This is one of those posts that’s only going to make sense to long-time RHM readers. You would have had to have been around, like, 5-7 years ago to remember when platoon catcher Javier Valentín was dubbed the “Latin Love Machine” and became sort of a mascot to the site.

Back then we had the whole blogsphere calling him “the LLM”. We posted up a bouncing Javy head every year on his birthday. We even added a site tagline in his honor: “Making Javier Valentín a household name since 2005.”

Those were heady days.

But yesterday, there was promise for the return of the Latin Love Machine dynasty. Javy’s nephew, Jesmuel Valentín was drafted by the L.A. Dodgers with the 51st overall pick. So keep your eye on L.A. the next couple years to see if Jesmuel can achieve household name status.

Yesterday was the first day of the First-Year Player Draft. The Reds had the 14th, 49th, and 57th picks yesterday. Now they have until 5 p.m. ET on July 13 to sign these guys.

14th – Nick Travieso
Right-handed pitcher
Age: 18 HT: 6’2″ WT: 215 lbs
Archbishop McCarthy High School, Southwest Rances FL
Travieso is a bit of a flamethrower and has topped out at 99 MPH.

49th – Jesse Winker
Corner outfielder; bats left; throws left
Age: 18 HT: 6’3″ WT: 200 lbs
Olympia High School, Orlando FL
.488 AVG, 3 HR, 30 RBI in 30 games, toolsy

57th – Jeff Gelalich
Corner outfielder; bats left; throws right
Age: 27 HT: 6’1″ WT: 205
UCLA
.372 AVG, 11 HR, 46 RBI and .462 OBP in 59 games, base-stealing threat

The draft continues today and Wednesday. The Reds still have the 78th, 109th, and 142nd picks ahead of them.

With the 14th pick in the first round of the First Year Player Draft, the Reds have selected RHP Nick Travieso. Congratulations, kid. Maybe we’ll see you in 3 or 4 years.

As the Cincinnati Reds get more interesting to watch, the bigger channels start flexing their muscles to show Reds games. The June 10th game (this coming Sunday) was originally going to be showing on FOX Sports Ohio, but now it’s slated for national broadcast.

Well, “national” is as “national” does, I suppose. Sometimes when this option is picked up, it seems like fewer people end up seeing the Reds than if it had been left alone.

Still, you’ll be happy to see games like this picked up if:

1. You’re in the coverage area
2. You’re available to watch games during the day
3. You’re too far away (or just not planning) to see the game in person

And that’s because a Reds game picked up on the national scene means a day game that wouldn’t have otherwise been broadcast gets picked up by FSOH to make up for it. This time it’s the August 18th game:

As a make-up, please note that FOX Sports Ohio has picked up the Reds game on Saturday, August 18 at 1pm against the Chicago Cubs. The game will be preceded by Reds Live pregame show at 12:30pm and followed by Reds Live postgame edition.

This game is the first of a day/night double-header at Great American Ball Park, so FOX Sports Ohio will be back on the air that evening with Reds Live at 6:30pm as pregame coverage of the second game at 7pm.

I doubt you’ll remember that come August 18, so mark your calendars now.