From the Hamilton Journal:

The Cincinnati Reds will retire jersey number 13, worn from 1970-88 by shortstop Dave Concepcion, prior to the Reds-Cubs game on Saturday, July 28, at Great American Ball Park.

At its meeting last week, the board of directors of the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum voted unanimously to retire the uniform number of the Venezuelan native. Each fan attending the 7:10 p.m. game will receive a commemorative replica of a painting that will be presented to Concepcion that day.

“He was the best shortstop of his era and certainly one of the greatest in the history of our storied franchise,” said Reds president and chief executive officer Bob Castellini. “Number 13 deserves to hang next to the uniform jerseys of Bench and Morgan and Perez.”

Concepcion’s 13 will be the ninth number retired by the Reds, joining Fred Hutchinson’s 1, Johnny Bench’s 5, Joe Morgan’s 8, Sparky Anderson’s 10, Ted Kluszewski’s 18, Frank Robinson’s 20, Tony Perez’ 24 and Jackie Robinson’s 42. Concepcion was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 2000.

Concepcion was the best of his era….and a borderline HOFer, in my opinion…but how many uniform numbers do you retire? Where’s the dividing line?

UPDATE: The Reds have changed the date of this ceremony from July 28th to August 25th. July 28th is HOF induction weekend and there were scheduling conflicts with some of Davey’s teammates who attend the HOF induction, so it was re-scheduled.

Syracuse 3, Louisville 2 

25 year-old Phil Dumatrait pitched 5 innings gave up 6 H, 4 BB, and 1 ER, while recording 2 Ks.  He has a 0.63 ERA in 5 starts.

Chattanooga 7, West Tenn 3

25 year-old Chris Dickerson went 3 for 4 with 2 R, 2 RBI, and a 2B.  He is hitting .301/.356/.344

Lakeland 8, Sarasota 7

20 year-old Jay Bruce went 4 for 5 with a 2B, HR, 2 R and an RBI.  He is hitting .330/.380/.571

Dayton 9, Beloit 5

21 year-old Chris Valaika went 3 for 5 with a 2B, R, and 3 RBI.  He is hitting .411/.444/.589.

I’ve discovered the answer to the Reds’ problems. We need to make sure that Daedalus attends more games. After all, they won both of the games this weekend that she attended, and here are some superb photos to prove it.

JinAZ has a fairly in-depth look at the newest Red, reliever Brad Salmon. J thinks Salmon could help the club this season.

For some reason, bullpen construction has become my pet topic lately.  It just seems so mysterious.  Some clubs (the Reds throughout the 1990s, the Braves and Padres currently) have no problem coming up with a great bullpen, while others (the 2006-07 Reds are the most painful example) can’t get anything to work.

In the next few months, I want to try to unravel some of this mystery - to figure out how good bullpens are assembled, and what makes a productive bullpen.  In my actual job, I’ve had the opportunity to actually work on some of these issues (very long story), and I found that even elite relievers have an extremely short shelf life (see Dibble, Rob; Davis, Mark).  This raises the question of whether it makes any sense to invest (at least in salary or contract years) money in the bullpen.  I’d like to take a look at questions like that.  So if anyone knows of good research or writing on that topic, please drop a link in the comment thread, or shoot me an email.

Our best wishes, thoughts, and prayers go out to the family of Josh Hancock and the St. Louis Cardinals. Hancock, a former Red, died today in a car accident in St. Louis:

Police said the 29-year-old Hancock was alone in his 2007 Ford Explorer when he struck the rear of a tow truck at 12:35 a.m. The truck was in the left lane assisting another vehicle that was involved in a prior accident, officer Pete Mutter said.

Hancock was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the tow truck, whose name was not released by police, was in the truck at the time of the crash but was not injured.

Josh Hancock was, frankly, treated rather shabbily by the Reds, and it would have been nice to have his arm in our bullpen the last two seasons. RIP.

Don’t we all feel just a little bit better about the team today?

Aaron Harang vs. Pat Maholm today, so hopefully the Reds have a good chance to take two out of three in Pittsburgh. Yeah, it’s just the Pirates, but anytime you can win a series on the road, it’s a good thing.

After today, it’s a day off before the Redlegs head off to Houston for another Central Division tilt. Let’s get a win today to savor until Tuesday.

UPDATE: Some sad news about a former Red today.

Can Matt Belisle stem the bleeding tonight? I hope so. His ERA has risen to 4.43 since his outstanding start, so Belisle is due for another good outing, I would guess.

For the Pirates, Tom Gorzelanny will take the hill. He’s 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA, so maybe he’s due for a bad outing.

Yes, it’s all wishful thinking and speculation. I’ll take what I can get. But hey, it’s a day for celebration: Frenchy is gone!

Discuss tonight’s game, and everything else surrounding the Reds, here.

No, this isn’t the only thing to discuss about the Reds, but we have more news:

The Reds acquired minor league reliever Marcus McBeth from Oakland on Saturday as part of a trade made a day earlier, and designated left-handed reliever Rheal Cormier for assignment to the minors.

Cincinnati dealt outfielder Chris Denorfia to the Athletics on Friday for two players to be named. On Saturday, they received the 26-year-old McBeth, who went 3-3 with a 3.07 ERA and 32 saves last season with three of Oakland’s minor league teams.

McBeth was the closer at Triple-A Sacramento this season. He will join Triple-A Louisville on Sunday.

The Reds will get one more player from the Athletics at some point.

Cincinnati also made a move with its wobbly bullpen on Saturday, recalling right-hander Brad Salmon from Louisville to replace Cormier. The left-hander gave up three runs in three innings over six appearances.

Nothing but good news here, in that Frenchy Cormier is gone and that outweighs everything else.

Here’s what Baseball Prospectus has to say about McBeth:

The A’s fourth-round draft pick in 2001 — that’s the year before the Moneyball draft — Marcus “The Scottish Play” McBeth batted .233 in t hree seasons as a center fielder, so in 2005 he made the logical switch from the garden to the hill. He’s had his ups and downs as a reliever, but in 2006, it was mostly up, and he’s a prospect as long as he maintains that strikeout rate (or something close to it). McBeth gets his fastball into the mid-90s and he’s working on a slider, but it’s his changeup that everybody talks about. He’s ticketed for Sacramento this spring.

McBeth will be 27 years old in August.

UPDATE: While we’re at it, here’s what John Fay says:

Designating Rheal Cormier was something the Reds had to do. You can’t keep a guy in the bullpen if the manager is not going to use him, and Jerry Narron wasn’t using Cormier.

The deal will go down as one of Wayne Krivsky’s worst. I can’t blame him for the making the trade. Cormier had a 1.59 for Philly when the Reds acquired. You can chalk up the fact that he didn’t pitch well for Reds — 0-1, 4.50 ERA — to bad luck. But giving him the extension to make the deal is going to cost the Reds $2 million. Cormier would have vetoed the trade if the Reds hadn’t done the extension. But . . .

Right-hander Brad Salmon, the guy the Reds brought up to take Cormier’s spot, is said to throw up to 95. The Reds desperately need someone like that.

The biggest effect is from a PR standpoint. It shows they’re willing to eat salary to better the team. A lot of my e-mailers were beginning to doubt that.

There’s been some discussion here and elsewhere about the bullpen, and especially about the roles that have (or haven’t been) established down there. Given that recent discussion, I thought John Fay’s article this morning in the Enquirer about Mike Stanton was interesting:

Don’t be surprised if left-hander Mike Stanton pitches the eighth inning with the Reds leading, no matter who’s due up for the other side.

“We might use Stanton,” Reds manager Jerry Narron said. “Left-hander, right-hander, it doesn’t matter. We’ll see how he feels. I’ve got full confidence in Stanton when he’s out there. Last year, he went over to San Francisco and did a good job closing. That’s not to say it’s in cement.”

Stanton saved eight games for the Giants last season after being traded from Washington on July 28.

He has had success against both left-handers and right-handers this season. Left-handers are hitting .250 off him; right-handers .200.

The eighth inning has been the problem inning for the Reds. They’ve allowed 21 runs in 22 games entering Friday.

So Narron has tried different people in the setup role. Right-handers Kirk Saarloos and Todd Coffey have been used against right-handers lately.

“I’ve got confidence in all of them,” Narron said. “What did we go - 14 1/3 (scoreless innings)? It can happen again.”

But the ERA of the bullpen is 8.39 since that 14 1/3 innings of scoreless pitching to start the season.

Stanton’s ERA is 4.91. One bad outing is responsible for almost all of that. He hasn’t allowed a run in 11 of his 12 appearances.

Don’t know if Narron will actually use Stanton in the 8th inning as the primary setup man, but it can’t hurt. Can it?

This is one sporting event about which I just can’t understand the hype. Who cares?

I like college football (I have season tickets for my alma mater’s football games), but I just can’t get into the draft. I’ve barely been able to listen to ESPN Radio over the last couple of weeks because Mel Kiper and that bunch are ever present.

I will say that the top two picks were the two best players I saw play over the last couple of years. I saw Calvin Johnson play in person a couple of times, and he’s unreal as a wide receiver. I’ve seen very few wide receivers who are able to dominate a game like him (another was Larry Fitzgerald of Pitt, who I saw live at some crappy bowl game a few years ago).

JaMarcus Russell was great the few times I got to see him on television, but he’s with the Raiders now so I hope he flames out.

Okay, so I said I don’t care about the draft and now I’ve wasted several paragraphs talking about it. Sorry. If you want to discuss the draft — or anything else — feel free.

Topic for conversation: Brady Quinn is the most over-rated player I’ve seen in college football in a decade or more. If he played for anyone except Notre Dame, he’d be a third rounder. Agree or disagree?

Louisville and Syracuse PPD

Chattanooga 5, West Tenn 1

24 year-old Drew Anderson (Reds #13 - 2004) went 2 for 3 with a 3B and 2 RBI. Anderson from THE Ohio State is hitting .239/.281/.409

22 year-old James Avery (Reds #5 2005) pitched 7 solid innings giving up just 4 H, 2 BB, and an ER while striking out 5. He has a 3.49 ERA in 28.1 IP with 25 H, 6 BB, and 21 Ks.

Tampa 7, Sarasota 6

23 year-old Adam Rosales (Reds #12 - 2005) went 2 for 4 with a R and an RBI. Adam is up to .257/.372/.414

20 year-old Ruben Medina gave up his first run of the year. Medina tossed 2.1 IP giving up 4 H, 0 BB, and an ER. He has a 0.79 ERA with 10 H, 6 BB and 11 Ks in 11.1 IP.

Beloit 3, Dayton 2

21 year-old Chris Valaika (Reds #3 - 2006) went 1 for 3 with a 2B and a R. Valaika is hitting .385/.425/.538

21 year-old Jordan Smith (Reds #6 - 2006) pitched 5.2 innings giving up 2 H, 1 BB, 2 R, and 0 ER while striking out 6. He lowered his ERA to 3.93 with 16 H, 5 BB, and 17 Ks in 15.1 IP.

For your discussion, if you wish…

Griffey diagnosed with pleurisy, listed as day to day:

Ken Griffey Jr. remained out of the Cincinnati Reds’ lineup for a second day Friday with pleurisy, an inflammation in the lining of a cavity surrounding the lungs.

Griffey was held out of Thursday’s game in St. Louis with soreness in his chest. A chest X-ray on Friday revealed the problem, which is not expected to be a long-lasting condition. He was used as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning against the Pirates, drawing a walk before being replaced by a pinch runner.

Griffey recently missed four games with a different type of inflammation, a colon condition called diverticulitis that was initially diagnosed six months ago. He returned from that problem Tuesday to hit his first home run of the season and the 564th of his career, moving him past Reggie Jackson for 10th place on the career list.

And I don’t know what to make of this…

A’s acquire Denorfia from Reds for 2 players to be named:

The Oakland Athletics acquired outfielder Chris Denorfia from the Cincinnati Reds on Friday in a trade for two players to be named later and cash considerations.

While the A’s could use an extra body in their injury-depleted outfield, it won’t be the 26-year-old Denorfia. He had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow April 3 after tearing a ligament during an exhibition game March 23.

Denorfia went on the 15-day disabled list March 24, then was transferred to the 60-day DL on April 13. He will be moved to the A’s 60-day DL.

From the Enquirer:

The Reds traded the outfielder to the Oakland A’s for two players to be named and cash Friday.

snip…

The deal basically was agreed to in spring training, but then Denorfia injured his elbow making a throw March 23.

snip…

The emergence of Josh Hamilton, coupled with prospects like Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs, made Denorfia expendable.

“We hate to give up Deno,” Krivsky said. “He’s a tremendous individual. He plays the game the right way. He has tremendous makeup. He’s a real credit to the organization.”

One player the Reds receive from the A’s might be announced in a day or two. The other will be announced in a few months.

Krivsky said Jared Burton, the Reds’ Rule 5 pick from Oakland, is not involved in the deal.

The deal makes sense and most of us  (the editors) believe Denorfia was never going to be any more than a 4th outfielder / part time player. Let’s hope that Krivsky gets someone that can help the team in the future.

I am kind of surprised that Burton isn’t part of this deal…seems logical to me.

Someone named Larry Dobrow writes for CBS Sportsline. Prior to the season, Dobrow evidently made some predictions, one of which was this: “Jerry Narron will instill the sense of discipline the Reds have lacked since the Piniella era.”

He’s now going back and taking a look at some of his predictions and admitting that he was off on some of them:

Total nonstarter, that. Brandon Phillips turns a potential inside-the-park homer into a triple by failing to run hard from the get-go and gets a nice pat on the head from his skipper. Edwin Encarnacion doesn’t bother to run out a ground ball and gets yanked from the game. Ken Griffey Jr. lollygags to first base after skying a pop-up to center and makes his usual trot out to the outfield the next inning. Selective discipline, in baseball as in parenting, can only breed massive discontent.

Probably a little unfair to Narron, but it’s something that many in our game threads have complained about, certainly.