When the winter meetings draw to a close today, it seems likely that they will do so without Jermaine Dye pulling on a Cincinnati Reds' uniform. Just because that trade fell through doesn't mean the Reds are giving up on finding a right-handed power hitter to bat between Jay Bruce and Joey Votto, though. Today, John Fay is reporting that the Reds have been in contact with Juan Rivera, Rocco Baldelli, and even Pat Burrell to fill that role. Burrell signing in Cincy is probably a pipe dream right now, as he's certainly not signing anywhere before Mark Teixeira does and once Tex signs, Burrell's value probably goes way up. Baldelli is interesting, but probably ultimately not helpful to a National League team due to his fatigue-causing disorder. Rivera would've been a nice pickup in 2006. He's had a hard time bouncing back from his broken leg and his .286 OBP in 2008 will probably discourage even Dusty Baker.
If Walt Jocketty is still inclined to pick up a right-handed slugger, a trade is probably still his best bet. Still, I'm not sure that whoever he picks up is going to have the effect of catapulting the Reds into contention. They did have Adam Dunn last year, after all, and they only won 74 games. The Reds competing in 2009 will have much more to do with how their young players develop than it will on who they pick up this winter.
