It's Thursday!

With a nose not unlike George Herman (Miley) Ruth's, I'm back in business...

Riddle me this kids: if you owned the Cincinnati Reds, if you just bought the team from the group running the show now, what contracts would you 'eat'? In other words, what players on this current team would you absolutely, positively have to have?

The answer in two words: Joey Votto. Anyone else, asta lavista, baby. Which means, you'd be dining on Bronson Arroyo's $11 million 2010 salary plus his 2011 buyout; Aaron Harang's $12.5 million, Coco Cordero's $22 million remaining salary and anything else that adds up to the approximately $75 million the Reds paid for the 'talent' on this year's team (less Votto's MLB minimum). It would be an expensive meal. But it would let you start all over again.

Let's review. The Reds, this season, are a collection of spare parts. Laynce Nix, Jonny Gomes, Jerry Hairston, Jr, Chris Dickserson, Adam Rosales are all 23rd-25th guys on a a 25 man Major League Roster. But here, they start. They're not bad guys. They're all decent human beings. But they are not starters on a serious contending baseball team.

Bob Castellini and his smart guys sold you, me and every other baseball fan in this town on the belief that the Reds would be just fine this season, moving from a power hitting club to a team built on pitching, speed and defense. No problem, they said this past winter, ignoring for the moment that the ball park they play half their games in was built for POWER and anything BUT pitching. Read between the lines now: they tried to sell you on the switch because they didn't want to spend money on replacing the 100 rbi that Adam Dunn took with him last August.

You're screaming Ken, there you go again with Dunn. You're in love with Dunn. All you talk about is Dunn. Dunn was a lazy ballplayer who never saw an at bat that wasn't a potential strike out. Stop with the man love, Ken.

OK hot shot, one more time. I was in LOVE with the offense that Dunn had. The Reds needed to replace the OFFENSE, not necessariy resign Dunn. Although, have you seen the season he's having? 26 home runs, (8 more than any current Red) 74 rbi (9 more than any current Red) and a decent .279 average (Votto is the only non platoon Red hitting higher).

But I digress...

There are two ways to play the game of Major League Baseball for any of the 30 front offices. One, you can buy yourself a contender by trading away prospects and chasing free agents. The Yankees, Red Sox and Angels would be good examples. Two, you can develope talent, make judicious trades and be selective with free agent acquisitions. The Twins and A's are good examples of that strategy.

The of course, there are your Cincinnati Reds. They don't have the $150-200 payroll to compete with the Yankees of the world. And, they haven't had a stable enough front office to play the game the way the Twins and A's have gone about their business.

If you're scoring at home, Twins and A's have had general managers with long tenure (Terry Ryan in Minnesota until last season, Billy Beane in Oakland). The Reds have had five GM's since 2003. The Yankees, Red Sox and Angels outspend the Reds more than 2-1.

And that's why we have the mess of 2009. Smart small market clubs have consistent management with solid plans. Big market teams throw money at the problem of building a big league contender.

We, on the other hand, wait until next year. As I asked earlier this week, exactly when does next year arrive. The sobering stat of the day: since 1979 the Cincinnati Reds have been to the post season playoffs twice. Twice!

Cincinnati was the epicenter of baseball in the 70's. We were the Big Red Machine, Rose, Bench, Morgan, Perez. Dude, where's my baseball team?

Would you trade Bronson Arroyo if you're Reds owner Bob Castellini? His salary this season is manageable. But next year it will go through the roof. The New York Daily News has this story on a possible Arroyo to the Yankees scenario. I don't see it happening....



Clark Judge, the fine national football writer for cbsports.com was one of my guests Sunday on 700 WLW's Sunday Morning Sports Talk. He doesn't care much for Chad Johnson and says Rudi Johnson holds the key to whether or not the Bengals have a successful 2008 season. He told me he likes the Bengals young cornerbacks. But apparently they're not in the NFL's Top5, as Clark writes in this latest article.


For my two cents, I think Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall have a ways to go, before being mentioned with the NFL's elite. Hall got schooled by several big time receivers last season, most notably Hines Ward. Joseph has dropped too many interception chances.


My buddy Mike Florio, from profootballtalk.com, also moonlights for The Sporting News and has a strong 'take' on the NFL's code of conduct policy in this send up.

Not that these games mean a whole lot, but did you catch the final from Sarasota today? 12-8, the Reds beat the Yankees. True, the Yanks didn't bring Jeter or ARod or Posada. But enough of their stars were their to make you sit up and take notice, particularly when you saw that Aaron Harang tossed three innings of shutout baseball. $46 million dollar closer, Francisco Cordero followed with a shutout inning featuring two strike outs.

The Bengals have made one big splash in free agency, signing defensive lineman Antwan Odom away from the Titans for $29.5 million. Might they want to bring back the one time focal point of their defense? Check out this from foxsports.com.

And when it comes time to draft, in April, here's the latest guess from nfl.com. Personally, you've got about 15 so called experts each selling their opinions on round one of draft day. And each figures to change his or her mind at least five times between now and then.

I'm supposed to spend next Friday watching the Reds play the Yankees in Sarasota with my good friend Jerry Springer. Maybe then I'll get an answer as to what exactly was going on in this clip from one of his shows.

You gotta love, 'mascot tension'


UC holds its 'Senior Night' tonight before the Bearcats and DePaul tip off. It's always a special night, but even more so this year. The five UC seniors who play their final game at Fifth-Third Arena helped ressurect the Cincinnati basketball program from the ashes. It's not that long ago, when Andy Kennedy and Bob Huggins were both either forced or chased out. Mick Cronin came to town and had to throw together a team just to compete. With a lot of work from the "departing five", UC made a bit of a run at an NCAA Tournament bid. The 'Cats have qualified for the post season Big East Tournament and, with a couple of wins there, could secure an NIT bid. Not bad for a program left for dead a couple of springs ago.

First things first: the latest "Broo View Podcast" is up and running and available for listening at http://www.kenbroo.com/ and downloading, among other places, at Itunes and http://www.podcastalley.com/.

I've got thoughts on the Reds hiring of Dusty Baker and why the Bengals are in the dumper. You'll hear comments from front office folks, coaches and players.


I can't believe the amount of flack the Reds are taking on hiring Baker. Positive articles are few, other than the locals here in Cincinnati.


Check out this article from The Chicago Daily Herald.

Ray Ratto from cbssports.com has his take on all the Dusty bashers.

Here's what the Colorado Rockies are proving: you don't have to spend mega dollars to make a run at a pennant. The were basically a .500 team untl September. Now, they're on a rocket ride, having won 21 of their last 22 and have earned a spot in the World Series. They should enjoy it. Their bargain baseball payroll will have to increase, if they want to be a perenniel contenders. You don't find consistent winners in major league baseball with limited payroll. Colorado, enjoy it while you can.

The Yankees want to dump Joe Torre? For Don Mattingly? Excuse me, exactly what has Don Mattingly managed in his life? Even his restaurant in Evansville, Indiana, went under. Mattingly is George Steinbrenner's golden boy. But King George is relinquishing control of his team to his sons. That could, could buy Torre a repreive. The problem with the Yankees is they've over paid for aging pitching and their farm system has been ravaged by trades for 'talent' they'd hope would win them another title. And how does GM Brian Cashman get a free pass for this?

On the eve of reporting to training camp, the Bengals still don't know if they'll have Odell Thuram this season. He's still waiting to hear whether or not commissioner Roger Goodell will reinstate him from a year long suspension. The betting here is, Thurman will hear soon. And the betting is it'll be good news. But it's my feeling that the Michael Vick fiasco is holding up a lot of business at the NFL office these days. And Goodell is going to go the extra mile with Thurman and anyone else who's sitting out to take sure there are no 'bad news bombs' waiting to drop on his league.

Meantime, the Bengals are chipper about their chances this season. At their annual pre training camp luncheon this week, Marvin Lewis told me he expects his team to be better this season than last. What else can he say, right? I see nothing yet that will make me believe the Bengals defense is any better this year than last. They still have a lot of questions in their secondary. And the defensive lineman they've brought in seem pedestrian. But it's not always great talent that wins championships. It's usually good talent playing together.

Offensively, this team is 'as billed'. There should be no drop off from last year. And honestly, with Chris Henry suspended for the first eight games, it may give rookie Kenny Irons a real opportunity to show his stuff.

It's too early for a prediction. I'll save that, for down the road.

We're six days from the MLB trading deadline and the Reds have yet to make a move. They may be in line for one after tonight. Kyle Lohse tossed a pretty fair game against the Brewers: 5.2 IP, 5 Hits and 2 Runs. Statistically, despite being 6-11, Lohse is one of the top pitchers available. I wouldn't be surprised to see him go by the end of the week.

And why Scott Hatteberg isn't in a Yankees uniform yet is amazing to me. Even if Jason Giambi is now playing his way back into shape, Hatteberg is one of the best left handed bats on the market. But internet buzz persists the Yankees may be more interested in the ageless Jeff Conine.

If you watched any of David Stern's one hour news conference Tuesday, you saw a man trying desperately to hide abject agony. He's trying to put a good spin on one of his referees who's been accused of point shaving and dealing inside information. But even Stern knows that if another ref or a player is caught being a part of this, he has a conspiracy to deal with. And if that happens, the NBA will be looked at as the WWE with a baskebtall. Stern says that Tim Donaghty is nothing more than a 'rogue'. For Stern's sake, he better hope that's all this is.

Check out my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/. There's a new Broo View Podcast to check out and a fresh Bengals Report on the horizon.

The Reds have announced that they're going to retire Davey Concepcion's number 13 this summer. And while that's a great honor for the slick fielding short stop, it occured to me what an injustice it is that Concepcion is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Concepcion was without arguement, the best fielding short stop of his time. He defined the way the position was played on astro turf, a common playing surface in the 70's. Not that the little Venezuelan wasn't good on real turf. He was. But on the plastic grass, he exceled.

He was often over looked in the dream line up the Reds ran onto the field every night in the 70's. Pete Rose at third, Joe Morgan at second, Tony Perez at first and of course, Johnny Bench behind the plate. But no Red of that era fielded his position better than Concepcion.

20 years or so ago, the big injustice was, if you listened to the New York media, Phil Rizzuto not getting into the Hall. It was New York bias, to be sure. But Rizzuto was eventually elected by the veterans' committee. Now facing his final year of eligibility with the writers, Concepcion will have to wait another ten years before the veterans can judge his case, should he not be elected by the writers this fall.

Let's look at the numbers. Rizzuto played 13 seasons, all the the Yankees. He hit .273, hitting 38 home runs and driving in 563 runs. He fielded his position at .968.

Concepcion played 19 seasons, all in Cincinnati Red. He hit .267, hitting 101 home runs and drovein 950 runs. He fielded his position at .971. Aside from Concepcion's better power number, they're basically the same player.

Davey belongs in the Hall.

I spent some time on the phone tonight with Joe Nuxhall. The beloved Reds broadcaster is out of a Florida hospital tonight and back home. In fact, Nuxie under went the first of his chemotherapy treatments immediately after getting out of the hospital. He then went to visit friends at the Reds training complex. After that, it was out to buy a set of tires for the family car.

He continues to battle lymphoma. But he told me tonight, he'll be at Great American Ball Park for Opening Day. We'll roll out the red carpet for you, I told Nuxie. He said "I'll walk on it."

ESPN's poll has Ohio State number one in mens college basketball. AP has Wisconsin number one (though not for long, after Michigan State beat the Badgers on Monday night). I don't think either of them are the best team in the country. Florida is, despite its loss last weekend at Vanderbilt. There is no team in America that wants to face the Gators in the NCAA's.

You think by Bernie Williams refusing to accept a minor league deal from the Yankees, he's actually admitting he doesn't have it anymore? The Yankees aren't in a position to offer him a spot on their 25 man roster. But he would have every opportunity to earn one with a solid spring training. Williams isn't even returning phone calls to Joe Torre or the Yanks GM, Brian Cashman. Sad way for one of the last links to the latest Yankee dynasty to go out.