Cold Soup

Today marks the one month day until pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training, but in many ways, there is as much baseball going on now as there will be then. For many people, this time of year, with not much football going on and playoffs for other sports lightyears away, some attention is turned back to baseball. Fans just want to know what players they are getting.

Not if you're a fan of the Cincinnati Reds.

Unless we see players we don't want get signed by other teams (thanks, Leatherpants, for ridding us of Corey Patterson), we don't want to look at the info, because it's always bad for us. (Exhibit Z, Willy Taveras.)

Right now, names are being tossed around like an Edwin Encarnacion throw to first. Luis Gonzalez has been mentioned of late, and I pray to the baseball gods that the mentioning is because he is begging any team to take him, not because the Reds want him. The only way I wouldn't blaspheme the baseball gods if we signed him is if he were signed to a minor league deal and made the team as a bench player. As Crudweiser says, you have to know when to say when. There are too many aged hasbeens out there whose minds say yes but whose bodies are getting on base at a .2something clip. It's gotta be tough, you know? I mean, these guys have been the best at what they do for their entire lives, and suddenly mortality fails them.

I say we bring back the whole player-coach and player-manager concept to help ease the transition into old(er) age. Not only would you get a solid bat for the bench, given that they wouldn't suffer the wear and tear of everyday playing, but you save money by paying one guy for two jobs. Imagine Gonzalez as a bench player as well as the first base coach. When was the last time there was a player-coach? Pete?

Bobby Abreu. Now there's a name that would make me happy. Dunn is my preference. Swisher or Nady are acceptable. I still think we'll end up with Jim Edmonds in left once he realizes no one wants him for center. I'm only half joking about that.

Hey, we still have a month to find a good leftfielder. But right now, our Hot Stove is off, and we have to eat our soup cold.
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