Quote Originally Posted by RedLegSuperStar View Post
I'm sorry mth but I like #'s 4, 6, & 9. So hears hoping those of your ten don't get canned.
I used to like Viola, but he's gone from prospect to suspect in my book. He's 27 this year and still can't get it over. He's Daniel Cabrera without the ability to go 175 innings. He's a hard throwing lefty though, so he's still an asset that the team should try to hang on to.

I like Wlad and Valiquette as well.

In Wlad's case a pretty smart team has already DFA'd him once so there is reason to be a skeptic. I do think he is one of the few true corner OF prospects on the team so I'd keep him, but he's out of options and not a sure thing to make the 25 man roster and may be lost anyway, so maybe cutting him loose now saves another player instead of risking a loss of some one else now and Wlad later.

Valiquette is at no risk. At number 9 on the list, that makes him number 31 on the 40 man roster and no way they lose that. That said, I like other relievers better and as far as lefty relief goes, Rhodes and Herrera are the guys for now with Bray also a possibility and Donnie Jospeh and Mace Thurman are the best guys for 2011 or 2012. In the mean time, a slew of guys who may not make the rotation among Maloney, Wood and eventually Horst, Fairel and maybe Infante could end up in the pen soon. They also have lefty arms with a major league shot in Alex Smit, Joe Krebs, Lee Tabor and big arm guys like Aguido Gonzalez and Mark Pawelek.

Lefty relief (relief in general) and a glut of role player types in the IF and OF are areas where the Reds are pretty deep. I like the Cabrera signing as opposed to the status quo, but the team seems to have had the depth to have gone out and done better both at SS and behind the plate. Cabrera is a fine stop gap IMO and though I'm not a fan, Hernandez will probably do as well. I just think the team had the depth to go out and get better with more upside and more of a long term focus. These guys are consolation prizes and "asleep at the wheel" still stands IMO.