don’t need it.”

Most of us would wonder why they need 12 pitchers in April, but this would mean that Belisle has made the team.

Although he isn’t expected to miss much time after undergoing minor knee surgery this week, it is likely catcher Jason LaRue will start the season on the disabled list, with Javier Valentin and recently acquired Dave Ross likely to go north. That leaves catcher Dane Sardinha outside the loop, and because he is out of options, the team is likely to lose the No. 2 draft choice in 2000, either on a waiver claim or by trade.

Didn’t Sardinha pass through waivers one time before and re-signed with the Reds?

Outfielder Quinton McCracken (strained right foot) is a likely disabled list inhabitant, leaving high-performing outfielders Brian Buchanan and Andy Abad on the bubble for one spot.

Buchanan, signed Feb. 20 and not even invited to major-league camp, doesn’t even dress in the major-league clubhouse. His gear is in the minor-league locker room, but he is playing nearly every exhibition game and is hitting .568 (21-for-37) with nine doubles.

“If he keeps this up and goes north with us he might be using my office to dress,” Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky said.

Yeah, we’re deep in the outfield, uh-huh.

I still have tickets available for the Saturday game of the first weekend series of the Reds’ season. The game is against the Pirates, on April 8. Field level — first base line. Great seats.

I’m selling them for less than face value.

If you are interested in them, drop me a line at redlegnation-AT-verizon-DOT-net.

UPDATE: The tickets have been sold. Thanks for all the interest.

Chattanooga has announced their roster (or as much of it as is possible at this point). Lots of interesting names; I can’t wait to make a return trip this season.

Maybe Homer Bailey will even be there when I go.

From today’s DDN

At least two players expected to break camp Sunday with the Dragons were not in the lineup (on Monday). Shortstop Paul Janish, whose season was cut short at Dayton last summer for Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, has a slight hamstring pull. And outfielder Jay Bruce, the Reds’ No. 1 draft choice last year, is out for a couple of days with a slightly sprained ankle.

I don’t know where Adam Rosales will start the season, he played 32 games for Dayton at the end of last season. If he starts the season in Dayton, it seems likely they’d move Janish elsewhere.

With Opening Day about a week away, I don’t like hearing that Bruce has an ankle problem, no matter how slight.

Monday, left-hander Travis Wood — like Bruce a teenager and a second-round 2005 draft choice — pitched well, and Gardner said, “He opened some eyes.”

I’m looking forward to seeing what Wood does this season. He was extremely impressive in his first year of pro ball last year.

Otherwise, the Reds have released more than usual from their minor-league talent pool over the last few days, including former Dragons’ pitchers Aaron Garrison, Brad Morenko, Jared Sanders, Robbie Wachman, Ty Howington, James Morrison and Joe Wilson. Also released were infielder/outfielder Walter Olmstead, outfielder Stephen Smitherman, catcher Chad Ziemendorf, second baseman Mayker Sandoval and outfielder-turned-pitcher Matt Gray.

This seems to me to be a large group of released players. Maybe these are players from the bad drafts (pre-2004) and the Reds new management is clearing the path for players from the 2004 & 2005 drafts to climb rapidly.

And from the Dragons site:

Greetings from Sarasota! The sun was out and pitching was on display as the Dragons and Delmarva Shore Birds, class A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, squared off against each other on Tuesday afternoon at the Reds Minor League Complex. The Dragons picked up a 2-1 come from behind win with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to erase a 1-0 deficit.
The Shore Birds got on the board with a single tally in the top of the seventh inning before the Dragons rallied for two in the eighth. Chris Denove led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a base hit by Gerardo Cabrera. Mike Jones moved the runners along with a SAC bunt and then back to back RBI singles by Eric Eymann and Mike Griffin gave the Dragons the 2-1 lead.

Johnny Cueto started the game for Dayton on the mound and tossed 5.0 shutout innings allowing three hits before giving way to Ranier Feliz who pitched the sixth and seventh. Feliz allowed one earned run in the 2.0 innings he worked. Tim Weiman picked up the win shutting down Delmarva in the final two innings.

Cueto pitched most of the year for the GCL Reds, but got a couple of appearances for Sarasota also.

Marc Lancaster reports that Bergolla, Kata, and Shackleford have been optioned to Louisville.

Last week, I received “Tom Browning’s Tales from the Reds Dugout” in the mail. It’s a memoir from TB’s career, and it’s well worth a read.

Maybe I’m just in the annual week-before-Opening-Day haze, but I really enjoyed this book. Written by Browning (with Dann Stupp, who is the creative services manager for the Reds…and a fellow member of SABR), it checks in at a slim 192 pages. Don’t be fooled, however; it is packed with great stories from cover to cover. It’s a quick, breezy read, and any Reds fan will enjoy it — especially Reds fans under age 35 who grew up with the Browning-era Reds, with all their ups and downs.

The book is laugh-out-loud funny in places. Browning hits all the high points — the 1990 championship, the perfect game, climbing onto the roof opposite Wrigley Field during a game, the Pete Rose situation — but he also gives us a peek behind the curtain to the funny and memorable moments in the clubhouse during his career. Practical jokes at the expense of Glenn Sutko, the bizarre behavior of Chris Sabo, watching Rob Dibble fight with Lou Piniella, escapades with Charlie Sheen — it’s all in there.

What struck me most about Browning’s book was the love he clearly has for the Cincinnati Reds organization. He talks about the Reds as if he were simply a fan, and not a part of the team’s history. Browning is very proud to be a Red — he talks wistfully about being elected to the Reds Hall of Fame — and that comes across in the book.

As anyone who knows me will attest, I’ve always been a big fan of Tom Browning. I’m even more of a fan after reading this book.

Go get the book and read it now. You’ll enjoy it. And you’ll come out of it proud that Tom Browning is about to be elected to the Reds Hall of Fame.

The Reds are getting no love from Sports Illustrated in their preseason predictions. The Reds are predicted to finish dead last in the NL Central and are ranked 28th in Major League Baseball. The Reds rank ahead of only the Royals and Marlins.

It’s easy to see why their article assessment has us rated so low. Most of the article focuses on Ryan Freel and Eric Milton.

Freel, 30, emerged as one of the game’s better leadoff hitters in 2005, finishing with a .371 on-base percentage and 36 stolen bases from the one hole. He possesses all the attributes of a thinking leadoff man: He is willing to work the count, and he plays to his strength (speed) while minimizing his weakness (limited pop), hitting twice as many ground balls as fly balls. The 5′10″, 180-pound Freel has a prototypical small man’s game, regularly ripping his uniform on headfirst slides and sprawling catches. His aggressive style sent him to the disabled list twice last season.

But alas, we’ll see Tony Womack on Opening Day.

The Reds appear destined to play dozens of 10-9 games, and they won’t be competitive until they seriously upgrade their staff. Freel, who signed a two-year, $3 million extension in December, is a fine building block, a scrappy, multipurpose piece and a face for the franchise. But the talent gap between Cincinnati and the class of the NL Central is too great to bridge on hustle alone.

I agree about the pitching staff. I don’t think we’ve “seriously” upgraded our staff much from last year, but I feel we have made some improvements. I like Ryan Freel as much as anyone, but this article and assessment only mentions Dunn once, in one measly sentence (only stating that he’ll play LF now due to WMP’s departure), and never mentions Griffey, Kearns, nor Lopez. I think our offense is still a potential #1 in the NL. No wonder SI predicts the Reds so low. It’s as though Freel and Milton are it!

Of course it is still the preseason and I’m always optimistic at this time of year. Ask how I feel come July!

I know that feeling.

Per Marc Lancaster, the Reds have signed Terrence Long.

I actually like this signing. Long had a bad year last year, but is essentially a league-average hitter, and is even better if you keep him away from lefties. Defensively, I think he’s very good, if you keep him away from CF. He’s a marginal upgrade on Jacob Cruz. Cruz is known as a good guy in the clubhouse - all I know about Long is that he was described as “very polite” when my female friend met him in a bar a few years back.

This seems like a low-risk, medium-reward type of move. We get a perhaps a better LH pinch-hitter, and a passable defensive replacement (though we still need a caddy for Jr).

As noted in a comment below, Jason LaRue will be having surgery:

Reds catcher Jason LaRue will have arthroscopic surgery to repair the torn medial meniscus in his right knee.

Reds medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek will perform the surgery tomorrow morning in Cincinnati.

LaRue is expected to miss 10-14 days. He has not been placed on the disabled list.

An MRI taken this afternoon revealed the injury.

I hope it’s just going to be a couple of weeks. We’ve seen the Reds medical team misdiagnose these things before.

I’m certainly disappointed that I won’t get to see Jason LaRue starting at catcher next week, but I’m no less excited about getting to attend Opening Day. It’s been a long, hard winter.

Lot of discussion lately about the Reds’ hole at first base, and what can be done about it. I thought the Reds should have picked up Hee Seop Choi, and some others think that Carlos Pena is a good option (he was released by the Tigers today).

Still others think Ryan Shealy is a good option that is available. Well, who is Ryan Shealy? And why is he available?

Here’s what Baseball Prospectus has to say about Shealy (by the way, go buy the 2006 BP today! It’s fantastic):

Shealy hasn’t looked back after his senior season at Florida State, and he’s done everything a power-hitting prospect should do. Unfortunately, he’s a first baseman blocked by some guy named Helton. The Rockies are attempting to teach him to play the outfield. He’s reportedly losing weight and taking well to his new position, so he should be in the mix to platoon with Brad Hawpe this year. There isn’t a worse park than Coors in which to convert a slow first baseman into an outfielder.

The outfield conversion didn’t go well, and has been abandoned. But BP’s PECOTA projection system has Shealy putting up a 876 OPS this year. At age 26. Nice.

Now, I don’t know what the Reds could offer for him, but evidently, the Rockies are shopping Shealy. Cincinnati has been mentioned as a potential destination (here also — Boston is mentioned, as well, but since they signed Choi, I doubt they are in the market), which is encouraging.

This guy would fit in well with the Reds. Go get him, Krivsky!

In this article that I linked yesterday, there is some discouraging news for those of us who think that Tony Womack is terrible:

The Reds fielded what appeared to be close to their Opening Day lineup against Minnesota. It looked like this — second baseman Tony Womack, shortstop Felipe Lopez, center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, left fielder Adam Dunn, first baseman Rich Aurilia, right fielder Austin Kearns and LaRue.

One exception — Scott Hatteberg is expected to get the bulk of time at first base over Aurilia. However, Narron felt the order could be adjusted several times throughout the season.

“Right now, Griffey is going to hit third. Other than that, I can’t say where guys are going to hit,” Narron said. “Lopez might hit one, two or probably fifth, sixth or seventh. Mostly one or two. Womack and [Ryan] Freel are going to hit one, two or eighth. Dunn is going to hit three, four or five. Kearns is going to hit anywhere from two to eight. LaRue probably two, seven and eight.

“You want me to keep going? If Javy [Valentin] is in there, there’s no telling where he’ll hit.”

Will Jerry Narron really start Tony Womack on Opening Day?

Will Jerry Narron really start someone with a career OBP of .316 at leadoff?

Will Jerry Narron play someone with a career OPS of 672 as much or more than he plays Ryan Freel (.369 career OBP)?

Sheesh.

From MLB.com’s game report on today’s game:

Edwin Encarnacion continued his spring tear with a two-run double to left field in the first inning. Encarnacion has reached base safely in all 18 games he’s played.

My friends, that is the definition of a good spring.