See Article below quoting Davey Johnson. It appears that he does not want the one seed.
The more I think about this, the more I want the Reds to go for the #1 seed. I would rather the see Reds have a short trip to Atlanta or St. Louis, only face the ace of the staff once in the NLDS, and have home field advantage in the NLCS than I would seeing them travel to San Fran, face the ace twice, and not have home field for the NLCS if the Reds win.
The other thing is that the Reds have had so many injuries to position players that I think having them play nearly everyday is worthwhile. It has been a long time since the projected playoff starters all played as a group. Rather than giving a player or two a spot rest each game, I think I would play my playoff starting lineup (assuming they are healthy now) together everyday with the exception of Leake's start.
It looks like Leake is being skipped to set up the playoff rotation and Cueto will start Tuesday against the Brewers. That means that Leake would only get one more start (Saturday vs. the Pirates). I would sit just about all the starters on that day. That means the starters will play four in a row, be off a day, play four in a row, and then be off a couple days before the playoffs. Given the off day today and a day off when Leake goes, that is more than enough rest and will allow them to stay sharp. Perhaps make an exception for getting Frazier a couple starts at 3B, Navarro a couple starts at catcher, and a CF platoon. If a game gets out of hand one way or the other, late inning substitutions can be made. Obviously, if there is still an injury issue that makes this risky, then the Reds should make sure that the particular player is healthy before playing.
Given that I think the one seed is valuable and that the Reds starters could benefit from playing with one another and staying sharp, I think Dusty should instruct the team to play hard for that one seed.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nationa...0470--mlb.html