THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

Hey, it's Thursday already!

What Bronson Arroyo has done with the Cincinnati Reds this season is nothing short of amazing. Think about this, the Reds will probably win 80-games this season, at most. Arroyo won his 15th game of the season Wednesday night. And his earned run average dropped to a sparkling 3.84. Remember, this is on a ballclub that has been out of a pennant race since June 1st. Now, you can argue that Arroyo pitched without the pressure of a pennant race (and you'd be right). But the other side of that discussion has to be this: he won a lot of these games with AAAA talent behind him.

I firmly believe that, to have any kind of a competitive chance next season, the Reds will have to trade either Arroyo, Aaron Harang or Francisco Cordero. They consume far too much salary (approximately $37 million of a projected payroll of less than $70 million) and the Reds need to shed some of that to make budget and to hopefully attract better talent at short stop and in the outfield. But Arroyo should be the last option when trade time comes.

Harang is damaged goods. There is a strong line of thinking he hasn't been the same since Dusty Baker foolishly used him in relief, during a marathon game in San Diego last season. This was just a few days after a start and Harang make his next scheduled start three days after his relief appearance. Add to that another sub par year in 2009 and an appendectomy that KO'd him from pitching past late August and you can see why, at $12.5 million for 2010, Harang would be tough to deal.

Cordero will be the odd man out. But his $14 million price tag for 2010 will greatly limit his list of potential suitors. Best guess here, is that the Yankees (with an aging Mariano Rivera) and the Phillies (with Brad Lidge masquerading as Eric Milton) may be the most likely destinations for Cordero.

Arroyo? After the kind of season he had this year, how could you think of him as anything but the "ace" of the pitching staff? Volquez gone until late 2010, Cueto struggling to pitch deep into ballgames, Harang's appendectomy, Bailey's inconsistency, meet the new 'ace.