Just back from a quick trip to the East Coast. Did New York, theatre, couple of restaurants and the obligatory diner trips. And I also caught a ballgame, the Mets against the Cardinals at Citi Field. Great new ballpark, resurrecting the style and thankfully not the smell of the old Ebbets Field. I’m not old enough to remember the Brooklyn Dodgers, but apparently Brooklyn and Ebbets Field had a smell all their own.

Anyhow, I watched the Mets smoke the Cardinals 11-0 on Wednesday night and then get trounced themselves by the Yankees on Friday night. And out there, the fans are just like you and me. Well, OK, perhaps we don’t use four letter words as verbs as much as they do. But in the sense that fans want their teams to win and want action if they don’t, we’ve got some common ground with New Yorkers.

The Mets are banged up. They want their general manager to make a deal, today, last Thursday if possible, to get another big bat in their line up. The Yankees have some pitching problems, they want another arm for the rotation, couple for the bullpen and if their GM can find someone to replace outfielder Xavier Nady, great, go get him.

Like you and me, maybe, fans out there believe there are teams and GM’s all over baseball just waiting to be fleeced. They get a star player or two for a couple of broken down veterans and minor leaguers that are more like suspects instead of prospects.

You know, like Edwin Encarnacion and Mike Lincoln in exchange for Kevin Youkilis.

So I’m sitting at this game and the guy next to me strikes up a conversation. Wants to know where I’m from. I guess I didn’t look or act like a ntative, even though I spent 17-years of my life, a long time ago, living in that area of the country. Guy says, ‘Cincinnati?’ I said ‘yeah’. And after we got by the initial jokes of Bengals arrests and Pete Rose’s gambling, he wants to know if Aaron Harang was available. Because he’d heard on a sports talk radio show out there that the Reds would be willing to deal Harang to the Mets in exchange for somebody named Argemis Reyes and a left handed pitcher in Double-A who had just blown out his elbow. You think sports talk radio is anything around here? Out there think Lance McAllister on steroids, 24-7, 365.

So anyway, I tell this guy Sal, from Bensonhurst, I said I didn’t think Harang’s available,,but after checking Harang’s pitching line the next night, I began to think it wasn’t such a bad idea.

But the truth is nobody is trading anyone right now. And yeah, every fans wants action, deals, call ups, try outs, imports from Japan. But it won’t happen, not yet anyway. Look at the standings today. 14 teams are within 6 games of the lead, or closer. Even more can still think of themselves as wild card contenders. The Reds are at ‘500’ and only 2.5 games back, and right in the thick of things in the National League Wild Card Race.

Deal now and get what, from whom? This is the time of the year when baseball resembles a contract negotiation. Neither side wants to make the first move. How much do you want? What are you offering? Who’s on first? I got it, you take it. That’s why mid season deals are done as close to the trading deadline as possible. Teams that need will offer more, teams that are out of it will take less than what they will now, a little more than a month away from deadline day.

What you get now is Norris Hopper for Corky Miller, not even a seismic blip in Louisville.

Barring a total implosion, the Reds are going to be in this race at least until the trade deadline. So you have to figure a trade for an upgrade will be coming. But the question is, at what price? Bailey? Stubbs? Arroyo? Pick a name. But make sure it’s a good one. That’s the only way you’ll get someone coming here, who’ll be good enough to help.

Every so often, the Reds have night like last night. They put up five or more runs and you think everything is going to be OK. But it’s not. They pay the price, far too often, of not addressing their glaring offensive needs in this past off season. They pay the price for letting their farm system go into atrophy in the mid-90’s to 2003. And now, if they really want to win this season, they’ll pay the price. It’s the cost of doing business.

Random thoughts on a random Friday...

I guess Joey Votto is OK again. Last night's effort in Toronto was all the reason you need to believe he's OK again....

If the Reds want to be taken as serious contenders, they'll need to take two of three from the Indians this weekend. Cleveland is a bad ballclub. I'm not sure how much better the Reds are. But they're certainly better than the Indians...

And, of course, now that the Reds have reacquired catcher Corky Miller, all things are possible, aren't they?.....

Is Jay Bruce this year's Adam Dunn? Check the stats: HR total good, RBI total not bad, batting average in the toilet. Defensively, Bruce is much better than Dunn. But at the plate, he appears to be channeling the former Reds....

Spending time in New Jersey this week and took in the Mets vs Cardinals on Wednesday night. The Mets' new park, Citi Field, is beautiful, much along the lines of the new stadium in DC. It s archtecture would remind those of you who remember Ebbets Field (not me, not old enough) of the old Brooklyn Dodgers stadium. There are monuments and tributes everywhere to the old Dodgers. After finishing Lee Lowenfish's exellent work on Branch Rickey, Citi Field is the kind of park the old Dodger GM and part owner envisioned. Had the city of New York built this kind of stadium in 1955 (without, of course, the amenities that only the year 2009 can deliver) there might not have been an LA Dodgers...

Also, the Mets can hit the ball, decimating the Cardinals pitching for eleven runs the night I attended....

Dined at New York's legendary steak house, Gallagher's on Thursday night and then went directly across 52nd street to the August Wilson Theatre for the 8p curtain of Jersey Boys. The musical was its usual phenominal self. Second time I've seen it, the first at the Aronoff in May, 2008. The steak wasn't all that great. The Precinct has nothing to worry about. Did a couple of diners here, too. The uniquely NJ treat of a Taylor ham and egg sandwich on a roll was delightful at the Nutley Diner. Hot apple pie ala mode at one of my old haunts, the Arlington Diner was as remembered.....

The Bengals report to training camp on July 30 with a first workout on the 31st. They break camp in Georgetown, KY on August 18. By my Ohio University math, that's 19-days. Question to Mike Brown: what's the point? Mike likes to count nickels. It is really worth the time, trouble and expense to pack up your franchise and haul it an hour south just to spend less than three weeks there? Save your money. You're only allowed 80 players on your camp roster. That's 40 hotel rooms. You'd be helping the greater Cincinnati area economy in the process....

Xavier's Derrick Brown went 40th in last night's NBA draft. He better get a passport. I see Europe in his future. Maybe not this year or next, but someday. Brown, who looked like a lottery pick in November, needs to refine his inside game. I'm just sayin.....

Just read where Southwest Airlines will open up shop at LaGuardia Airport in NYC beginning Sunday. So when do we Cincinnatian get the honor of having that discout airline at CVG. OK, thank you Delta one more time. $15 to check a bag now when you fly with 'the monopoly'. That's on top of some of the highest priced tickets in travel....

The "King Of Pop" dead at 50. Elvis died at what, 43? The media and the lawyers had a field day when Elvis went. Why am I thinking the same thing is about to happen again?....

Farrah Fawcett gets bumped to page 2. If you're a male and under 50, she had a lot more affect on you than the "King Of Pop".....

On my radio show this Sunday on 700 WLW, my guests include NFL player agent, Jack Bechta. We'll debate the merits of an 18 game regular season. Also, former Reds GM Wayne Krivsky joins me. I've got some other things up my proverbial sleeve too. I'm on from 9am-Noon ET...

Sunday night at 11:35p on WLWT, it's Sports Rock! Mo Egger from WLW & 1530 Homer joins me.

Have a great weekend!

Thank God! Marvin Lewis said today he has no interest in bringing Chris Henry back to the Bengals. Last week, Henry's agent said the Bengals were thinking about just that. Of course, Henry can't play anywhere these days, he's still under suspension from the NFL for his various run ins with the law. But to hear it from the coach's lips was, to put it mildly, soothing.

Henry is a coach killer. That's someone you count on during the week, put plays in for during the week and then get burned on Sunday's when the player doesn't show up, or can't play because he's suspended. Good riddance.

Lewis was speaking at the team's annual media luncheon. That was today, at Paul Brown Stadium. Some of the other headlines: Lewis vows his defense will cut down on explosive plays this season and that the team will run the ball better and more often than in seasons past.

Heard that before....

According to the NY Daily News, the Mets play by play announcers didn't care for Barry Larkin's speech Saturday night at his Reds Hall of Fame Induction ceremony.

You think maybe because Larkin turned down a trade to the Mets in 2000 (his contractual right given his "10-5" status), that has something to do with their ire?

Just askin'....