I'm starting to worry. The Reds are receiving more offseason attention than they have since Griffey's arrival in 2000. Ordinarily I would think this is great but if Buster Olney (and his blogging brethren) continue to call them a "darkhorse" or a "sleeper," they cease being just that. I want my Reds to be good. I need them to be good. I placed American dollars on the Reds winning more than 78 games this season and I don't need Buster Olney screwing it up.
Based on the shot in the arm given by Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto, Buster Olney called the Reds the "kings of spring"
Read:
The usual suspects come out of spring training as favorites to win this year: The Red Sox, the Indians, the Yankees, the Cubs, the Mets, etc. But if you were to look at what has occurred in spring training strictly through the lens of what teams needed to accomplish, the best spring may have belonged to the Cincinnati Reds.
Sure, shortstop Alex Gonzalez got hurt and first baseman Joey Votto did not have a good spring in his effort to win an everyday job. But if the Reds are to have a chance to contend in the NL Central, they have to identify starting pitching, and some options emerged for them in Florida: the hard-throwing Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto, as well as veteran Josh Fogg, who was picked up after the Reds' camp opened.
Volquez and Cueto may struggle -- and Cueto had a rough time in his last start -- but at least new manager Dusty Baker can feel as if he has some options.
-Brad Spieser (Brad@TwinKilling.com)
3/26/08
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