Blog posts are not the ideal medium to talk about trade rumors. They come and go so fast that you really need Twitter for that. But there are a few trade considerations that are worth mentioning in the relatively permanent chronicles of blogging:

Drew Stubbs is making things difficult
For a long time the team has been saying it needs a lead-off guy. And since Dusty Baker was never going to give Ryan Hannigan that chance, it seemed to be a good thing to be looking for. Then, someone realized that they forgot to turn the StubbsBot back on after a routine cleaning, and he came tearing back into the picture, getting himself named Player of the Week last week.

Stubbs is streaky as hell, but no one in this game is perfectly consistent. The Reds might think he’s about to trend downward again and want to find someone on the upswing, or they might want to ride him as long as they can.

The three guys that the Reds were rumored to be talking about don’t seem to be working out anyway: Shane Victorino appears to be going to the Dodgers and talks seem to have ended over Juan Pierre. Meanwhile, the Twins are asking more than the Reds are willing to pay for Denard Span. This morning I’ve seen Lyle Overbay’s name mentioned. He was DFA’d yesterday and could add some depth to the bench.

The catching situation
No one’s talking catchers, so I’m coming out of left-field here, but the potential suspension of Devin Mesoraco has highlighted a weakness in the Reds’ organization. Not only do they not have an emergency third catcher to speak of, but they only have the two catchers in AAA Louisville. Even though the backstop has not been a problem this season, it might be smart for the Reds to get someone to throw in a minor league catcher into any deals they do make, just to have a body available.

Rotation depth
A few weeks ago, someone sent me an email asking if I thought the Reds would be in the running for Cole Hamels’ services. My first inclination was to think that was about the stupidest thing I’d ever heard. Who would need an expensive starter when you’ve already got such awesomness toeing the rubber each day?

But then I thought about how the fact that the starters have been so good has made the lack of depth in the starting pitching less noticeable. If a starter goes down, I’m not sure who’s ready to jump in at this point. Someone, surely, but someone good enough to keep the team rolling along? The rumor I’ve seen today is that the Reds might be looking at Matt Garza from the Cubs.

To me, the most interesting story in the arena of trading pitchers doesn’t involve the Reds at all: the Cubs are trying to unload Ryan Dempster. I have a distaste for Dempster: not only did he suck for the Reds and then suddenly was awesome for the Cubs, he looks like the mean principal from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

In spite of that, though, he’d gotten quite a following in Chicago until he started getting really picky about where he’d let the Cubs trade him. Basically, it’s the Cubs or the Dodgers or nothing. Why someone would be so insistent on playing for the Cubs I don’t know, but it surely is dramatic.

Check out the #TradeDeadline and #Reds hashtags on Twitter for breaking news. I also recommend the #HugWatch thread for all the reports of players hugging in the dugout and the conclusions watchers are jumping to about where they might be traded to.

Boxscore

It was the kind of shelling the Reds haven’t been the victim of in a long, long time. The Padres put their runs on the board so early that the optimistic among us kept thinking the Reds might come back, but ultimately we all ended up feeling kind of sheepish after getting nothing in return for all our hoping.

Mike Leake started for the Reds and ouch. 1.2 innings of work, including 5 runs (earned) on 5 hits and 3 walks. Alfredo Simon was only slightly less ouchy: 2.1 innings 5 runs (earned) on 4 hits and 3 walks.

Bill Bray did well with his chance, and didn’t allow any hits in his 2.0 innings. He did, however, walk 3 guys. Walks were a major plot thread in the story arc of pitching suckitude, with all the Reds’ pitchers combining for 11 walks. That’s not only the season high, it beats out the previous season high of 7 by 36%.

Jose Arredondo escaped the bases on balls bug in his 2.0 innings but did allow another run (earned) on 2 hits. Logan Ondrusek was back to walking guys in the ninth.

It looked so good for the Reds at the beginning. They drew first blood, putting 3 on the board in the bottom of the first when Jay Bruce doubled, Scott Rolen walked, and Ryan Ludwick knocked both of them in. All of that after Drew Stubbs had already hit a solo shot to right field. You get the feeling Stubbs doesn’t want to be traded.

Bruce hit his 21st home run of the season in the bottom of the third, again, reigniting the hope of the fans. But the only other scoring would turn out to be Rolen knocking in Stubbs in a fifth inning rally that didn’t end up rallying very much.

The loss brings the Reds’ record to 61-41. They continue to lead the NLC by 3 games. It just feels worse than that thanks to the sudden shift from the seemingly effortless victories to painful struggles. The series against the Padres continues tonight at 7:10 p.m. Homer Bailey (RHP, 9-6, 3.53 ERA) takes on Jason Marquis (RHP, 4-5, 3.48 ERA).

When you get tired of following #HUGWATCH (as if anyone could get tired of that), you can switch on the MLB Network tomorrow for six solid hours of trade deadlne coverage starting at 11 a.m.

This is kind of a risky move by MLB…what if there aren’t any interesting trades to talk about for 6 hours? On the other hand, if there’s anything to learn from reality television, it’s that as little as 10 minutes of footage can be stretched into 2 weeks of programming.

Secaucus, N.J., July 25, 2012 – MLB Network will air 20 hours of live coverage dedicated to the latest trade news and rumors starting this Sunday, July 29 through the non-waiver trade deadline on Tuesday, July 31, including a six-hour live MLB Tonight: Trade Deadline Special starting at 11:00am ET on July 31. MLB Network’s MLB Tonight: Trade Deadline Special is presented by Wendy’s.

“Path to the Trade Deadline” editions of MLB Tonight, The Rundown and Intentional Talk will feature reports and analysis from MLB Network analysts including Larry Bowa, Peter Gammons (@pgammo), John Hart, Joe Magrane, Kevin Millar (@KMillar15), Harold Reynolds, Chris Rose (@ChrisRose), Lauren Shehadi (@LaurenShehadi), Matt Yallof (@MattYallofMLB) and MLB Network insiders Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS), Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) and Tom Verducci.

Gammons, Heyman and Rosenthal will each have live cameras positioned in their offices at MLB Network throughout the day, while MLB.com senior writer Jonathan Mayo (@JonathanMayoB3) and MLB Network’s stable of local correspondents will be available via Cisco Ballpark Cam with up-to-the-minute live trade reports and reactions from throughout Major League Baseball.

Throughout the live coverage, MLB Network will recap the biggest trades from July 31, 2011 in a trade deadline-in-review segment, including a look back at the Atlanta Braves trading for Michael Bourn and the St. Louis Cardinals acquiring Rafael Furcal.

In addition to using touchscreen technology at its dedicated social media area inside Studio 3, MLB Network will produce an on-screen social media ticker on July 31 that will display the latest news from MLB Network’s insiders and reporters throughout the league and tweets including the hashtag #tradedeadline.

This afternoon, the MLB Network announced that Cincinnati Reds center fielder Drew Stubbs had won the National League Player of the Week award for July 23 – July 29. He shares it with Carlos Gomez of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Stubbs, who helped lead the Reds to a 6-0 mark last week, hit .370 (10-for-27) and tied with Gomez for the N.L. lead in RBI (10) and stolen bases (3). The eighth overall selection in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft ranked second in the N.L. with nine runs scored and was tied for second in hits while finishing third with three home runs and 21 total bases. On July 24th, the Texas native went 3-for-4 with a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning off Houston closer Francisco Cordero en-route to a 4-2 victory at Minute Maid Park. The following night, Stubbs paced the Reds offense, going 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and three RBI as the Reds capped a four-game sweep at Houston with a 5-3 victory. The right-handed-hitting slugger notched his 12th homer of the season in Sunday’s 7-2 win over the Rockies while collecting his team-leading 21st stolen base as the Reds completed a three-game sweep at Colorado. This is Drew’s first career weekly award.

Does that make it easier or harder to trade him by the deadline tomorrow? On the one hand, he’s increased his trade value a bit by showing how good he can be, but on the other hand, in showing the Reds how good he can be, maybe he doesn’t need replacing after all.

None of the options that the Reds have been linked to–Juan Pierre, Denard Span, or Shane Victorino–strike me as so much better than Stubbs that the Reds should obtain them no matter the cost. With Joey Votto about to return, I might not be too upset at Walt Jocketty for doing nothing again.