Jay Bruce

The season is long and right now it's coming down to the wire for the top owners in their respective leagues.  These few players that are poised for either a huge week or a week you will want to avoid.  Pay attention, this could mean winning or not winning your league.

Start 'Em:

That's Jay Bruce trying to use his Jedi mind trick on an umpire, "No, you did not just see me swing at a ball that was three-feet over my head."

There is no doubt Bruce has potential. Unfortunately, potential and seven bucks will only buy you a hopper full of movie theater popcorn.

The Reds have around a three year window before they start going broke with big money extension or arbitration cases.

If Cincinnati does not lock Joey Votto down to a multi-year deal, the improving but already paltry attendance will drop to Florida Marlins level.

If the New Red machine needed servicing, vis-à-vis   an oil change, they got it at the right time.

Fresh (or shall I say stale) from a sweep at the hands of the lowly Seattle Mariners, the Reds borrowed the broom from the M's and took it to Oakland with them.

They swept the A's salvaging a split of the six game road trip.

According to many reports, the Cincinnati Reds are on the verge of signing Gary Matthews, Jr. Matthews had a big year for the Texas Rangers way back in 2006. That year he put up .313/.371/.495/.866. The LA Angels then swooped in and signed Matthews for a huge deal.

Matthews' big year in 2006 skewed his career numbers, but the Angles ignored that and tried catching four years of lightning in a bottle. It didn't work out.

After three disappointing years, the Angels ended up getting the Mets to take him as insurance for Carlos Beltran.

Pardon my ignorance.

You can still be a "knowledgeable" baseball fan without knowing everything. Just ask me and I will tell you....that I don't know it all.

Some things are done for a purpose, just like breathing for example. In some other things, their points of origin are not so easily decided.

WhatIfSports.com utilizes its award-winning baseball simulation engine to present the most comprehensive and unbiased ranking possible of all 30 teams in baseball each Monday during the regular season.

The month of May has been good to the Cincinnati Reds. They have gone 7-4 through a Cardinals, Cubs, Mets and Pirates slate.

The hitting is coming around, currently ranked fifth in the N.L. with 158 runs scored. But the major turn-around as been courtesy of the starting pitching.

After a magical one-hit complete game shut-out by Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey followed suit. He gave up a whopping five hits over a complete game shut-out. The legendary Dayton Daily News beat writer Hal McCoy sums it up best:

Johnny Cueto pitched a gem of a game last night at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, a 9-0, one-hit shutout of the Pirates.

It was the third consecutive game in which a Reds starter had a one-hitter through six innings. Mike Leake did it on Sunday against the Chicago Cubs. Bronson Arroyo did it Monday against the Pirates.

It was also the fourth consecutive quality start for the Reds pitching staff.

Ramon Hernandez knocked in the winning run in the last of the eighth inning as the Cincinnati Reds did what they do best.

They came from behind to score the winning run in their last at-bat for the seventh time in eight wins.

The Reds evened their homestand at 3-3, while putting the skids on the San Diego Padres win streak at eight. They won the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 before the Padres came to town.

The Cincinnati Reds finished the 2009 season in fourth place with a 78-84 record. As the club enters the 2010 season, there finally appears to be some honest-to-goodness hope that better days may lie ahead. They could finish as high as second place—IF everything goes right—but I think they’d need to be completely healthy to do so, and with Edinson Volquez unavailable until at least August they’re starting the season with one strike against them.

Key additions: OF Josh Anderson, SS Orlando Cabrera and LHP Aroldis Chapman