I think Walt's been looking more at the deadline than the offseason for any big splashes. 1) It can give an attendance surge, 2) the player comes in for half the price, and 3) You know better your position, and how guys are performing. This is what I see being our biggest advantage over the Cardinals/ Brewers this year. Stay within 5 games by the deadline and we can easily get better at 4-5 roster spots with the right moves.

Deadline Tradeable assets - 2 SP's, Cordero, Hernandez and Alonso.

I think the peak of Cordero's value may be the deadline. We have 2-3 possible closer replacements (including Chapman) - and a contending team with a closer issue may be willing to trade some value for half a season of Cordero and his contract.

With commitments to Cueto and Arroyo, I could see us at the deadline trading maybe Bailey, Volquez, + Alonso (and probably more) for say Josh Johnson. Then Leake is brought up from AAA. Arroyo, Wood, Cueto, Leake, +TOR trade

I also could see Hernandez being dealt at the deadline to another contender needing catching depth - with a slight shift to Hannigan/Mez. Mesaraco very well could be ready to help the Reds this year, but Ramon Hernandez could be buying us 1 full year of control + a decent deadline return.