Putting off the Inevitable

The Reds seemingly made several statements by sending Austin Kearns down to AAA Louisville prior to last week's series in Boston. One possibility is that the organization was unaware that the designated hitter rule would apply in Boston, allowing all four of the Reds' talented outfielders a spot in the lineup for at least 3 games. Another possibility was that the Reds would rather see Kenny Kelly, Jacob Cruz or Luis Lopez at the plate than Austin Kearns. Both of these statements would only further incriminate the Reds front office as morons.

Instead, it looks like the decision to send Kearns down to AAA will only serve to delay the inevitable decision temporarily - that decision being which of Casey/Kearns/Pena/Dunn/Griffey is leaving Cincinnati for good. Since taking the field for the Bats, the Pride of Lexington is hitting .461, has struck out only 2 times in 18 at-bats and 4 of his 7 hits have gone for extra bases. Meanwhile, Wily Mo's opportunity to play everyday has been a short-term failure. Pena has 5 hits in 25 at-bats in the last week (which includes a 3-for-5 against Atlanta on Sunday), including a Deer-like 13 strikeouts in 26 at-bats. This fails to account for his consistently stonehanded defense.

After another week of such conflicting performances (which is not too farfetched of a possibility), fans will begin to cry for Kearns' return in place of Wily Mo. Maybe Kearns' improved hitting will re-establish his trade value, or maybe Dunn or Casey will be shipped out for a handful of pitching prospects. Regardless, the move of Kearns to AAA may serve Kearns well in helping him to get his hitting back on track, but it also serves as further proof that current managment in Cincinnati has no long-term plan whatsoever.