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Cincinnati - You’ve Just Been Punk’d

June 18th, 2006 | Thaq Diesel

By Thaq Diesel

All righty then. We see the difference between a playoff-caliber World Series team and a team that is trying to decide if they want the spotlight of October on them. The Reds were bullied by the White Sox this weekend. Worse, the Reds are now 5.5 games out of first and have lost 8 of 10 games.

The front office is not standing pat. They’ve been cutting dead weight in the bullpen by cutting Rick White and ending the Brandon Claussen era of pain with a DL stint. I assume when Claussen returns he will spend some time in the minors. Okay, maybe I’m just hoping that will happen. Claussen’s replacement, Mike Burns, has struggled.
Wayne Krivsky is also looking at shoring up defense with the Juan Castro move on Thursday. I once thought Castro, who is brilliant in the field but at times woeful at the plate, would never find much playing time anywhere. Juan can’t be much worse than the team batting average of .260, however, and he’s not likely to cost the team games with his glove (as JLo, Brandon Phillips, et. al. have all done at least once this season.) The beauty of moves for the likes of Castro is that it’s not very expensive, it fills a need defensively (and perhaps he can lead and rub off on the young error-prone infield), and it brings a familiar face back to the clubhouse. Krivsky is GM of the year hands down. Let’s just give it to him now.
I just don’t understand why the Angels left Estaban Yan unprotected on the waiver wire. Oh wait - yes I do. Okay, there’s a ding in the armor of our new GM, but at least I can understand the thought process; why not take a flier on a live arm? I think it’s time to cut bait in this case, however.
I realized something as I watched A.J. Pierzynski and his reaction to Griffey’s check swing end to the game on Saturday. That guy really is an a-hole. I can understand why he got punched in the face.
So when does the 10-game winning streak start again? It’s just feast or famine around here.
The Marty Brennaman disgust meter reached a season-high level 10 this weekend. I’m one notch behind him. The season is at stake this next week. The Reds need to get their schtuff togther right quick.

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