IF Votto goes on DL. . .

[Mario-Rijo]

Bailey had sustained success at the AAA level. Alonso has never even seen AA. The odds are extremely against making the jump from A-ball to the bigs. Why risk tainting your top prospect for a week in the bigs? I see no winning scenario out of this:

1) He stinks and loses confidence, a la Bailey- possibly setting him back and even reducing his potential trade value.
2) He does reasonably well, but gets sent back to AA upon Votto's return, possibly alienating Alonso.
3) He does well, and you alienate Votto by moving him to LF in the middle of a season where he is unquestionably your best player.

Which one of these three options are you gunning for?

Pete Rose went from single A to the major leagues. My point? If you can play baseball you can play baseball. What Alonso possesses over most prospects is the thing that most prospects would require to play major league baseball. All major prospects have talent, what most lack is makeup and polish Alonso has a fair degree of both as did Rose. I'm not suggesting he would set the league on fire right away but what I am suggesting is that he could hold his own better than most players in single A, AA and some in AAA. I mean you have the majority of the board who thinks he is in AAA before the season is over. Why do they think that? They think it because he can play at that level right now. And another thing if his confidence were shook after a week or 2 in the majors regardless of the outcome he'd prove worthy of being dealt anyhow. I believe his confidence is too great to be broke over a couple of weeks anyway. You can also handle him taking offense by telling him up front that this is just a cameo and he'll be headed back or to AA once Votto returns. If he does well you keep him around if he doesn't he knew all along it was just a cameo and it's nothing personal.

I suppose Votto could feel alienated if he were to come back and not have his position. However who says he has too be? If Alonso is swinging the bat that well it get's dicey, and there are a few ways to handle it fairly and keep everyone happy. Remember we did tell Alonso that no matter what this was just a cameo, you have that to fall back on if all else fails. But he'd have to set the league on fire in order to make that an issue, it's posssible but not likely. I personally feel that if you handle it correctly you can pull it all off without hurting anything. I guess what I mean is I can see several scenarios that it can work out just fine for everyone involved and very few scenarios if any that it can turn out negatively. As far as your examples go I don't believe 1 & 2 are an issue and #3 could if it's not handled properly.

[DTCromer]

Alonso's psyche allows him to be called up from A or AA ball straight to the majors. I think he'd be fine if he stunk up the joint after following him at Miami and now with the Reds.

[Mario-Rijo]

Plus Alonso will not be here anytime soon. No reason to put our best 1b in unfamiliar territory. Yes, he has played there(LF) but not frequently. He may get some games there at some point, I don't think he wants to and I don't think they should force that move.

Are we to assume that you have 1st hand kowledge that would lead you to believe/know all that you say? Or is this just speculation on your part because it's perhaps the most logical conclusion? If it's the former I'd be interested in hearing more, if it's the latter well I'd agree it's probably the case but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Although knowing that we have our Manager and Front office and not Florida's front office who wouldn't hesitate to make such a move and have it payoff even then yeah I'd have to concede that my scenario is not real likely.

I will agree however that I'd prefer to keep Joey at 1st and trade Alonso for say someone like LaPorta because it's a better and more convenient fit now and into the future. But short of something like that I'd let it be Joey's choice to some extent. If he would prefer to stay there I'd just tell him that it's his job to lose, that's a fair way to go about it.

[Mario-Rijo]

Alonso's psyche allows him to be called up from A or AA ball straight to the majors. I think he'd be fine if he stunk up the joint after following him at Miami and now with the Reds.

I agree he has big league swagger, that ain't going no where after 2 weeks of anything.