Okay, so Ken Griffey, Jr., has been dealt to the White Sox. There is speculation about David Weathers being traded, and the Rockies still appear to be interested in Josh Fogg (then what’s the hold up? Trade him!).

More speculation centers on Adam Dunn; evidently, the Rays and Diamondbacks are interested. Will he be traded?

FYI: Adam Dunn’s 2008 statistics: 32 homers, 74 RBI, .385 OBP, .567 SLG, for an OPS of 952. He’s leading the majors in homers, and Dunn is on a pace for 48 homers and 112 RBI.

As Mike noted over on the Reds Listserv, this is the 5th consecutive season that Dunn has hit thirty or more homeruns. The only other Red to accomplish this is Frank Robinson, who did it from 1958-62.

Plus, Dunn has more home runs (196) and walks (511) since 2004 than anyone in baseball.

Will Dunn be traded? Discuss that, and any other rumors you have, right here.

UPDATE: From Jon Heyman at SI:

The Rays’ superb play has surprised them a bit, so they didn’t expect to be buyers at the trade deadline. They hoped to contend by 2009 or perhaps ‘10. The Rays appear to be adjusting to their new role as trade-deadline buyers, but with Jason Bay possibly going to Boston in the Manny Ramirez deal, it appears that Adam Dunn may be their best shot. It is believed the Reds are seeking some of the Rays’ vaunted young pitching, including Jeff Niemann and Jeremy Hellickson. Tampa has refused to include big shortstop prospect Reid Brignac in the Bay deal. So presumably he’d be off-limits as well for Dunn, who’s lefthanded and doesn’t fit Tampa quite as well.

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Ken Griffey, Jr. has been traded to the Chicago White Sox. As we all know, any trade is subject to Griffey’s veto, and Rosenthal says he’s expected to make a decision on that this morning.

Mlbtraderumors.com asks a great question:

The fit is unclear, as the Sox have Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye in the corners and Jim Thome at DH. Perhaps they’ll try Griffey at first base?

That question really is a great one, but frankly, any trade that gets Junior to a contender, in exchange for anything, is a good one in my book. So long as it doesn’t mean Corey Patterson seven days a week.

Huge hat tip to reader nycredsfan.

UPDATE (from Chad): Chris and I posted this at the same time, so I deleted my post and I am adding my thoughts from that post here…

No way to evaluate this without knowing what the Reds will be receiving in return. Of course, many of you would trade Griffey for a bag of balls. I’m not in that camp. I’m just sentimental like that, I guess. I would be sad to see the guy go (which isn’t to say that I’m opposed to trading him).

I’ll tell you one thing: if this trade goes through, I’ll be cheering for the White Sox to win the World Series.

UPDATE 2 (by Chad): I wouldn’t put too much stock in this yet, but Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune just speculated on ESPN Radio that Nick Swisher might be headed to the Reds in this trade. I find that hard to believe, but we’ll see.

UPDATE 3 (by Chris):  Will Carroll confirms the story.  He also notes that David Weathers is likely headed out.  This presumably lessens Chad’s pain.

UPDATE 4 (by Chris):  DONE deal.  Reds sending cash to the South Side.  No official word yet, but some reports Reds get two marginal talents:  reliver Nick Masset (5.63 ERA, 1.78 WHIP in 93 IP) and 25-year-old minor league IF Danny Richar (.288/.339/.440 career line), who sounds a lot like Jerry Gil without the power upside.

AAA

Louisville 9 - Charlotte 0

Ben Jukich got his first win for the Bats, throwing 8 shutout innings, allowing 7 hits, a walk, while striking out 3. Danny Herrera threw a scoreless 9th, allowing one hit. Jerry Hairston hit a grand slam in a rehab start in CF, Chris Dickerson had two hits (double, homer (#11), Ryan Hanigan had two hits, and DT Anderson went 3-5 with a double and homer (#6).

AA

Mississippi 3 - Chattanooga 1

Jordan Smith threw 6 1/3 innings, allowing 8 hits and 3 runs, while walking none and striking out 5. Ramon Geronimo kept his Chattanooga ERA at 0.00 with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, allowing no hits, but 2 walks. The Lookouts could only muster one hit on the night, by Tonys Gutierrez.

High A

Clearwater 7 - Sarasota 1

FSL Pitcher of the Week, Scott Carroll gave up 5 runs (3 earned) in 5 2/3 innings, allowing 9 hits and a walk, while striking out 3. Redleg Nation Spotlight Player, Logan Parker, Jason Louwsma, and Carson Kainer all had 2 hits. Catcher Eddy Rodriquez had a homer for the Reds only score.

Low A

Dayton 14 - Burlington 4

The Dragons continued their second half hot streak by beating up on the Burlington Bees on the road Wednesday night. The Dragons racked up 21 hits, including 3 doubles and 4 homers. The attack was led by 19 year old Nefi Soto, who went 5-6 on the night with a homer and drove in 3 runs. Brandon Waring went 4-6 with a homer and drove in 4 runs. Jason Bour (HR) and Zach Cozart both had 3 hits. Jacob Kahaulelio, in his second game since being sent back from Sarasota, went 2-5 with a homer.

The recipient of all this support was Jeremy Horst. He threw 5 innings, allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, walked 0 and struck out 5. Since being moved to the starting rotation, Horst has made 5 starts, thrown 23 innings, with an ERA of 1.96, allowing 12 hits and striking out 26. His WHIP as a starter has been .70.

Rookie Leagues

Billings 6 - Missoula 2

OF Byron Wiley led the offense, collecting 3 hits in 4 ABs, including a homer. David Sappelt and Kyle Day each had two hits.

Enrique Garcia started and threw 4 innings, allowing 1 run on 5 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2. Junior Martinez got the win, going 3 innings, allowing one run on one hit, walking 2, while k’ing 3. Mace Thurman and Jordan Hotchkiss followed with scoreless innings of relief.

GCL Red Sox 8 - GCL Reds 7

Catcher Kevin Coddington led the offense, going 2-5 with a double and 3 RBIs. 1B Humberto Sosa and 3B Maurcio Pimentel also collected two hits.

RHP Evan Hilenbrandt got the start and threw 5 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits, walking 2 and striking out 7. Jerry Gil, who is trying to make the conversion to pitcher, was not as effective, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in 1/3 of an inning. Michael Henry and Hector Santana were pretty ineffective out of the bullpen also.

ESPN is running a SportsNation poll on every team, allowing fans to vote for the greatest player ever to play for that particular franchise. Here’s the link to vote for the best Red ever. Results of the Reds poll will be announced on Baseball Tonight on August 4.

And, no, you can’t vote for Luis Quinones.

July 3, 1967: A vicious brawl punctuates a 7-3 Reds lose at St. Louis. In the 5th inning, Cardinals pitcher bob Gibson dumped Tony Perez into the dirt with a pitch. After Perez flied out, he had words with Gibson on the way back to the dugout. Both benches emptied, but peace seemed to be restored until the Reds bullpen led by Bob Lee came flying into the action, and fights broke out all over the field. It took 12 minutes and a contingent of more than a dozen St. Louis policemen armed with billy clubs to quell the melee. More than a dozen Reds players had to be treated for cuts and bruises.

All “Reds trivia” posts come from Greg Rhodes and John Snyder’s fabulous book, “Redleg Journal” (see link for purchasing) and are used with Greg’s permission.

Thanks again to Greg Rhodes for permission to use his material.

Five straight losses, the Reds are in last place again, on their way to yet another losing season, and Jack Armstrong is on the mound tonight. What are those reasons to stay optimistic, Mr. Castellini?

Discuss the game here if you can bear to watch it tonight.

(And, no, I don’t think Edinson Volquez is going to flop a la Jack Armstrong. I think he’s going to be a great pitcher for the Reds for many years. I’m just sick of Marty mentioning Armstrong’s name every time Volquez makes a bad pitch, so I’m beating him to the punch tonight.)

Sigh….

For what it’s worth, the owner showed up in Houston last night. Bob Castellini says it was just an innocent visit, but one has to wonder (as I did in last night’s game thread):

hen the owner shows up 48 hours before the trade deadline and meets behind closed doors for an hour with the general manager and field manager, you might take it as a sign of a shake-up.

But Reds CEO Bob Castellini said he was in Houston to lend encouragement in some rough times for his club.

“I was in Colorado,” he said. “It was a good opportunity to swing by, give everybody moral support. This is the time of year you can lose confidence. That shouldn’t happen with a team of this caliber.

“That Rockies series was rocky. It was the worst series that we’ve had since we’ve owned the team. These fellows are better than that and so are the managers and coaches behind them. We’re all better than that.”

The Rockies series was rocky. Heh.

Castellini showed up Tuesday. He met with GM Walt Jocketty, manager Dusty Baker and Jocketty’s two top assistants, Bob Miller and Jerry Walker, for about an hour in the visiting manager’s office.

“It’s discouraging and frustrating,” Castellini said. “We’ve got talent on this team, and we don’t want anyone to lose their confidence. We’ll take it one day at a time.”

Here’s my prediction: the Reds will be involved in no major trades before the non-waiver trading deadline. Maybe David Weathers will get dealt (dare to dream), maybe Jeremy Affeldt, but nothing significant is going to happen.

At the end of the year, the Reds are going to let Adam Dunn walk. Next year, the Reds will have an outfield of Jay Bruce, Jerry Hairston, Jr., and Ryan Freel/Norris Hopper. The mouth-breathers that call in to the radio shows on WLW will be ecstatic because of all the hustle in the outfield. Meanwhile, the Reds will lose 95 games.

Just my prediction.

Louisville 6 - Charlotte 3

Kevin Barker hit homeruns number 12 and 13 for the Bats in the win.  Barker went 2-4 with the 2 homeruns, scoring twice, and driving in 3.  Chris Dickerson and Adam Rosales each had a double and an rbi.  Dickerson also scored twice.

Adam Pettyjohn, despite a relatively high ERA for most of the year, just keeps winning ball games.  Pettyjohn is now 11-4, despite his 4.61 ERA.  Adam went 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3.  Jon Adkins picked up his 19th save of the season by pitching a scoreless 9th inning.

Mississippi 9 - Chattanooga 3

The Lookouts fall yet again.  Not much to talk about offensively.  The only bright spot was Tonys Gutierrez who hit a pinch hit double that drove in 2 runs in the 8th inning.

Sam Lecure fell to 7-6 with the loss.  Sam gave up 5 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings of work.

>> Continue

This morning, John Fay has a little piece in the Enquirer that purports to clear up the confusion regarding Dusty Baker’s dislike for bases on balls:

“Contrary to popular belief, there’s no way I said I’m opposed to walks,” (Baker) said. “They’re a big part of the game. It’s how you walk.

“The key is if you get a good pitch to hit, whack it. As a hitter, if you get a good pitch to hit and you hit it hard, you’ve done your job. … If you do that seven out of 10 times, you’ve got to a good chance of getting four or five hits.”

Monday’s game showed that aggressive hitters can use patience and patient hitters can use aggression.

Fay goes on to discuss Brandon Phillips and Adam Dunn.

Conspicuously absent from the discussion is any mention of the guy Baker “hit” in the leadoff spot again on Tuesday: Corey Patterson. Patterson’s updated numbers after another 0-4 night: .185 BA, .219 OBP, .327 SLG, adding up to an OPS of 545 .183 BA, .216 OBP, .322 SLG, adding up to an OPS of 538.

That’s right, Dusty Baker led off with a guy whose on-base percentage is .216.

Now, I’m not in the camp that is calling for Baker to be fired. I would, however, like to know why no one in the local media ever calls Baker to account for how he rationalizes putting Patterson in the leadoff position.

Redleg Nation wants answers, Dusty! We think we’re entitled to them. We want the truth!

December 5, 1957: The Reds deal 19 year old Curt Flood and Joe Taylor to the Cardinals for three pitchers: veteran Willard Schmidt, and prospects Marty Kutyna, and Ted Wieand.

With Vada Pinson looming as the Reds CF of the future, the club felt Flood was expendable. Pinson proved to be the better player, but Flood, too, became a star and the Reds received precious little in return for him. Kutyna never pitched for the Reds; Schmidt was 6-7. Wieand was born one month after FDR took office as president and his full name was Franklin Delano Roosevelt Wieand. But he did not have nearly as long as career as the president. Wieand pitched in only six big league games and finished his career with a 9.95 ERA. Flood played in St. Louis for 12 seasons and hit .293. The next time he was was traded, in October 1969 to the Phillies, Flood filed suit against baseball’s reserve clause, which eventually led to free agency.

All “Reds trivia” posts come from Greg Rhodes and John Snyder’s fabulous book, “Redleg Journal” (see link for purchasing) and are used with Greg’s permission.

Thanks again to Greg Rhodes for permission to use his material.

Bronson Arroyo vs. former Red Brian Moehler tonight at Enron Juice Field. Will the good guys ever win again?

Discuss it here….

–I know you’ve all been wondering about Bronson Arroyo’s shoes.

–Fun with realignment ideas!

–Daedalus has a headache.

–Stick a fork in ‘em.

–At the bottom of this post, Jeff says to trade ‘em all!

Durham 4 - Louisville 3

Michael Griffin went 1-4, the one hit being a 2 run homerun in the 8th inning.  The homer was Griffin’s 2nd of the season for the Bats.  Paul Janish went 2-3, hitting a solo homerun for his 6th of the season.

Ramon Ramirez allowed all 4 Durham runs in 5.1 innings pitched.  The runs scored on 7 hits and 2 walks.  Ramirez struck out 6.

Mississippi 1 - Chattanooga 0

Eric Eymann is now batting .301 on the season thanks to a 2-3 game.  His two hits accounted for 1/2 of the Lookouts hit total.

Robert Manuel picked up the loss in relief when he allowed the lone run of the game in the 7th inning.  The run scored on 2 hits allowed by Robert.

>> Continue

–Ken Griffey, Jr., made a “death gesture” at broadcaster Jeff Brantley after hitting a home run recently. It’s awesome that Junior doesn’t like Brantley, because Jeff Brantley is, by far, the worst broadcaster the Reds have ever had (at least, during my lifetime). He’s just awful. (And this isn’t the first time Brantley has had issues like this.)

I loved the guy as a pitcher, but if I ever have to listen to his stupid cowboy shtick again, I’m going to explode.

–Aaron Harang is starting to feel better:

Aaron Harang felt a little too good for his own good.

“It felt really, really good,” he said, “so good that I got in the rapid-fire mode. I had to stop myself.”

Harang gave his strained right forearm its toughest test so far - throwing 31 pitches in a bullpen session.

“Ten punchouts,” Harang joked. “I threw one ball, a little low. It was border line. Could have gone either way.”

It looks like Harang is at least two weeks away from returning, though. Jerry Hairston, Jr., meanwhile, is starting a rehab assignment, and Jared Burton hopes to be back by the end of the week.

–Jay Bruce is excited to play in Houston. This article reminds me of similar pieces about Adam Dunn when he arrived on the scene.

–The Reds have released the player whose hard slide preceded the recent brawl in Dayton. Still no word on suspensions arising from that melee.

May 8, 1935: Ernie Lombardi ties a major league record by hitting 4 doubles in 4 consecutive at-bats in a 15-4 win over the Phhillies in the first game of a DH in Philadelphia. Lombardi’s two-baggers came in 4 consecutive innings, from the sixth through the ninth, off four different pitchers. He also singled to account for five of the Reds 23 hits. The Reds lost the second game, 5-4.

Lomardi struck out only six times in 332 ABs. The big catcher used an unusual interlocking batting grip while at the plate, wrapping the index finger of his left hand around the little finger of his right hand.

All “Reds trivia” posts come from Greg Rhodes and John Snyder’s fabulous book, “Redleg Journal” (see link for purchasing) and are used with Greg’s permission.

Thanks again to Greg Rhodes for permission to use his material.