NL Central

As a Pittsburgh Pirates fan myself, the last thing I want to do is throw a wet towel on a great week.

With the signings of Jameson Taillon, Stetson Allie, and Luis Heredia, the Pirates have added three power arms.

They signed the best American high school arm, arguably the second best American arm, and the top international arm of 2010.

For a team like the Pirates, this is a major step in the right direction. Every year they get slammed for not spending money at any level.

Since the dreadful series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Reds have reeled off six-straight wins, sweeping both the Florida Marlins and now the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In doing this, they have become the hottest team in the major leagues.

They are currently 19 games over .500 and have their biggest lead of the season in the National League's Central Division.

The Cincinnati Reds offense has been nothing short of spectacular this season. But it could be even better with one simple tweak.
 
The line-up has been excellent—first in the N.L. with 602 runs to be exact. It’s been a major factor in the Reds' '10 success.
 

In a move that was slightly surprising, Derrek Lee was traded to the Braves on Wednesday.

It wasn't really a surprise that the Cubs wanted to trade him. After all, they did try to make a swap with the Angels involving the veteran first baseman not too long ago.

Unless Cubs GM Jim Hendry makes some significant moves this off season, the Cubs rotation for next year could be really bad.

In fact, the Cubs top starter looks to be Ryan Dempster, who would be a fourth or fifth starter on any other "contending" club.

Of course, that is assuming the Cubs will be contenders next season, an assumption that is not likely to be realized.

Even in an average rotation, one would have to look long and hard to find a worse number one than Dempster.

With Trevor Hoffman finally closing in (pun intended) on career save No. 600, I wanted to definitely to highlight the forthcoming achievement in some way.

I thought about a career retrospective but decided that would be best left for once his career is actually complete.

I considered a chronicle of his year-plus spent in a Brewers uniform, but that too isn't a chapter that is finished being written.

What does a team do with so many talented starting pitchers? Uber-rookie Mike Leake has already been relegated to bullpen duty.

The Reds just plain have too many talented starting pitchers. And now this?

Paul Janish trying to Wall Pipp the shortstop position?

When Orlando Cabrera (The O.C.) landed on the DL on August 3rd with a strained oblique, Janish took his spot in the lineup as the everyday shortstop.

Rookie Mike Leake has been relegated to the bullpen effective immediately.

Leake came straight to the Reds from Arizona State University without stepping foot in a minor league dugout. He has been a pleasant surprise all year to a rotation that looks nothing like it did to start the season.

Much as been chronicled about innings pitched for the young right-hander. Obviously, baseball seasons at the college level are not nearly as long as in MLB.

The true test is here. The time to find out if the Cincinnati Reds are playoff material has arrived in the form of a nine-game West Coast pow-wow.
 
Recent history suggests the Reds are screwed. Over the last five seasons, the Reds have a 16-35 (.314) record on the Left Coast.
 
In ’06 they were tied for first before embarking on a 10-game stretch in the West Coast. A 2-8 trip later, they were six games behind and the season was essentially finished.
 

Tonight, it was one of those wild nights when each team's bullpen collapsed.

Nine relievers were called in to work when nine out of 14 runs of the game were conceded by the bullpen of either team.