Edinson Volquez

The Baseball Jimmy with Caesar Cliffius Eastham and Sir Illya Charleton Harrell

Illya Harrell: Cliff, As Jerry Reed so eloquently sang in Smokey and the Bandit we, “Have a Long Way To Go and a Short Time To Get There.”

Down to brass tacks, who should the Reds attempt to acquire before the Major League trade deadline?

Edinson Volquez, or is it Edison Volquez, or Julio Reyes? Ah, Whatever. Number 36 on the Cincinnati Reds is ready to put Tommy John surgery, a 50-game suspension and not knowing his own name behind him. He is tentatively set to return to MLB action around the All-Star Break barring any further setbacks.

It's a simple question that the Cincinnati Reds brass has been able to avoid until now. The bullpen has been awful the past month and the starting pitching has been holding the team together.

Why can't the Reds use their new high priced toy at their biggest position of need? Why can't Aroldis Chapman come out of the bullpen?

The starting pitching is currently the motor running the Reds ship.

It's a question as old as Abner Doubleday.  How does a contending team strengthen their starting rotation by the MLB trade deadline?  Well, it's possibly a bit more modern than Doubleday.

If you are the Cincinnati Reds, just have your All-Star pitcher go down a month and a half through the 2009 season, get a new arm via Tommy John surgery, and have him come back before the All-Star break—very simple, very easy.

There is none of this haggling with other teams regarding potential trades.

2008 was a break-out season for Edinson Volquez. He was a NL all-star and finished the season 17-6 with a 3.21 ERA and 206 strikeouts. However, it has been all down hill for him since a June 1, 2009 start in St. Louis against the Cardinals. That's when he felt numbness in the pinky and ring finger of his right hand.

Another year, another former All-Star suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Last year it was Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez who was suspended for 50 games, and yesterday it was Cincinnati Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez who was suspended.

Obviously Volquez’s suspension isn’t as big of news as Manny being suspended, but it’s still pretty significant nonetheless.

Here is the statement that was released by Volquez’s representatives:

"The so-called 'steroid era'—a reference that is resented by the many players who played in that era and never touched the substances—is clearly a thing of the past."—Bud Selig, Jan. 11, 2010

Listed below, are the points and counterpoints about what the Reds should do about Homer Bailey:

Point: The Reds will give him the entire season and evaluate then.

Counterpoint: They may do that but a team that is serious about winning can't keep running Bailey out there.

P: They won't know what they have until September.

CP: It is obvious what they have. He is inefficient. He can't put hitters away.

P: He pitched very well at the end of 2009.