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Dusty Baker standing by his men
Friday, July 25, 2008
CINCINNATI — With an assist from Tammy Wynette, Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker is a stand-by-your-men kind of guy these days — no garage sale, no fire sale, no housecleaning.
The non-waivers trade deadline is five days away and Baker is happy with what he sees wearing red. And he believes owner/CEO Bob Castellini is in the same mode.
"You always are looking to add, but most teams right now are looking to absorb somebody else's payroll and not give you fair value," said Baker. "I call it cherry-picking."
Most likely that's what teams are doing in any talks about Adam Dunn — they'll take on his talent and salary but they'll send you Larry, Curley and Mo in return.
"Bob isn't throwing in any towel," said Baker. "Every time I talk to him he has it all calculated and figured out, 'We do this, we do this, we do this in games and we'll be all right.' That's the way I feel, too.
All Baker had to do was look over his shoulder into the Colorado dugout Friday and say, "What if Colorado had thrown in the towel at the trade deadline? I believe in miracles because I've lived them. There have been many miraculous comebacks."
The Rockies, puttering quietly along in the NL West, won 26 of its last 36 and 10 in a row to romp into the World Series.
"We're playing good baseball and with the amount of games we have within our division in August and September (40 of 52) we can get real close or be a mile out," Baker added. "Colorado is living on what they did last year because it is possible. It is not probable, but it is still possible and I believe we can do it with this team."
Two in trade talks?
Pitcher Jeremy Affeldt and catcher Javier Valentin, both free agents after the season, are two names that pop up in trade talks that wouldn't wreck the Reds.
"I can't control whether I stay or not and it's a fully understandable thing to me," said Affeldt, 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA in 52 appearances, most on the team. "Teams need left-handers, I'm a free agent at the end of the year. You expect this. When you are on a one-year contract most of the time you are a rent-a-player."
Valentin is in his fifth year with the Reds and hopes it doesn't end.
"Yeah, I want to stay and I want to come back next year," he said. "I'd like to play more, too, but I want to stay."
When Valentin started Wednesday, it was his first start at catcher since April 16.
Fogg goes Sunday
Until pitcher Josh Fogg could breath through 30 stitches without gasping, Baker held up assigning Fogg's Sunday start.
Fogg threw before Friday's game and proved it, so he'll face the Colorado Rockies Sunday.
That's what Baker wanted because it gives Johnny Cueto an extra day of rest after he threw 120 pitches in his previous start.
"I'll just pitch with a bad mustache until the stitches come out," said Fogg, who was hit by a line drive during batting practice this week, forcing him to miss Friday's start. "My face feels a little swollen but nothing else hurts."
Hairston, Burton injury reports
Jerry Hairston Jr. ran the infield from first to third on the outfield grass at 85 percent Friday to test his right hamstring and is ready to do what the team wants him to do — hopefully a rehab assignment for two days Saturday and Sunday at Class A Dayton and a return to the Reds by Monday in Houston.
"Everything went really good and I'll listen to what they want to do. I'll talk with the trainers and see what our game plan is," said Hairston.
Pitcher Jared Burton is eligible to come off the DL today, but he was merely cleared to throw on the side to test his sore right lat muscle and wonÕt be activated.
"We're going to be cautious, real careful, and make certain I'm ready and won't have any setbacks," said Burton.
Quote of the day
"In a strange move today, the Cincinnati Reds sent 13 players to Dayton." — Ken Griffey Jr. joking about the organization sending players to fill out the Class A Dayton Dragons roster after Thursday's Fifth Third Field fiasco.
