One blockbuster trade could sway NL Central race

	Would the Reds parlay Ken Griffey Jr., above, or Adam Dunn for pitching help? It's possible. AP
	RELATED • SHEEHAN: Who will trade for Dunn?

The National League Central, as anyone with a halfway-discerning eye or a recent copy of the latest standings can attest, is awful. Top to bottom, from Milwaukee to Cincinnati, it's the worst division in baseball.

Still, someone has to win the thing. And there's one good way to do that, to take charge of a division in which no one seems to want the wheel.

Trade, anyone?

The NL Central, more than any place in baseball, is ripe for one good swap this trade season, one well-placed whopper of a deal that would turn the division on its earflap. And who better to pull that deal off than Wayne Krivsky, the general manager of the last-place Reds? Krivsky, barely into his second year as a big-league GM, has managed a mega-trade before. He just may be inclined to do it again this season.

As SI.com's Jon Heyman reported earlier this week, Reds slugger Adam Dunn already is out there for the right package. So, probably, is hometown hero Ken Griffey Jr. The Reds, clearly, are willing to deal, if not particularly willing to talk about it.

"We'll take a reading on things as we go along," Krivsky said this week, leaning on the railing next to the Reds' dugout at Great American Ball Park. "I think the biggest thing we need right now is health."

It was just 11 months ago, as you might recall, that Krivsky pulled off the blockbuster of the season, trading two regulars (shortstop Felipe Lopez and outfielder Austin Kearns) to the Nationals for a couple of relievers, a fill-in shortstop and some minor leaguers. Krivsky was ripped far and wide for the swap. Even his buddy, former Mets GM Steve Phillips, let him have it on ESPN.

The deal didn't do either team much immediate good. Neither made it to the postseason last year, and it's very unlikely either will this season. Still, the effort counts for something. And Krivsky isn't about to concede that the trade was anything but a positive for his team.

Neither Lopez nor Kearns have been very good in Washington. (Some, in fact, might call them total busts.) And while Gary Majewski (who may or may not have been injured before the trade, a sticking point now between the Nats and Reds) has been batted about in his first six innings or so since his return to the Cincinnati bullpen, Krivsky still has big hopes for him.

Another piece in the trade, lefty reliever Bill Bray, should be off of Cincinnati's disabled list by the end of the month. And a non-headlined part of the deal, 21-year-old right-hander Daryl Thompson, is pitching well in Class A ball with the Reds. Also, former closer Eddie Guardado is expected back by the end of the month.

If the return of Majewski and Bray solidifies the Reds' bullpen -- however unlikely that may be -- and that leads to an improvement in the slumping rotation (Bronson Arroyo, Aaron Harang, Kyle Lohse, rookie phenom Homer Bailey), Cincinnati still could be a factor in the Central. The Reds score more than 4 1/2 runs a game, fifth in the NL. If their pitching is there, the Reds will improve. One good trade could put them in the running.