Quote Originally Posted by AtomicDumpling View Post
Are the Reds such a pathetic loser of a franchise that we have to grab players cut and released by bad teams and put them in our starting lineup?

Are the Reds (A) a small-market team just barely able to stay afloat in a city that is lucky to even have a team, or are they (B) a medium-market team making $10-20 million in profit every year with an owner that has hundreds of millions of dollars?

Hint: the answer is not (A).

Why are the Reds snapping up rejects and castoffs when there are still top-notch outfielders like Abreu, Ramirez, Dunn, Burrell etc etc etc still available for the taking?

Why don't the fans revolt when we see a team raking in huge profits (and playing in an expensive ballpark for free) while fielding one of the worst teams in the league season after season? We just have a loser mentality in this city.
The Rockies released Taveras because they didn't want to risk losing in arbitration and have Taveras make more money than he did in the 2008 season. That is the reason why. Makes good business sense. Why pay a guy more for less production the previous year? Add to that, Spilborghs will be their centerfielder with Dexter Fowler their future centerfielder in waiting. Made all the sense in the world to release the guy when they found out that other teams wouldn't give up anything in a trade because they knew the Rockies would eventually release him.