All Things Bubba

The Yanks roster has been nailed down for a couple of days now. The only mystery is whether Ron Villone will accept assignment to Scranton, or become a free agent. He says he's leaning toward accepting the minor league assignment, at least for now. (He has an option that lets him leave if he's not called up.)

The Reds roster, however, is not yet settled. Yes, even though the deadline was 3pm today. Dustin Hermanson has been cut, in something of a shocker. Everyone was expecting him to be the Reds' closer, but apparently his performance yesterday convinced the Reds that it wasn't to be. They wanted him to accept a minor league assignment so he could work on getting his edge back in Louisville, but he refused.

In a far less surprising move, Milton was put on the DL. Santos did not make the roster - but he might.

That's right. Trent, ever at the cutting edge when it comes to breaking Reds news, reports that the Reds active roster, as of 3pm, had only 24 names on it. Krivsky said:

"We’re keeping you in suspense another day. We’ve got 24, we’ll add someone else tomorrow before the game. We won’t play with 24 players tomorrow, I assure you. I can’t really go into all the details. It could be Santos, it could be somebody else. It could be somebody here, it could be somebody somewhere else."

Very mysterious. I think that means they saw someone on the waiver wire they want. Or there's a trade brewing. They're keeping a spot open. If their claim or trade doesn't go through, they'll put Santos on the roster.

Another curious quote from Krivsky:

"Every club's trying to tweak their roster right now," Krivsky said Saturday. "They're trying to improve themselves. Most of the calls have come to me, as opposed to being initiated by me. At least, as of now."

Hmmmm.

I assume whoever they are angling for is a pitcher. They only have 11 with the current roster. But JD at Red Reporter thinks they want another outfielder. Four is not enough, given how fragile Griffey and Freel (and Hamilton) are. (I guess he doesn't consider Conine an outfielder.)

Someone at Trent's blog pointed out that Marlon Byrd, a righty CFer, was DFA'd by the Rangers. But I just can't see the Reds carrying 6 outfielders, at least if none of them can be bounced down to Louisville when another pitcher is needed. (Milton is coming off the DL soon - or if not, they'll need a fifth starter from somewhere.)

While some have suggested the Reds might purchase Bubba's contract from Louisville, what with Deno and Hopper unexpectedly out of commission, I don't see that happening. One, they want a right-handed bat. Two, Bubba is out of options (or he'd likely still be a Yankee). If they're going to carry six outfielders, they need at least one to have options left, so he can be shuttled back and forth to Triple-A as needed. Norris Hopper should be off the DL in a week or so; as a righty with options left, he's probably more what the Reds need right now.

And in the spirit of April 1st...Reds Rocket may be the whackiest baseball site I have ever come across. The author, one Tim Timmons, says:

To preview this year’s club, I’ve broken the team down positionally into categories of how they can best benefit me. I believe this is the best and most relevant way to preview any team.

In that light, he has entries like Which Reds outfielder can I trust to watch my cats and water my plants while I’m out of town visiting my parents? He doesn't trust Freel or Hamilton, and thinks Dunn and Griffey will be too busy. While I can't object to his selection of Chris Denorfia (the poor kid is going to have a lot of free time on his hands), I do think Bubba could be trusted to feed your felines and water your plants. Unless he's one of those people who hates cats. (In which case, may Bill the Cat barf a hairball on his porch. ;-)

Tim previews other positions by such criteria as who he can trust not to eat his food out of the office fridge, and who would be the best banjo player. Oh, and sign me up for a Josh Hamilton crackhead bobblehead!