Cody Ross. He hasn't had the chance to do much for the team on the field, but his very presence has had a positive impact on the roster:

• He's the guy the Reds DFA'd Womack for after getting him from the Dodgers for a PTBN.
• He's the guy who went on the DL after he was hit in his first at-bat, making room for Chris Denorfia.
• He's the guy who sent Mike Burns down to Louisville when he came off the DL.

Hopefully, he's done it one last time. Yesterday the Reds traded him to the Marlins for a PTBN so as to make room on the roster for Kent Mercker.

Good luck, Ross; we hardly knew ya. Welcome back Mercker. And go read the story on reds.com about the trade. It makes Kriv-dawg sound like a saint.

The Reds failed to take home the sweep of the Brewers on Wednesday. It was a game that featured a strange line-up and plenty of struggling pitching.

• Phillips 2B
• C. Ross LF
• Griffey CF
• Aurilia SS
• Kearns RF
• Hatteberg 1B
• Encarnacion 3B
• LaRue C
• Claussen P

Brandon Claussen took the mound and worked six innings. He allowed five runs (earned) on seven hits and two walks for the loss.

Matt Belisle got the first out of the seventh, but allowed one run (earned) on one hit in the process. Brian Shackelford also worked an out but held the Brewers hitless. Rick White worked one-and-a-third innings and allowed no runs on one hit. David Weathers worked the ninth inning and allowed zero runs on zero hits.

The Brewers already had all the runs they would need to win the game before the Reds scored their first run in the bottom of the third inning. Claussen led off with a single and Brandon Phillips walked. Cody Ross, fresh off the DL, singled to load 'em up.

Ken Griffey Jr grounded out to bring in Claussen. At least they got one run out of it; the 2005 team would have scored none in a no-outs bases-loaded situation. Rich Aurilia then walked to load them up again to set up the 2006 team to score none in a one-out bases-loaded situation.

Austin Kearns hit a solo shot in the sixth to bring in the other Reds' run.

The loss brings the Reds' record to 27-20. They're in second place in the NLC, four games back of St. Louis and two-and-a-half games up on third-place Houston. Tonight they start a three-game home series with the Arizona Diamondbacks at 7:10 p.m. Eric Milton faces Brandon Webb.

So Griffey is pissed off at the media. Rather, he's pissed off at a couple sports radio guys who said he ought to change positions for the good of the team and he's taking it out on everyone.

In response, every damn media outlet is talking about how awesome he is. He had a couple good plays in center field and a couple dropped that Denorfia would have gotten to. But it's the good ones that are all anyone can talk about as they seem to try to get back on his good side.

It's not just the the official site, who says cites his “spectacular defensive plays that were … buzz-worthy”. Or Kevin Kelly in a story in the Enquirer says that “Griffey is showing naysayers, particularly some in the talk-radio genre, that he remains one of the game's premier players.” The FSN guys were doing it before yesterday's game too. It's a freaking epidemic.

But here's something to consider: if a 9-year old walked past you on the street and said “you have three arms!” would you be upset? Probably not. You know you don't have three arms, and what do you care what some 9-year old thinks anyway?

On the other hand, if you had a large protrusion coming out of your shoulder that you were really self-concious about, would you be upset? Would a bunch of newspapers writing about how not-three-armed you were make it all better?

The voices of sports radio are not well-regarded in general; it's not as if someone Griffey admires and respects told him he was hurting the team. So for Griffey to get so worked up over this says a lot more about how he's feeling about himself than how he's feeling about the Cincinnati airwaves. He might not even acknowledge it to himself, but deep down he's been thinking that maybe he's not the best choice at center anymore.

I predict we'll see Griffey “filling in” at first base before the end of the season. And there's nothing wrong with that, man. We'd be glad to have you there.

Wayne Krivsky and the Reds actually managed to trade Dave Williams today, just five days after he was designated for assignment to make room for Eric Milton.

According to the story on the official site, the Reds traded Williams for minor league pitcher Robert Manuel:

Entering his second professional season, Manuel is scheduled to report to Class A Dayton. The Mets had planned to use him at their short-season Class A affiliate in Brooklyn.

The 22-year-old right-hander was 8-1 with a 2.06 ERA last season for the Gulf Coast Mets before a promotion to Brooklyn. Overall, he struck out 54 with only four walks in 61 2/3 innings.

I don't know what kind of magic Kriv-dawg has to make things like this work out, but not only has he gotten out from under Williams salary, but he's also picked up double-A pitching fodder. It seems too good to be true.

Technically, this is not allowed, so watch it quick before someone has a chance to complain and make me take it down. And shop at Champion Ford!