C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

Red Sox left fielder Yoenis Cespedes was on the trading block before Boston's big weekend spending spree, and now it seems they've pushed him out the door, just waiting for a place to put him.



Is Cincinnati the place?

Well, it seems like a logical fit for the Reds — a power-hitting left fielder who could take advantage of Great American Ball Park.

With the Red Sox reportedly signing both Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez, that means Sandoval will likely be at third and Ramirez in left — leaving Cespedes the odd man out.

But the Red Sox want pitching — and they gave up Jon Lester (although just for a half-season) to get Cespedes, so it's not like they're looking for mid-line starting pitching. They're likely looking for elite pitching.

The Reds have an elite pitcher in Johnny Cueto — but it seems unlikely they'll part with him, and they're also hopefully he'll re-sign with the Reds.

In a world where Mat Latos hasn't ended the last two seasons hurt and started last season on the DL, it could be enough to get it done. Of course, that's a world where the Reds probably beat the Giants one out of three games at home in 2012 — we don't live in either of those worlds.

Maybe the Red Sox have hurt their leverage enough with the free-agent signings that they'd take that risk — it doesn't seem likely, but maybe it's possible.

If Cueto were to be dealt, Latos has the potential to step up and be the No. 1 — but if no other team is willing to take that bet, should the Reds? They have more info on Latos, but they're also taking the risk.

Mike Leake and Alfredo Simon are good pitchers, both had solid 2014 seasons and will make some money as free agents after 2015. But neither seems to be the type that gets you an All-Star left fielder. And remember, the Red Sox are looking for front-line starting; even if they re-sign Lester, they'll still be looking for a No. 2.

Sending one of the non-Cueto starters to Boston and a prospect to try to get Cespedes doesn't make sense either, because then you're down two spots — one for 2014 and one for beyond. Even when you "go for it," you know there's a future behind that year you're going for it in.

And say there's a chance the Reds do deal Cueto, to do that, they wouldn't be doing it for a one-year rental. There's a better chance to re-sign Cueto than to re-sign Cespedes, just because Cueto has said he likes it here, he's comfortable here and would prefer to stay. That can always be said — and it seems unlikely they'd be able to afford them, but I feel much better about their chances of getting a long-term deal with Cueto right now than I did of them getting a deal done with Bailey at this time last year.

So, anyway, back to dealing Cueto, that wouldn't be for the likes of Cespedes, but… and I don't see this happening, if the Red Sox wanted Cueto, the asking price would likely be more like Xander Bogaerts — and that's an intriguing prospect, one that makes more sense for the Reds than Cueto-Cespedes.

Or, maybe the Red Sox keep Cespedes and deal Allen Craig — he is a former Cardinal, and that's seemed to be a recent trend — at a much lower asking price. Could Leake get you Craig? Maybe.

This much I'm pretty sure about at this point, the Reds starting left fielder on April 6 against the Pirates is probably not on the roster right now.

LINKS AND SUCH

• I'm pretty fascinated by this list — it's the top 250 baseball players of all time — including players from Japan and the Negro Leagues.

There's a ton of fascinating stuff in here, but here's one that blew me away, in the discussion of Barry Bonds:

"According to the book Game of Shadows Bonds started juicing after the 1998 season. Prior to that point he was a lean five-tool-player, who was already one of the best players ever to play the game. He had won three MVP awards, eight Gold Gloves, and was chosen as an All-Star on eight occasions. His career slash line was.290/.411/.556 which converts to an OPS+ of 164 (Pujols' is 162). He had 411 home runs, 445 stolen bases, and 403 doubles. Here's the list of players who have also accomplished all of those things. His career WAR was 99.6, that alone would rank 10th among integration era position players."

• I'd never heard the story of the response from then-Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, who was with the Reds until recently, when Marlins president David Samson criticized the five-year deal he gave Ichiro Suzuki in 2007. Samson, who signed Giancarlo Stanton to a 13-year, $325-million contract last week, then called the $90-million Ichiro deal "the end of the world as we know it." In a blog post on last week, Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal remembered Bavasi's response:

"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is, '---- Dave Samson,' then don't say anything at all. So, I'm not going to say anything at all. Is my mother the greatest or what?"

Amazing. As a reporter, you dream of just one quote like this in your career.

And I Googled the quote to check it out, and although one spot I noticed used the quote as "Screw Dave Samson" — I noticed the original story was from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the byline was from a friend and asked him if the original quote was the F word, he said it was. That's one of my new all-time favorite quotes. Just glorious.

• Milwaukee is getting the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016. [BizJournals.com]

• It's a good thing I'm not going to be covering the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge anytime soon, it's unlikely I'd pass the dress code. [Jezebel.com]

• This is important — best airport food in America by Thrillist. I will say this about IAH, they have Shipley Donuts and I was able to have kolaches for breakfast today, and this is important. Also, check out Varasano's in Atlanta, if you have time. (I didn't know there was a Matt's Big Breakfast in PHX, I usually just leave really early and go to the regular one on my way to the airport.)

• An interesting Q&A with the founder of Under Armour and how he built his business -- and it reveals that there's a "U" in Armour because he was worried the Internet would be a fad. [Washington Post]

• So, a producer from "The Voice" thinks Jason Isbell has some promise as a singer — that guy sure does know his music. [Rollng Stone]

And just to show, here's Isbell from the Americana Music Awards:

• And then there's J Mascis, who despite being a favorite of mine, is probably in no danger of being asked to be on The Voice.

• And a programming note -- I'm on vacation for Thanksgiving and a little bit beyond, so no BAR for a while. Will be in Tampa for the Bengals-Bucs, then be back in time for Redsfest and the Winter Meetings. The BAR will likely return after the Winter Meetings, though there will be other blog-type stuff going down here.