THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

Random thoughts from Opening Day....

Why in the world would Dusty Baker go through an entire spring training, have Drew Stubbs win the starting job in centerfield and then sit him in the opener? He's either your starter, or he isn't. He is a former first round draft pick. If you're protecting a player (from Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter) then you really don't have a starting player. By the way, when Stubbs got into the game, he had two hits, both off a right handed pitcher.

Laynce Nix and Chris Dickerson are and should be, the fourth and fifth outfielders on this team. And they start while Stubbs and Jonny Gomes sit? This is what will get Baker in hot water with the fans and his team's owner quicker than anything. He pulled the same stunt last season by sending Gomes to the minors to begin the season and starting Darnell McDonald in left field.

I don't know if Aaron Harang can be an effective every fifth day starter anymore. I hope he can, but I really don't know. But I do know this: when the count is 2-2 with two on and two out, you attack the hitter and end the inning. Instead, Harang, either on his own or from dugout instruction, tried to pick a runner off first, threw wildly and allowed the runner at third to score. Bad baseball.

Is Mike Lincoln on this team simply because he had guaranteed money? Yes. But if it were a choice of 'eating' Aaron Miles' $2.7 million or Lincoln's $3.1 million, I would have given Miles the chance to hit his way onto the team, rather than paying Lincoln. Besides, why was Lincoln the first choice coming out of the bullpen? And could Logan Ondrusek only pitch one inning Monday? He pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning. Instead of letting him pitch in the 9th, when it was still a two run game, Baker opted for Nick Massett. He promptly gave up five runs. Another strange piece of strategy...

The new ballpark sushi is over priced at $12. I don't care how good it is......

There was no way the Reds were going to allow Aroldis Chapman to begin the season with the major league club. His contract is structured so that if he become a "Super Two" player (arbitration eligible after two seasons, which he would have become almost assuredly by starting this year with the Reds), the money due him would accelerate ahead of the five years it's due. But by starting him in the minors for at least the first couple of months, the Reds miss out on his gate appeal. Think about it: Wednesday night is game #2 of this series. If history tells us anything, it's that the second game of most Reds seasons is played before friends and loved ones. With Chapman pitching, this next game had an excellent chance of being a sell out. But that won't happen this year....

And how do you let the Cardinals best player, Albert Puljos, beat you? It's not like he's an unknown commodity...