When the Reds traded for utility man Willie Bloomquist earlier this week, they had to clear out a spot on the 40-man roster. Instead of moving Jim Edmonds to the 60-day disabled list, the Reds designated Enerio Del Rosario for assignment.

Today, Rosario’s fate was made known. The Reds traded him to the Houston Astros for “cash considerations.” I’m not exactly sure what that means. I guess the Astros will consider giving the Reds cash.

Rosario seemed serviceable as a reliever, although he had a problem of allowing most of his inherited runners to score. With the Reds pitching glut–how weird is that to say–he’s unlikely to be missed. And since he’s only 24, he could easily figure things out and become a solid contributor for Houston.

The Cincinnati Reds have released their schedule for 2011 season. There are some major changes, with Opening Day falling on a Thursday instead of a Monday, as it has for years now. The start has been moved up to make sure the World Series ends before November, which is a worthy goal, I think. Still, starting early will take some getting used to at first.

The full press release is below.

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds’ tentative 2011 schedule has been released by Major League Baseball.

The 2011 campaign will begin with Opening Day on Thursday, March 31, against the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park. The Reds will wrap up their series with the Brewers on Saturday and Sunday, April 2-3, followed by three games against the Houston Astros to finish up the season’s first homestand.

Major League Baseball adopted the recommendation of The Commissioner’s Special Committee for On-Field Matters to begin the regular season earlier and mid-week to avoid playing World Series games in November.

Other featured matchups at Great American Ball Park in 2011 include a pair of weekend series against the National League Central Division rival St. Louis Cardinals (May 13-15, July 15-17), plus weekend battles with the Atlanta Braves (July 22-24) and San Francisco Giants (July 29-Aug. 1).

Highlighting the Reds’ Interleague schedule is a home series against the New York Yankees from June 20-22, New York’s first trip to Cincinnati since 2003.

Additional Interleague action at Great American Ball Park will include the Ohio Cup Series presented by the Ohio Lottery against the Cleveland Indians (July 1-3) and a three-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays (June 17-19).

It’s such a very brief post that I’m including it all here, but click the link to ESPN for updates:

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds have acquired utilityman Willie Bloomquist from the Kansas City Royals for either a player to be named or cash.

Bloomquist will join the NL Central-leading Reds for the stretch drive. They began the day with a six-game lead over St. Louis.

Bloomquist had been set to start in left field Monday in the Royals’ game against Oakland. He hit .265 with three home runs and 17 RBIs this season.

The 32-year-old Bloomquist has started games this year at second base, third base, left field, center field and designated hitter. He had a nine-game hitting streak snapped over the weekend.

I like to see a utilityman in the mix, and those 3 homers and 17 RBI come in only 170 ABs. I don’t know anything about this guy, but I do have to wonder about a fella who only got 73 starts with the Royals.

For ten years now, I’ve remained relatively aloof to the performance of the Cincinnati Reds. Absolutely, I’ve been enraged by an occasional Trade or manager signing, impishly baited Cubs fans, bragged on 7 RBI LLM games, but the team’s impact on my daily life has been mostly limited to guys at work noticing the Reds stuff in my office and dropping in to give me a hard time about it.

So I was surprised this morning to realize that I was less tired and grouchy when I woke up, apparently having slept better and had sweeter dreams than of late. As we got closer to game time today, I even bounced around a little in girlish excitement. I hadn’t realized that the series in Colorado had gotten me down so much until a couple wins had me stupidly happy.

I’m playing the fool over here, and I apparently don’t even care, seeing as I’m admitting it in front of literally tens of readers.

But alas, being in love with a team that features Fransisco Cordero is a bumpy road, and I’m not as chipper as I was just an hour or so ago. Woe to the Cubs fan who drops in to give me a hard time tomorrow. He may get the fury of a woman scorned.