The Cincinnati Reds narrowly avoided making another minor roster mistake this week when Craig Counsell signed with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Counsell signed a 1-year, $2.1 million deal to serve as the Brewer’s utility infielder again. He had a productive 2009 season as a backup, getting on base almost 36% of the time. Apparently, he reduced the obnoxiousness of his batting stance, too. No longer did he reach to the sky as if in vain attempts to over-compensate for shortcomings.

The Reds had expressed interest in Counsell, but I, for one, am happy that he stayed away from the Queen City. My guiding hope for the Reds in this off-season is that they do nothing. Absolutely nothing. First, they’re less likely to make mistakes *cough*Willy Taveras*cough*. And second, they have a ton of young, talented players. The best way to overcome Dusty Baker’s hardcore veteran fetish is to not give him any. And free agents are generally veterany.

We’ll see if it’s a good deal for the Brewers. It probably will be, considering he’s a backup and it’s only for one year. I do know that it would have been a disaster for the Reds. So for that, thank you, Walt Jocketty.

Boxscore

In the first game after the All Star Break, the Cincinnati Reds played exactly as they had been prior to the break: badly. It’s not surprising, considering they’re a mediocre team lacking offense and managed by a buffoon. It’s still easy in baseball to be eternally optimistic and hope that things will bounce your team’s way.

Not this time. Homer Bailey, fresh off two of his best major league starts, regressed. He walked 4, struck out 3, and allowed 7 runs over 5 1/3 innings. His line should have been better, as the relief corps allowed all of the runners inherited to score. Still, it was a disappointing start after his recent success. Perhaps he rested too much. Either that, or the Milwaukee Brewers are just a really good team. It’s hard to know. Reds fans haven’t seen one this millennium.

On the offensive side, the Reds did well. 6 runs is a lot for them. The awesome Joey Votto drove in 2 with an unholy home run measuring 471 feet. He almost won someone a Toyota Tundra truck. The rest of the offense was provided by Edwin Encarnación. Yes, he’s still with the team. Apparently rest did improve his game.

The Reds were mounting a comeback until erstwhile Red–and Trekkie–Todd Coffey came in for Milwaukee. Remember when he was so good for the Reds that one year? Then remember when he was exactly the opposite? Chris Welsh might know why and who was responsible.

During the television broadcast, Welsh mentioned that the Reds refused to allow Coffey to throw his splitter. When he went to the Brewers, they allowed him to throw it again. The results? No runs in a short 9 1/3 innings last year, and an ERA of 2.76 so far this year. And his home run rate is way down, too.

I wasn’t the only one who caught this. Chad at Redleg Nation mentioned it, as well, and added that Homer Bailey had been prevented from throwing the same pitch. His recent success has to do with him throwing it again.

Developing pitchers is hard, but the Reds clearly need to do a better job. For once, they’ve got the talent.

I realize that now that we’re a couple week into the season it’s a little late to be talking team previews. But this is a particularly polished and in-depth preview of the Brewers’ 2009 season at The View from the Dugout.

After a couple years of being predicted “The Sleeper” team, the Brewers’ relationship with C.C. Sabathia last season is now over, and Ben Sheets is out of the picture as well. What’s in store for this team struggling to find their shape? So far, a 4-8 record, but the season is long.

Boxscore

The Reds failed in their attempt at sweeping the Brewers yesterday, and Milwaukee fans can relax just the tiniest bit about the rough start.

Micah Owings started for the Reds, although he batted 9th, even though his bat is clearly superior to that of Ramon Hernandez and Alex Gonzalez. Owings wasn’t very good, allowing 4 runs over 5 innings pitched. Of course, that’s not unexpected when you realize he hadn’t pitched since Spring Training. He refused to admit the truth, though. “I’m not going to go there,” he said. “The last thing I’m going to do is make excuses.”

However, it wasn’t Owings’ fault the Reds lost. Cincinnati had tied the game at 3 until Jared Burton came in and equaled Owings’ output in 1 inning, thanks to a 2-run double by Jason Kendall and a home run by Rickie Weeks.

What did Dusty Baker have to say about things? “It would have been nice to get the sweep going into the off day. Now, we’ve got to go to Houston and start another (streak).”

I’m afraid you just did. I mean, Houston just won their 2nd game of the year last night.

So, those Reds traded Ryan Freel, eh? Might actually be a decent move, I suppose, but against the backdrop oft he cluster that is Dusty Baker’s management, it’s hard to see this move as anything other than more of said cluster.

In any event, the massive level of annoyance that it aroused in the Red Hot Household was enough to shake us from our three-month long podcasting malaise. This ought to motivate us for at least a couple months, at which time I guess they’ll have to trade Brandon Phillips to the Nationals in order to raise my ire enough to create more audio content.

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