means anything, I really underestimated the Cards & overestimated the Cubs. Not so much the Reds, though.

...who did not like the Hamilton - Volquez deal...

it made sense for both clubs... but being a Ranger die-hard all my life, i've learned to value pitching over everything else... that team is cursed when it comes to arms...

Volquez got shelled in '05 and '06... began a rejuvenation program last year by being sent all the way back down to Class A... worked on his mechanics, his control mostly... climbed back up to Double-A and dominated... then to Triple-A... and dominated... and got the call up to the big club in August. he was definitely more patient and more focused than the Rangers have ever seen him.

i still hate that trade. it's my belief that Volquez will become a solid #2 starter in the coming years.

a reds fan from redreporter.com. i remember reading your post before the season and liking it, and i think you were pretty spot-on with your analysis. you picked the reds third behind the brewers and cubs, which is probably about right, i think.

volquez and cueto has us all aflutter. We've only seen them pitch one game apiece, but they were the most dominating debuts we've seen in a long time. they have similar stuff: 94-96 mph fastball with big, burly hair, a devastating changeup and a nice little slider. if homer gets some shit figured out and makes it back to the bigs, we feel pretty comfortable about our rotation.

votto hasnt exactly won the firts-base job. He's pretty much splitting it evenly with scott hatteberg (which is odd since they're both lefties) and hasn't done particularly well at the plate or in the field. but at least dusty is giving him a chance.

now, aside from all that, i was wondering what you guys could tell me about nate mclouth. how has he looked so far? Does he have the starting cf job locked up? What is his 90th percentile upside? he looks like he's been improving the past couple years, and i was wondering if you guys think he will continue his uptick.

similar stuff: 94-96 mph fastball with big, burly hair, a devastating changeup and a nice little slider

...sounds like a dominant pitcher that came up through the twins system a few years back...

As for McLouth, many here (myself included) believe Nate will have a breakout year. I am optimistically thinking he will hit .300, and he walks a good bit so he should have a obp 70-100 points above his batting average. He has shown good power and is an excellent base stealer (something like 36/38 in his career, and I think Charlie said those cs's were both pickoffs and not outs a second). He is almost a lock to be a 20/20 guy, and will hit a bunch of doubles on top of those home runs. And if Freddy Sanchez gets healthy, McLouth will probably score a lot of runs, too.

He is a solid defender and uses his above-average speed and good route-running to get to pretty much every fly ball he has a shot at.