The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Reds’ trade for Rolen convinces Arroyo of his desire to stay

Pitcher wants 1 more year in Cincy to see if the team can get into the playoffs.

Darling, Raiders find scoring balance
2/12/12
WSU’s victory good for the sole
2/12/12
Hall finding groove after concussion
2/12/12
OSU women back in Big Ten race
2/12/12
Hey coaches, recruits are still kids
2/12/12
> More sports headlines

By Hal McCoy, Staff Writer Updated 2:14 AM Thursday, August 27, 2009

MILWAUKEE — Bronson Arroyo vacillated through July when the Cincinnati Reds were 8-19 and inventing impossible ways to present victories to the opposition: “Do I want to go or do I want to stay?”

Nobody would have blamed him had he crawled on hands and knees through the front office begging, “Trade me, now.”

Then came the watershed event in Arroyo’s mind. General Manager Walt Jocketty traded for veteran third baseman Scott Rolen on July 31.

That was it. Now Arroyo wants to stay and is holding his breath that the Reds don’t trade him to a contender between now and Sept. 1, the date a player must be on a team’s roster to be eligible for postseason play.

Arroyo was asked bluntly, “Would you like to go to a contender?” He answered quickly and bluntly, “No.”

Arroyo says his mantra is, “One more year, one more year. I want one more year here.”

His contract takes him through 2010, then the Reds hold an option.

“If they hadn’t picked up Scott Rolen, then I would have felt they didn’t have much going on, wouldn’t be going in the right direction,” he said. “But they picked him up, and that gave me a boost. ... Let’s see if we can get over the hump with a healthy Jay Bruce and a healthy Joey Votto and Scott Rolen.”

And this came just a few hours after a frustrating night for Arroyo. He held the Brewers to one run and six hits over seven innings and turned a 6-1 lead over to the bullpen. But Jared Burton, Arthur Rhodes and Francisco Cordero blew the five-run lead in the ninth before the Reds won in 13 innings, 8-6.

“Let’s see if we can get into the playoffs, man. We’ve been trying since I got here in 2006, and I would like to give it one more try,” Arroyo said. “The thing is, if you really look at it, I’m the only guy on this team that has taken the ball every time, every turn, and I’ve never been on the disabled list. If you really want to win, you have to have that consistency in your rotation.

“So to me, there is no reason to pick up Scott Rolen if you are going to ditch me,” he said.

Since 2006, Arroyo has started 35, 34 and 34 games — 200 or more innings each year. He is on course to do it again this season.