Decisions on deck

By Marc Lancaster
Post staff reporter

The season, in the form that everyone in the Reds' organization had hoped it would take back in spring training, is already lost.

Cincinnati comes out of the All-Star break to host the Colorado Rockies tonight a last-place club, 21 games behind the mighty St. Louis Cardinals and a good two-week run away from even challenging for second place.

But three weeks after shaking the clubhouse from the top down with the firings of Dave Miley and Don Gullett and the installation of Jerry Narron and Vern Ruhle, the men in charge of leading the Reds out of the mess they have created cling doggedly to optimism.

"We're going to try to win every game," Narron said. "We're going to have the mindset to win every game. Whether it's a whole different 25 guys in August - which it's not going to be - we've got to have the mindset that we're going to win, no matter who's out there."

The who's-out-there question is one that will move to the forefront in the coming weeks. With the non-waiver trade deadline looming at the end of the month, the Reds will have some decisions to make as they shape their roster for the closing months of the season and beyond.

Third baseman Joe Randa, who has been a stabilizing force offensively, defensively and in the clubhouse since Day One, almost certainly will be moved to a contender in return for a prospect or two. Others could follow, with infielder Rich Aurilia, relievers Kent Mercker and David Weathers and one of the young outfield trio of Adam Dunn, Austin Kearns and Wily Mo Pena all possibilities.

It won't be a fire sale along the lines of what the Reds went through two summers ago, but some paring of the roster only makes sense. With the team out of contention, it might as well take steps not only to get the young players already in hand into more prominent roles, but also troll for a few more bodies heading into 2006.
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