A Letter to Bob Castellini

Dear Mr. Castellini,

On behalf of all Reds' fans job well done so far this season. The veteran signings have paid off HUGE (Rollen, Cabrera), and the young guys we brought up through our system in the past few years are absolutely crushing it (Votto, Bruce, Gomes).

The pitching staff.. while excellent at times, has been way too inconsistent for the Reds to stay in this. The Reds' team ERA is 4.42. Just for comparison sake the Cardinals' is 3.24. I don't care how good the Reds offense is or how good they are pulling out close games, at the end of 162 games that is just too much to make up.

So this is every Reds fan begging you... Please Mr. Castellini go out and sign a free agent pitcher. Lee and Oswalt would be unlike anything the Reds have done since they brought Griffey over. This team needs it. We are one of the only teams in contention right now that don't have that surefire "ace." Take a look at it: Yankees (Sabathia, Pettitte); Red Sox (Bucholz); Rays (Price); Twins (Pavano); Tigers (Verlander); Atlanta (Hudson); Cardinals (Carpenter *cough* tool *cough*); Padres (Clayton Richard); Dodgers (Kershaw). The closest thing the Reds have is Arroyo and Cueto and as good as they have been they just aren't on that level.... yet for Cueto, he will be in 1 more year or possibly the 2nd half of this season. He's close. Leake has been stellar, but he's still a rookie so the second half will most likely be a lot harder on him than the first.

With all that in mind, you have to recognize that if you really want this team to make the playoffs you'll go and make a Godfather offer to Oswalt or Lee. Just do whatever it takes to get them. I know we're a small market team, but if this team contends and makes the playoffs it will be unlike anything the city of Cincinnati has seen in 10 years. Cincinnati is a baseball city, and the people are just dying for a team to cheer for. The fans will pack the stadium, merchandise will fly off the shelves and the Reds will become the "it" team of the MLB much like the Rays were a couple years ago. Even if looking at signing a big name picture purely from a business standpoint, all of that has to make it a consideration. Throw in the need for this city to have a winner, and there is just no way you can't go and get us a superstar. Right? Good. I'm glad you agree.

Sincerely,

Reds Fans

Brian"OswaltPlease!" Reinhart