THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

Thank God It's Friday!

Bit of a shock when I got to Great American Ball Park Thursday, as the Reds resumed their season, to see Adam Rosales still with the team. I thought for sure there would be some move, trade, call up completed to get more offense on this team. Fooled again.

I like Rosales. He's a nice kid who is like a lot of ballplayers. Rosales tears it up in AAA but when he gets to the majors, he become very average. He's struggled at the plate this year and his defense isn't all that great. But he hustles and has an appreciation for where he is. That counts for a lot, in my book. But does he make a difference on the field? No.

If the Cardinals make a preemptive move and trade for Roy Halladay or Matt Holliday, it's 'ballgame'. Either move will help the Cardinals separate themselves from the rest of the pack in the NL Central. It will also demonstrate to their fans that the team wants to win, now.

Hello, Redlegs??? Anybody home????

Here's why the Reds HAVE to do some sort of bold player move: they haven't done squat since 1995. Don't give me 1999's one game play-in or a winning season in 2000. Please. Every division mate in the NL Central has been to the playoffs since then, with the exception of the Pirates. Since 2000, the Cardinals have won a World Series and the Astros have played in one.
The Reds have played the game of baseball consistently since their last playoff appearance in 1995. Badly. They hype the team in the off-season. They play the 'wait 'til next year' game starting on or about July 1st.

MEMO TO THE REDS SMART GUYS: Next year never comes. You froze at the chance of trading for Jermaine Dye in the off season. You over estimated your starting pitching and defense. You knew your offense was anemic as early as last September. And all you did in the off season was give us Willy Tavares and Ramon Hernandez. Hernandez has been serviceable. Tavares? Now we know why he's been on so many teams in so short an MLB career.

And the guy who signs the checks has to be sobered by this thought: his team is about a week away from being rendered an after-thought by the Cincinnati sporting public. NFL training camps open the end of this month. High School football is about 40-days away. The Reds are 5 1/2 games back as the suns rises Friday morning. It's not too late. But it's later than Walt Jocketty and Bob Castellini think.

Tom Watson one shot off the lead at the British Open? Beautiful. Only a 66 foot birdie putt by the leader on the 18th hole prevented Watson from being the oldest first round British Open leader (59 years plus) in tournament history.

John Daly's first round attire: horrendous. He was wearing something that resembled frog vomit. Ian Poulter's attire: horrendous. He was wearing a sweater with the flag of Great Britan, with plaid pants straight out of the wardrobe closet of Dirk Diggler.

Here's a novel concept for these professional linksters who think they're making a fashion statement: use a mirror.

That's it for now. Eddie Yost!