Nov 14th 2008 3:20PM by Pat Lackey (author feed)
How many teams in baseball can match a young core of Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Edinson Volquez, and Johnny Cueto? The Reds have four young players to build around right now that would make every other team in the league jealous. The problem they currently have is that none of the older guys around those young players, namely Brandon Phillips, Aaron Harang, Edwin Encarnacion, and Bronson Arroyo, have performed up to expectations recently.

The question that Cincy now must answer is when their team is going to be ready to contend. They weren’t last year, and Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. were shipped off as a result. They’re still a ways away right now, though if players like Cueto and Bruce can take steps forward this year, they might be closer to contending then people realize. So should they try to arm up for a run to the top of the Central this year? Or should they sit back and wait.
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