The Reds lost today while I sat, oblivious in my two-walled cubicle. I didn't even realize that it was a day game, which is a real shame, since I hear I missed the rare opportunity to see the bullpen blow a couple leads, a couple saves…just generally blow.

And our friend Eddie Guardado is back in action, unfortunately fitting in all to well so far. Still, I'll look forward to checking him out in person. We'll be at the game tomorrow. And possibly Saturday, though we might bail after the Reds Heads pizza party with Aaron Harang. A neighbor kid is having an end-of-summer party that we might try to get back in time for. There's going to be an inflatable jumping castle.

There's other stuff going on, too. I suppose it shouldn't be any surprise that general manager Wayne Krivsky, being the unconventional guy that he is, decided to get into the transaction game after July 31. This is what our Crack Hard Facts Staff has to say about it:

Wayne Krivsky descends into the vast wastelands of the baseball scrap heap, rummages around for an undetermined amount of time, and emerges with…

TRANSACTIONS 8/8/07 - Claimed OF Jason Ellison off waivers from the Seattle Mariners; Optioned RHP Todd Coffey to Triple-A Louisville.

Baseball's ace bargain-basement shopper does it again. Not only does he make a move to improve the bullpen (textbook example of addition by subtraction), he comes up with a useful player to rescue Reds fans from the agony of having to watch Jeff Conine try to play in the outfield.

Ellison was out of options in Seattle and the Mariners DFA'ed him a week ago when they called up hot prospect Adam Jones from Tacoma. Seattle had hoped to keep him in the organization and bring him back as a September callup, but instead, he's now on the Reds' 25-man roster.

However, that status may prove to be short-lived when Josh Hamilton is ready to come off the DL. That's too bad, because otherwise, Ellison would seem to have some of the qualifications to be an RHM favorite, he's a short, speedy guy. Throws and bats righthanded and has played all three outfield positions in the majors. You can check out his stats here. The quotes from Kriv-Dawg and Pete McCanWin paint him as a high-energy guy who can play anywhere in the outfield and can run some.

Ellison was the starting CF in San Francisco in 2005 until the team traded for Randy Winn at the deadline, and before that he was notorious for being the Giants' designated pinch-runner for Baroid. They subsequently traded him to Seattle for minor league pitcher Travis Blackley.

One of the Mariners' blogs said that Ellison was well-liked in the clubhouse, and noted his role in the bench-clearing incident involving the Mariners and A's in Oakland earlier this season.

So in one fell swoop, Krivsky lands a guy who might turn out to be a useful addition to the bench, and gets rid of the pitcher who led the team in being an object of fan derision by shipping him to the Louisvuille Bats, where Rick Sweet and Ted Power will inherit from McCanWin and Dick Pole the unenviable task of watching Coffey throw gasoline on opposing teams' bonfires. Bravo!

I'm not sure that the Reds' outfield options were that limited to begin with, but I'm glad to see Coffey getting a break from the spotlight. He's been kind of hung out to dry, twisting in the wind at the big-league level. I can't agree that he'll be throwing gas in Louisville, though. Reds' pitchers have a way of magically not sucking as soon as they don a Bats uni.

It’s amazing how long you can talk about a team that didn’t do much of anything at the trade deadline or—really—all season long. Heck, you’ve got to talk about something in a marriage, and a person’s love of broccoli is only good for so many hours of conversation.

This week on the podcast we discuss:

• Moves not made at the trade deadline
• Transactions made today (most of them bad)
• The Reds creeping slowly up the standings, all the way into fifth place. Though, to be fair, it’s not as if they could have slid down any lower.
• The wormhole that will open in space to obliterate the Earth if the Cubs overtake the Brewers at the top of the division.
• Reds Heads related activities and the Screaming Mimes concert going on in Cincinnati this weekend.

Oh, and I also make fun of Bronson Arroyo‘s hair. It looks like something Candace Cameron wore circa 1996.

Episode 70: Transactions that Were and that Should Have Been (27.3MB, 39:46)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Walked into the room in the top of the first and couldn't believe that the Reds weren't down yet. I mean, it is Bronson Arroyo on the mound after all.

Even more surprising, given the above-mentioned pitching situation, the Reds scored in the bottom of the inning. As I sit here, nursing a sore knee (I've been overexerting it since I've been working downtown) and trying to convince a slightly-wheezy but no longer really sick 6-year-old to take it easy lest he relapse, our boys are up 0-3 in the top of the third. That tall drinka water that Dodgers have run out to the mound just got on base. Better start paying attention.

We're even scooping the official site on this one, not a peep on there about these moves yet as of the time of this post!

First, the bad news:

* Ryan Freel has been placed on the 15-day DL.

* Jon Coutlangus has been optioned to Louisville.

* Gary Majewski has been recalled from Louisville.

Now, the good news:

* Eddie Guardado has been activated from the DL.

That's 13 pitchers and only three OFs on the 25-man. That's just way too close for comfort to seeing Conine in the OF.

Good to see Eddie back, too, but as for the rest, this is the big bullpen shakeup Pete McCanWin hinted at the other night?

Cooter: 3.93 ERA, 118 ERA+, 36-2/3 IP, 31 H, 15 ER, 3 HR
Coffey: 6.04 ERA, 77 ERA+, 44-2/3 IP, 61 H, 30 ER, 11 HR

Coffey stays in the bigs and Coutlangus goes to AAA?

Utterly ridiculous.

And as if that isn't enough, Majewski is back. gasoline Latte to go along with Gasoline-Frappucino. Well, tonight and tomorrow are $1 hotdog nights at GABP. I guess the Reds figure that if Coffey and Majewski give up 28 runs in the seventh inning, nobody will care because everyone will be in the hotdog lines instead of watching the game.

HMZ

Josh Hamilton's going on rehab assignment:

CINCINNATI -- Reds rookie outfielder Josh Hamilton will begin an injury rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday.

Hamilton has not played since spraining his right wrist while taking swings in the on-deck circle during Cincinnati's July 7 game vs. the Diamondbacks. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 12.

Not that it will make much difference for the team (though there is a part of me that wants to believe that 12.5 games isn't too much if the team can just get motivated) but Hamilton is one of the best personalities the Reds have. We need something to make these games watchable.