In our latest installment of the continuing saga of Scott Scheoneweis, we see that the Cleveland Plain Dealer thinks the Indians might be calling:

Shapiro talked with agent Scott Boras on Wednesday night. Boras has outfielder J.D. Drew, who at one time was interested the Indians, but has since moved to a higher market.

“Scott has some relievers,” said Shapiro. “It's safe to say we talked to him about those relievers.”

Lefties Ron Villone and Scott Schoeneweis are Boras clients. The Indians could use one or two lefties.

The story goes on to mention that Schoeneweis had a 0.63 ERA in 16 appearances during the Reds' stretch run. Really? Then why the heck did Ryan Franklin pitch so much?

It took two nights of paying more attention to his development server than to his wife, but the Crack Technical Staff has managed to put together an impressive poll feature. And it's only fitting that we try it out with the Dick Pole Limerick Contest.

To vote for your favorite limerick, click the link in this entry or in the right sidebar. Click the button next to the limerick you want, and click submit. You must be logged in to vote.

Voting closes at 10 p.m. Monday, November 20, 2006.

Everyone's favorite ex-Red, Sean Casey, has re-upped with Detroit for another year. Sez Marc:

All I'd been hearing the last couple weeks was there was no way Sean Casey would be back in Detroit next year. The Tigers wanted someone with more pop at first base (sound familiar?) and they seemed poised to look elsewhere. Maybe acquiring Gary Sheffield helped ease some of those production concerns, because Casey has agreed to a one-year deal with the Tigers.

The Tigers, as you'll recall, have some interest in Scott Schoeneweis. It would make for a lovely reunion of ex-Reds if the two had played together. As it is, I imagine the conversation going something like this:

Casey: Hi, Scott, nice to meet ya. Awesome to have you here. Welcome to the team.
Schoeneweis: Sup.
Casey: So you used to play for the Reds, too, huh? That's awesome. I used to play there, you know.
Schoeneweis: Yeah, I heard.
Casey: How'd you like it there? It was pretty awesome, right? Lots of nice people and cool places to hang out.
Schoeneweis: I guess so.
Casey: So--um--does--uh--my name ever come up in conversations in the ol' clubhouse?
Schoeneweis: Yeah. I mean, sure man.
Casey: What do people say?
Schoeneweis: They're all like, 'he's so nice' and everything.
Casey: (beaming) Wow, that's really awesome. I'm going to go find some underprivileged kids to inspire or something. Catch you later.
Schoeneweis: Awesome.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm looking forward to the 2007 season already.

I understand Ken Griffey, Jr. has a hand in bringing a new arena football team to Cincinnati. According to Mark Curnutte:

Bengals defensive tackle Sam Adams has purchased rights to bring arena league football team to U.S. Bank Arena. It would begin play in April, Adams said Friday.
The still-nameless team would play in the af2, arenafootball2.

Adams’ investment group includes Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., Adams said. The two became friends when playing in Seattle in the mid- and later-1990s for the Seahawks and Mariners.

I don't know why this reminds me of Michael Jordan playing baseball; I guess my mind has only one synapse for trans-athletic activities. Thankfully, there are no implications that this cross-sporting event has anything to do with secret suspensions or large gambling debts.

It's when you see number like “3 years” and “$13 million” quoted in stories about your veteran free agents, such as in this story from The San Francisco Chronicle, that you start to realize that there is no chance that Rich Aurilia will be playing for the Reds next season:

Also, according to sources:

-- The Giants continue to talk to Rich Aurilia, whom they view as a potential third or first baseman. Aurilia is hearing from a lot of teams but is considering strongly a return to San Francisco and a reunion with manager Bruce Bochy, whom Aurilia admired during his brief 2004 stint in San Diego.

Aurilia could benefit from the three-year, $13 million deal the Cubs gave Mark DeRosa. DeRosa is younger but Aurilia is more versatile.