I'll take Simon being around the zone at 94-95 than I will with Arrendondo being 90-91 and not being around the zone.

It's not like there's a whole lot debate here -- Simon is a much better option than a lot of the trash that's been in that pen before.

Dusty is the manager, he has as much final say about his roster going into the regular season as Jocketty does, probably more considering it's his team. I'm sure he elected to keep Harries for his speed and versatility. He's the one who is electing to play him over Valdez right now - he's the one who summons him to pinch hit. Willie Harris has as many plate appearances as Devin Mesoraco right now and almost as many as Chris Heisey. Who's fault is that?

Where do you see me implying to bench Rolen? Rolen's the biggest problem on this offense right now and it won't get much better as the season goes on. That falls on both Jocketty and Baker when you have a 4-5 hole hitter who can't protect or produce.

I wouldn't suggest that Todd Frazier is the answer either. This problem would need to be solved either via trade or from within the farm system. And since Neftali Soto won't be moving to 3rd Base anytime soon I say it again...."this issue will plague this team all year".

I noticed this trend too. I think it's pretty good evidence the problem is in the offense and not the defense or pitching. Most teams win most games when they score 4 or more, and so far the Reds pitching has been good enough to win those games as well. We just need an offense that produces 4 or more consitantly.

No team is going to win many games with 1 run, by 1 yes but not with 1. How many games have the Reds scored 1 in now, 6 or 7 I think?

Sure, some of the bats will come around as the season goes on but will it be enough of those bats and will it be soon enough to matter ?

A new batting and hitting coach might not help everything or all the problems, but it wouldn't hurt and it would be a good start to a lot of the problems.

As far as the lineup and posistions, the only player I've lost all hope for already is Harris. The guy's offense isn't poor it's within a hair of being non-existant , the last time I looked he was 1 for 20 something . Stubs is a close second , but he seems to be coming around as of the last few games, and I'm like Dusty, willing to give him the benifit of the doubt a little longer, where as Rolen needs to be moved WAY down in the lineup to give him a chance to get a spark and if it doesn't happen soon I'd have to give Frazier the nod and put Rolan on the bench as a potential Pinch Hitter until he does.

Once BP gets healthy I think you almost HAVE to put him leadoff, with his speed being wasted anywhere else and consistancy at the plate. . Bat Cozart second, Stubbs 3rd, Votto 4th, Bruce 5th, Heisey 6th, Frazier 7th and Mesarco 8th. That's my starting batting lineup, right there.

As far as the pitching goes, Latos is the only one that has really concerned me so far. I hear a lot of people screaming to give Baily 1-2 more starts before putting Chapman in the rotation in his place, but I'd ask why not replace Latos with Chapman if anyone? Baily might not be great, and at this point I'm willing to concede that he will never be the number one starter or ace he was hoped to be when he was the first draft his rookie year but I still think he can be a solid second or third in the rotation.

Personally, I would keep Chapman in the bullpen as my hammer/ closer right now based on his performance. Why wouldn't you want a guy who can come in and slam the door on six straight batters at the end of your bullpen? Marshal can be the situp/everyday guy instead. Where is it written in stone that he HAS to be the closer?