This week on the podcast, the Crack Technical Staff and I talk all-star selections, good players that bad teams out to trade, and everything in between. Specifically:

The Brewers signed C.C. Sabathia

Inspiring the Cubs to follow up with Rich Harden

The Pirates might like to send Jack Wilson to the Dodgers,

While the Reds may still think they’re in it.

Even though it’s clear that HAIRSTON SHOULD GO!

The Cubs represent in the All Star Game Roster

While the Reds represent in the List of Guys who Lied About Being Drafted in the 30th round.

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Despite early-season predictions of the Central again being the weakest division in the National League, that hasn’t been the case in the first half, especially judging by the number of players representin’ the NLC.

Led largely by Chicago not sucking for a change, 7 Cubs were placed on the team. Geovany Soto, Kosuke Fukudome, and Alfonso Soriano were all voted on as starters, although Soriano is injured and probably won’t play.

Lance Berkman and Ryan Braun round out the other fan-voted starters from the Central. Not bad for last year’s weakest division. 5 of the 8 starting spots. And there’s a great chance that either Edinson Volquez–the Reds token star–or Carlos Zambrano will start the game.

How the pathetic have risen.

Boxscore

Remember when Jay Bruce was called up for the Reds and he was awesome and optimistic and full of life and excited about how he was going to help the club win? Sigh. If only he were on any other team besides the Reds. Heck, at this point, he might have a better shot with the Pirates, who defeated the Reds last night and won the series.

Yes, the Pirates defeated the Reds in Cincinnati, where the Reds had been good. Pittsburgh had been anything but on the road, but they’re obviously better than the Reds. Pittsburgh now sits in 5th place, with Cincinnati 1.5 games behind them in last.

Anyway, back to Bruce. He hit two home runs in the process of going 2-3 with a walk and drove in 4. Honestly, he’s lucky to have gotten as many RBI as he did, considering he was leading off for some insane reason. Who’s the idiot manager of the Reds anyway? Oh. Right.

So despite giving his all, the Reds lost, and just a little bit of Bruce’s soul died. Unfortunately, it won’t be the last time, not as long as he plays for Cincinnati.

Boxscore

The Reds lost last night, which isn’t news. The news is that Edinson Volquez had a second consecutive less-than-stellar start. His chances of starting the All Star game are fading, while his chances of garnering the nickname Edinson “Jack Armstrong” Volquez are increasing.

Brandon Phillips was the human highlight reel for the Reds, going 3-5 with a home run and 4 RBI. It wasn’t enough, though, because David Weathers was pitching.

The Pirates took their final lead off of Weathers in the 11th, getting 2 runs off of him, which was just enough to not give it up in the bottom of the inning. Not that they didn’t try. Cincinnati scored one in the bottom of the 11th and had a chance to tie it, but thankfully for the Pirates, Corey Patterson “plays” for the Reds.

This week on the podcast:

• Shawn Chacon’s breathtaking misadventures
• Lou Piniella gets fired. Up.
• Why we hate umpires

And all this *before* Corey Patterson came up with two outs in the bottom of 11 and the winning run on base.

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