THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

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?