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While searching for something else, I ran across Hal McCoy’s keys to the 2010 season. He was mostly correct:
Three things the Cincinnati Reds must do in 2010 to win the National League Central:
1 Aaron Harang must win 14 to 17 games — preferably 17 — instead of losing 14 to 17 games, as he has done the past two seasons. Of course, it would help immensely if his offense would score more than 3.42 runs a game, as it did in 2009, or 3.52 a game, as it did in 2008, the least it scored for any starter both years.
2 Joey Votto must be the Joey Votto he was last year from Opening Day until July 26, when he was hitting .352. Then he went a month and a half with a .207 average, finally righting himself on Sept. 9 to hit .550 the rest of the season. The Reds need the April-May-June-July-September Votto and the August Votto needs to stay away.
3 Remember Jay Bruce’s first major-league week in May 2008 when he had 15 hits and three homers and fans began calling him Bruce Almighty? Well, he finished the season hitting .254, although he had 21 homers. He had 22 homers last year, but hit only .223. That won’t cut it. For the Reds to win a flag, Bruce must become more multi-faceted at the plate.
Well, number one didn’t happen, did it? Somehow, the Reds recovered to have a decent season. 
Two out of three ain’t bad.
Truth is that Arroyo did basically what you wanted from Harang
A good thread would be “What must the Reds do during the off-season”
1) Lead-off hitter (prefer speedy left handed hitting left fielder!)
2) Capable back-up for Rolen & perhaps Janish – expecting Rolen to be healthy for entire season is not a good bet.
It goes to show, there are lots of ways to skin a cat. The basic answer to that question is always the same, improve your run differential. Everything else is just identification of possible ways that can happen. There’s never any specific “must happens” because there are just so many inputs.
In 2010, Harang didn’t bounce back, but Leake and Wood stepped up and our run prevention improved. These types of lists would make more sense if pitched as “the most likely ways for the team to improve”.
Even #1 was partially right.. he didn’t lose 14-17 games. As RMR points out above, the pitchers that filled in for Harang gave us those wins.
Anyone see this article yet? I think it’s awesome. Hits everything spot on:
http://www.getsportsinfo.com/post/2010/11/30/A-Realistic-2011-Plan-For-the-Cincinnati-Reds.aspx
Yeah that’s pretty spot on.
Not liking the Volquez trade though…..
I’m not liking it either, but I agree that if the Reds had to trade a starter it would have to be Volkie. And I agree with his overall summary of the Reds
@UCReds: The guy thinks Mike Morse is good, which is a significant problem.
And I strongly disagree with the statement that Chapman is the only guy on the roster capable of becoming a #1 starter. But he’s put some though into it, and some of the ideas are solid.
@Chris Garber: I agree he has some slip ups. But overall, I thought it was pretty thoughtful and interesting. A #1 starter? Or a dominant #1 starter? Is there a guy in our rotation that you would you describe as overpowering, unhittable, or a guy that can carry you through the playoffs every start? Cueto shows signs of it every now and then. Other than that, Chapman’s the potential. I think our rotation is very solid. But I agree with him to the point where no one in our rotation puts the fear of god into me as an opponent. Except Chapman’s upside.
Yeah. That’s a dumb trade. Morrison is awesome, but he is no outfielder. He will either need to show the power he had in the minors, or learn to play a smart outfield to fill the profiles of a major league LF or 1B.