If I had the money, I'd buy the Reds right now. Then I would turn this ship around. Here is how.
1. Get rid of Bob Boone.
The guy does nothing but play mind games with his players. He's got Adam Dunn and Brandon Larson so confused right now that they don't know which end is up.
I would bring in Davey Johnson, if he's interested, or even give Sparky Anderson a shot if he wanted it. Otherwise, I'd offer the job to Willie Randolph, but he might only take it if Jim Bowden is gone.
2. Give Jim Bowden his walking papers.
He's done nothing but alienate most of the players and all of the other GMs in the league with his antics. I'm not sure who's available right now though. I'd make a serious push for Joe Morgan.
3. Fix the pitching staff as much as is possible.
This means that Kent Mercker, Felix Heredia and Josias Manzanillo get their walking papers, and Chris Reitsma, Seth Etherton and Jeff Austin would be on the big club. I'd put Reistma and Etherton in the rotation and move "Fat" Jimmy Anderson and Danny Graves to the bullpen. Graves would go into a setup role until he gets his fastball back. Once that happens, I'd have him and Scott Williamson as co-closers.
4. Put Austin Kearns in center.
For good. The Reds need to keep Junior Griffey out of situations where he can get hurt. So he either goes to left field or first base. The Reds can't afford to get rid of Sean Casey right now, so Griff goes to left when he comes back.
5. Lower the price of everything at Great American BallPark.
Things are ridiculously expensive. The average family can't afford to go to a game and really enjoy themselves. It just plain costs too much.
With the way the team is playing right now, it's a waste of time to go see them. I can cook hot dogs on the grill watch them on TV rather than waste my time and money going down to Cincinnati.
6. Keep Felipe Lopez at shortstop.
I would have sent him to AA the other day when he showed up for batting practice with no socks on, but he's all we've got. It's time to put Barry Larkin out to pasture.
However, if there are any more antics from Lopez, I'd move Aaron Boone to short and put Juan Castro at second.
7. Get some mean guys.
That's right. The Reds are too nice. They need someone who isn't afraid to shake things up. The lack of such players is a result of Bob Boone, who works as hard as he can to keep players off the team that might make waves. Case in point. Boone reportedly nixed bringing in Greg Vaughn three weeks ago when Griffey went down. Instead, he opted for lazy, can't-play-defense Jose Guillen.
A mean guy would get in Brandon Larson's face and tell him to start playing like a man, and not a 12-year-old that is scared of the ball.
So there you have it. My plan to fix the Reds.