Cincinnati Enquirer/Fay: Please don’t mortgage future

Friday night’s loss was one of those games that make it hard – no, impossible – to stick to the old it’s-one-of-162 adage.

It was a very ugly ending to what could have been a very uplifting night for the home team.

My thoughts on the 7-4 loss to the great Albert Pujols: The killer was Arthur Rhodes walking Jarrett Hoffpauir, who was making his major league debut, on four pitches; I might have used Francisco Cordero to pitch to Pujols.

But what I took mostly out of the game had nothing to do with the outcome. Sure it would have been nice for the Reds to win. But as David Weathers pointed out, you don’t win the division on July 3. However, you can make decisions that affect the organization long term.

And it would be foolish right now to trade Homer Bailey or any of the other top arms to rent a bat for less than three months.

There’s sentiment among fans and pundits that the Reds need to make a big splash of a trade.

I wouldn’t if it meant giving up Bailey or Zach Stewart, the third-round draft pick from last year who has zipped through the minors.

Why? I don’t think this team is a Matt Holliday away from making the playoffs.