Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins
Houston Astros
LA Angels
Oakland Athleticss
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
San Diego jumps into Randa sweepstakes
By Hal McCoy
Dayton Daily News
CINCINNATI | The latest entrant into The Joe Randa Sweepstakes is the San Diego Padres, in the market for a third baseman.
The Padres, clinging precariously to first place in the National League West, have given up on third baseman Sean Burroughs.
The Reds are searching for young pitchers and the Padres might loosen their grip on left-hander Sean Thompson from Class AA Mobile and right-hander Jared Wells from Class A Lake Elsinore.
Thompson, who is only 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, is ranked the Padres eighth-best prospect by Baseball America. He went 4-1 with a 2.16 ERA in six starts at Lake Elsinore before being promoted on May 10 to Mobile, where he is 3-4 with a 4.33 ERA in 12 starts. Wells is 11-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 19 starts.
Randa continues to wait, wondering when he'll be told to pack.
"Do I like San Diego?" he said. "I know they have a great Sea World for my family. I know they have a good team with good players and they should win that division. I'd think the Reds have to do something soon."
The deadline is a week from Sunday and, ironically, the Reds are in San Diego that day.
"Should I take all my personal stuff on that trip?" Randa asked with a laugh. "Or do you think the Reds will let me fly home with them on the charter to retrieve my stuff."
A San Diego scout watched the Reds last weekend against the Colorado Rockies and Randa said, "I wish they had been watching me a week ago."
Randa is hitting .284 with 12 homers and 45 RBIs, but entered Friday's game 2-for-25 (.080).
He turned it around Friday night with a home run and two doubles in five at-bats.
"My old manager, Tony Muser (Kansas City) is with the Padres as a coach now, so he knows about me," Randa said.
Randa, 35, is a one-year rent-a-player, signed to a one-year $2.1 million deal to occupy third base until Edwin Encarnacion is ready.
He's ready.
Encarnacion is on a 10-game hitting streak at Class AAA Louisville, going 18-for-44 (.409) with three homers and eight RBIs.
Hancock ready
After the way Josh Hancock threw in a simulated game Friday, the Reds soon may have another pitcher, either to plug into the rotation or to use out of the bullpen.
Hancock threw 50 pitches, consistently hitting 89 miles an hour, while pitching against Jacob Cruz, Ray Olmedo and Ryan Freel.
"Looks to me like he can't be far from ready," said Cruz. "He threw a lot of strikes and the ball had movement."
Said Hancock, "I threw all out with full intensity. I'm ready to face hitters and I can get big-league hitters out. But they'll probably send me to Dayton or Chattanooga on rehab and I'll get shelled."
Hancock will throw in the bullpen Sunday, then await what the Reds decide.
He's out there
Bullpenner Kent Mercker had gone four days without pitching entering Friday's game and a scout asked, "Is there anything wrong with Mercker?"
Just watch the bullpen area.
"I've had 13 or 14 (false alarms, warming up without getting into a game) in the last week and got into two games," said Mercker. "I don't think I've ever gone four days in a row without pitching since I became a relief pitcher.
"I really wanted to pitch against Chicago, too," he said, referring to the team that let him go after last season. "I warmed up Wednesday and had the best stuff I've ever had, ever. Even catcher Jason LaRue said, 'Hey, dude, wow.' "
Mercker got into Friday's game and the rust flew — one inning, three runs, three hits.
A Parris visit
A blast from the recent past, pitcher Steve Parris, visited the clubhouse Friday and was startled to find only one player remaining from his days with the Reds, Sean Casey.
He last pitched for the Reds in 2000 — and only Casey remains? — and was the starting pitcher in 1999 for the one-game playoff that the Reds lost to the Mets, 5-0, for the wild card berth.
Parris coaches a traveling 11-year-old team, the Will County (Ill.) Wild and has his team in town to play the Cincinnati Fling, "A team I found on the internet and called to see if they would play us," he said.
Register To Reply
