Cincinnati Reds Roundtable No. 3

It is Thursday morning and time for Roundtable No. 3.

Good to see each of you today, and I can empathize with all those long faces. Buck up boys, things can't actually get much worse. We could be in the Pirates caucus room.

Even though we are 10 games below the equator, and have lost eight of 10 we are still 2 .5 games ahead of the Bucs. To make our losing trend sound even louder, of the last 21 games we have lost 16.

Any suggestions? Anyone? Anyone?

Russell, what do you have to say? I love to hear your ideas and value your opinions, as do we all.

One day before the trade deadline, and I have to wonder about our workhorse Aaron Harang. Man did he get bombed in the first inning last night? I am just wondering out loud what we could get for him. It proves that the Talented Mr. Harrell knows what he is talking about.

He pitched marvelously after that, but hey, you can't give the other guys a five-spot and start it from there. Looking at the box scores is beginning to feel like the movie "Groundhog Day."  Nothing changes.

Right now I must conclude with Illya that Homer is the best starting pitcher we have at the moment. Am I alone on this, or would any of you like to see a lefty in the rotation?

Stephen, what do you have to say, sir?

Don't think this losing skid has not affected the players either. You saw what happened to Joey Votto the other night didn't you?  In case you didn't, he was called out on a check swing (which I thought was borderline) by the third base ump. 

Joey went into a rage and if I read his lips correctly, he could have given Dennis Miller or Chris Rock a run for their money with the f-word. The ump gave him the ol' heave-ho very quickly.

The Astros have cooled off and the Cardinals find themselves atop the Central Division once again. With the acquisition of Matt Holliday, they are showing how serious they are about becoming a post-season team.

The Phillies have added Cliff Lee and a not-too-shabby young outfielder named Ben Francisco. The best just keep getting better. Almost like politics, how the rich get richer. Where were the Reds when Ibanez was up for grabs in the offseason?

One more with the Padres, then the Rockies come to town for the weekend. Interesting note, it says Aaron Cook will pitch for the Rockies against "Undecided". I haven't seen him work yet, maybe he can outdo the rest of our guys.

Thanks for your time, gentlemen.  See you next week.