On the Piazza rumor

I think there's something to the Mike Piazza rumor. That is not to say it's going to happen. I've got a call out to his agent but haven't heard back.

A person I talked to said the Reds are looking at lot of possibilities to get some more right-handed pop. Piazza could provide that. But it sounded like the Reds hadn't gotten very far in talks.

I asked Dusty Baker if he would like more right-handed power in his bench.

"Good question, John,” Baker said. "Pittsburgh was pretty evident of that. We've talked about it many times."

Jorge Cantu's name has come up a lot on the blog recently. Our buddy CSA asked what my opinion was on why they let him go. They said the time it was to clear a spot of the 40-man to make Rule 5 pick. That turned out to be a bad reason because Sergio Valenzuela was sent back to Atlanta before he ever pitched in a game.

But that's only part of the reason. Cantu was arbitration-eligible. That means the Reds would have had to pay him at least $1 million. They didn't think he was worth it evidently.