Ryan: Wrong Lopez, methinks. Pirates Javier Lopez to Giants.

Whoops! You're right. I was thinking of the wrong Lopez.

I know how this is going to play out. I'm going to watch Harang/Bailey pitch the Reds out of the playoffs in September.

I pretty much called that last month, overreliance on youth/fluke pitching and Baker as a manager has me still believing the Cubs will finish the season ahead of they Reds. The Lilly trade hurts that possibility though....

and I don't get this complaint about Blanco vs Ankiel... as of right now there really isn't a comparison, Ankiel is the better player to say differently is downright uneducated. Of course the complaint has to do with the future development of Blanco into a major leaguer, and I just don't see it, Blanco probably got hyped up a lot as a 22 year old in triple a, but in the three+ years since he hasn't shown any ability to improve to the next level. I see a high obp type of guy that relied on walks to mask his inability to hit, when the league discovered he is basically a singles at best they pretty much ended his development, generally a real prospect develops at least Mark Grace level of doubles power, but Blanco hasn't done anything but regress the past three years. He is not a major league player in any sense of the word. Heck Skip Schumaker was told he wouldn't make it to the majors as a starting outfielder, and he would be a better mlb player than Blanco. (and was better at the same age that Blanco is now)

I'm worried that the Reds are going to hang in. Their pitching isn't as good as the Cardinals', but it's deeper. Even Dusty isn't dumb enough to replace guys who are getting results with guys who didn't get them, is he? (Well, he'll go half-and-half, maybe: replace Volquez with Harang, which he probably shouldn't do, but keep Wood in the rotation over Bailey.) The Reds offense is for real--it's good, and quite a bit better than the Cardinals'.

Also, Jocketty was the Cardinals GM when they ran Alan Benes and Matt Morris into the ground. Combined with Dusty Baker as manager, I wouldn't be too sure about any innings limits on Mike Leake or anyone else.

Dusty is dumb enough to replace productive guys its up to the gm to keep em away from him

I know how this is going to play out. I'm going to watch Harang/Bailey pitch the Reds out of the playoffs in September.

I was watching the Reds game today, and T(h)om said something that was disturbing. In a conversation about the Reds starting pitching he said (and I"ll paraphrase) "There's going to be some big starts down the stretch, esp in Septbember, that Harang or even Bailey, are going to have to make. It'll be good news for Reds fans if Harang can come back and anchor the rotation in September."

Was it too much to ask to get a sinker ball pitcher like Westbrook at the deadline? The Reds have a good IF defense, and Westbrook wouldn't have been burned too much by GAB. One league average GB heavy pitcher would go a long way to help the Reds this year. If nothing else, it might mean I'll never have to see Harang pitch again. I've never seen someone go from underrated to overrated so fast.