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Cincinnati Reds
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com One more year. One more year before the new ballpark comes on line, the money starts pouring in and the Cincinnati Reds stop playing the "How Low Can We Go?" game. At least that's what they keep telling us, anyway. The once-proud and still small-revenue Reds remain in an unabashed money saving mode. Yes, they still have center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. (who led the team with 22 homers) and shortstop Barry Larkin. First baseman Sean Casey and newcomer Adam Dunn are back, too. There is real promise in those four, especially young Casey (.310, 89 RBIs hitting cleanup last season) and the strong-armed Dunn, who had 19 homers in just 66 games in his first taste of the bigs. The problem is, Griffey played in only 111 games last season because of hamstring problems, and the 38-year-old Larkin -- who has missed 177 games in the past two seasons because of injuries -- played in only 45. More bench time from those two and the Reds will challenge the 96-loss season they had last season. After Griffey, Larkin, Casey and Dunn, the Reds are pinstripe thin. General manager Jim Bowden had to dump Dmitri Young (.302, 21, 69) and his $3.5 million salary in a trade with Detroit for Juan Encarnacion (.242, 12 homers, 52 RBIs). From there, the talent really drops off. For the Reds to get to respectability Casey and Dunn have to have huge years -- and Griffey and Larkin have to stay healthy. That may do little but offset what is one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball. The Reds struggled last year with a 4.77 ERA, 14th in the NL. They had only two complete games and two shutouts. They gave up more hits than anyone in the National League, and only Pittsburgh and Colorado gave up more runs. And they haven't improved. Last year's No. 1, Pete Harnisch, took the free-agent escape route and signed with Colorado. That means the Reds' No. 1 for 2002 is Elmer Dessens, who went 10-14 with a 4.48 ERA last year. He gave up 221 hits in 205 innings and had a whopping 5.53 ERA away from Cinergy Field. Did we mention he was the team's top pitcher? After Dessens, it's Chris Reitsma, Lance Davis … we could go on, but you get the idea. One more year, Reds fans. That's what they keep saying. Up for grabs: The trade for Encarnacion was clearly to save the Reds money and to buy some time. The Tigers had soured on Encarnacion and clearly feel they got the better of the deal -- financially and on the field -- by stealing Young. But if Encarnacion can just play well enough to keep an outfield spot warm until Austin Kearns is ready, the trade could work out on both ends. Spring chicken: Kearns doesn’t figure to be ready by Opening Day, but the 6-foot-3 slugger should make some noise in camp. He was hampered by a bad thumb last year, but scouts still talk about his 2000 Class A season, when he hit 27 homers and had 104 RBIs in outplaying Dunn.
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