Self-Proclaimed Expert Baseball Analysts

Ryan Wagner could be pitching worse. I mean, assuming he was underhand-throwing basketballs up there and the other teams were swinging ironing boards.

Is Dan O'Brien watching this kid fail every time? Hello, AAA? AA? Jesus Sanchez and Mike Matthews continue to pitch well down there. WTF? MAKE A MOVE.

And don't even get me started on Jacob "Brandon Larson" Cruz.

Rumors are just that, but the current one is pretty bad. John Reidling for Abraham Nunez? Isn't that basically trading the best bullpen pitcher the Reds have right now for another disgruntled, inconsistent 5-tool outfielder who doesn't play every day and has no future in the Dunn-Griffey-Kearns outfield? (Not that those three ever play together, but let me live in my dream world, won't you?) Hell, why not just get Juan Encarnacion back?

(For those playing at home, Austin Kearns and Adam Dunn made Juan Encarnacion expendable in 2002. The Reds got Ryan Dempster in return for Encarnacion, and we all know how that worked out.)

Upside: Dempster is now a Cub. The fools.

As a D-Backs fan, this is not good news at all...



Baseball tonight said that Griffey had pretty much the same injury last year, except he got it diving for a catch. Remember, Junior was on the "15 Day DL" too.

Arizona has scored 121 runs this year, 20 by Big Richie who has also driven in 13 that weren't him (22rbi-9hr). That's a huge chunk of the offense. He accounts for only 7 runs less than the entire Expos team.

The moral: Bet the under on all upcoming D-Backs games. Once Gonzo's elbow finally explodes and Bautista returns to his usual self, they'll have nothing left. Man, I thought they could win the west too.

Jeff Shaw is still only, what, 37 or so? And I think he lives in Cincinnati. Why don't the Reds at least call him?

Blowing a save...forgivable.

Blowing a bunt situation...forgivable.

Blowing a 9-run lead...unexcusable.

My baseball wish for the season: That some other corporation steps up and sponsors trivia questions. I'm really sick of the one company that currently does it. I can't think of their name but they somehow have an arrangement with every single team. Man, what's their name? They sell that insurance that pays you if you miss work. Oh what are they called? I can never remember. If only they had some sort of screeching bird to remind me. But alas...

I'm watching Angels @ Tigers right now. I want to say that Detroit is legit- even without Pudge or Dmitri Young. They're killing Bartolo Colon so far today. But they're still only 11-9 (presumably 12-9 unless they blow this one), which is a really hot start in the recent history of that franchise. If they can keep hitting every gap in their huge park, they might compete in the central. But I seriously doubt it. Teams just don't turn around that much, right? Anyway, Sparky Anderson must be rolling over in his grave.

Apparently it snowed in Detroit yesterday. It was 102 here. Thought I'd point it out so that the zero people who read this will know.

This blog will focus on the first-place Cincinnati Reds among other baseball topics.