The folks over at Red Reporter had the chance to interview Sean Casey this week, and instead of asking him about any future singing plans, they took the time to talk about him leaving baseball, joining the MLB Network, and his future plans.

It’s a good little read, and you should give it a look, if for no other reason than to recall what you liked so much about Casey, one of the few bright spots in the aughts.

Casey did drop this little surprise.

Actually I just signed on to do 15 games for the Reds this year as a color guy. I’ll get a chance to get in the booth and see how that goes. I think I’ll be doing the games from April 5 through April 7, and later some games in Pittsburgh and in Cincinnati. We’re still figuring that out.

So be sure to tune in in early April for the Mayor’s debut as a Reds’ broadcaster. It’ll be great to hear his voice and personality again. And you know it’ll have to better than the parade of announcers that have shuffled through the booth the last couple years.

This morning the Cincinnati Reds put up this Facebook post about Sean Casey:

For children with special needs, former Major Leaguer Sean Casey is helping to construct facilities and ballfields in Pennsylvania so kids aren’t left out and can play baseball.

Boy, that takes me back. That Casey: always the nice one. And it also demonstrates how little there is to talk about in Redsland right now if we’re going as far back as the Casey era for conversation. As if this year weren’t already rough enough, content-wise, what with the team being so darn good and all, the holiday season is even rougher without Wayne Krivsky around to make a million terrible trades to bitch about.

I’d rather look forward than back, though, since conjecture is so much easier than analysis. And the next thing on the Reds-related event list for me is the Reds Winter Caravan.

The Caravan will roll through January 27-30, though they haven’t decided which city will be which day or which players, coaches, and administrators will be on each leg of the three legs of the tour, but last year it went like this:

Northern Tour

• Thursday: Marietta OH/Parkersburg WV
• Friday: Athens, OH
• Saturday: Lima, OH
• Sunday: Columbus, OH

Western Tour

• Thursday: Louisville, KY
• Friday: Bloomington, IN and Indianapolis, IN
• Saturday: Muncie, IN and Dayton OH
• Sunday Oxford, OH

Southern Tour

• Thursday: Charleston, WV and Huntington WV
• Saturday: Cincinnati, OH
• Sunday: Lexington, KY

We usually hit the Muncie stop, despite living closer to Indianapolis, and it’s always an event. Muncie remained stoically loyal to the Reds, even when the team ceded Indiana to the Cubs and Cards under the reign of Carl Lindner, but then, Muncie is a place out of time in many ways. I definitely recommend this stop for an excellent visage of a multitude of trucker caps and the hot dog stand that they set up at the back of the dealership for while you’re standing in the autograph line.

Oh, and you can read the rest of the Casey story here.

I mean signing with Texas, of course. Not the other stuff.

Last week when I was frantically doing my last-minute shopping and wrapping my heart out, Arthur Rhodes signed a one year deal with the Texas Rangers. Wikipedia says it included a vesting option for 2012, but it didn’t mention how much the contract was for. (Baseball Reference was worse, where he’s still listed as a free agent. They must still be recovering from the holidays.)

However, we know that Mr. Rhodes pulled down $2M a year for the last two years, and his All-Star team election and general awesomeness in the last couple years probably didn’t hurt his marketability, even if he *is* 41 years old. I mean, why not? He’s pitching less than Randy Johnson, and looking a lot better doing it (not that Johnson sets the bar very high when it comes to looking good).

ESPN points out:

Rhodes has earned the chance to stay in the majors because he is a high-level lefty specialist. Opposing left-handers have a career .281 opponents on-base percentage against him, which ranks fifth-best among active left-handed pitchers who have faced at least 500 lefties (58 left-handed pitchers qualify, including Billy Wagner, who ranks second and is expected to retire). That’s one point better than the Yankees lefty reliever pickup, Pedro Feliciano.

Over the last three seasons, he’s been even better, dropping that number to .236. The only active pitchers better in that span are Hong-Chih Kuo, Neftali Feliz, Mariano Rivera, and Billy Wagner.

It’s been an impressive run for Rhodes, and it doesn’t appear to be just a fluke. You may recall this tidbit from the Reds’ press release when they signed Rhodes after the 2008 season:

The 16-year Major League veteran has produced a 79-61 record, 4.23 ERA and 32 saves in 714 career appearances and 61 starts for the Baltimore Orioles, Mariners, Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies and Marlins. Rhodes made 20 postseason appearances for the Orioles and Mariners, including 9 in the American League Division Series and 11 in the AL Championship Series.

All-in-all, Rhodes looks like a good pickup for the Rangers and maybe a couple million that the Reds can use on someone else. And none of this changes my early prediction of Reds versus Rangers in the 2011 World Series.

If you love Ken Griffey Jr. like certain members of the Red Hot Household, then you’ll want to check out this retrospective on The Hardball Times.

Well, less a retrospective than a list of players ranked by their Wins Above Replacement numbers. And he’s wearing the Mariners’ jersey (the second time; not the awesome time). But, hey, any excuse to read about The Kid, right?

You may remember last year at this time how Paul Janish was preparing to become the team’s everyday, starting shortstop. That didn’t happen, thanks to the February 2010 signing of Orlando Cabrera.

So far, this off-season is shaping up to be a repeat of last year. Cabrera was not re-signed, leaving Janish as the only player on the major league roster capable of playing shortstop. Janish’s 2010 was much more promising than his 2009. This season, Janish improved his batting average, not out percentage, and his slugging percentage. All the while, his defense seems to be better than any the Reds have had in many years up the middle.

I wasn’t too happy with the Cabrera signing. Clearly, the Reds weren’t happy enough with his performance to pick up his $4 million option for 2011. Janish has shown that he can produce as much offensively and better defensively than Cabrera, and for the minimum wage.

According to an article from Mark Sheldon, it sounds like manager Dusty Baker is ready to give Janish the ball daily, too.

Asked if Janish was ready to be “the guy” at shortstop next season, Baker replied, “Yeah, I think so.”

“He showed improvement offensively,” Baker said. “There is no better place to serve your apprenticeship, get time in the big leagues and time in service than he had in that role before.”

Obviously, if by some roster and payroll miracle, Hanley Ramirez becomes available, I’d prefer that upgrade. Since that won’t happen, I’d really like to see Paul Janish have a year at shortstop.