As everyone knows, the Cincinnati Reds season ended last weekend. Strangely, it was a 3 full months later than we’d grown accustomed to. And now we find ourselves looking forward to 2011, but it’s somehow different. This time, we’re not only expecting the Reds to be a winning team, but to repeat their finishing of first place in the National League Central.

It’s amazing how much one year can change things. Just think of what this team accomplished in 2010. The last winning season had been in 2000.n They were looking at a losing streak in the double-digits. That’s Pittsburgh Pirates territory, right there. With a record of 91-71, the 2010 squad didn’t even come close to having a losing year.

The last time the Reds had been to the playoffs and won their division was 1995, fifteen years ago. Not only did the Reds break their losing streak, but they grabbed first place and broke their postseason drought, too. Perhaps most excitingly, unlike the 2008 Milwaukee Brewers, who spent everything of value in their minor league system just to win the wild card, the Reds spent nothing. Their farm system is loaded with too many major-league ready players, many of them pitchers.

Pitching wins playoffs, and the Reds didn’t win this year. But their pitchers are still young. Bronson Arroyo, at 33, is the oldest and most experienced, and he pitched a great game. It was the playoff-shy defense that lost Arroyo’s start. Edinson Volquez is the second oldest starter at 26. All the other contenders for the rotation are 24 years old or younger. And most of them now have playoff experience.

You’ve got to think that with the poor showing this year, the players will all be more motivated to return in 2011 and show that they can win a playoff game. It happened with the Philadelphia Phillies. Their first year of being in the postseason after 14 years away ended in the same result as the 2010 Reds: a sweep in the first round. The next year? The won the World Series.

And there’s no reason the Reds can’t duplicate that success.

Here are the primary contenders for the starting rotation next year.

• Bronson Arroyo
• Edinson Volquez
• Johnny Cueto
• Homer Bailey
• Travis Wood
• Mike Leake
• Aroldis Chapman

Not to mention, there’s dependable back-ups like Sam LeCure, Matt Maloney, and Micah Owings should anyone go down. That’s 10 quality starting pitchers, which is about 9 more than the Reds had for the majority of the 2000s.

I’m already excited about next year. It’s a good time to be a Reds fan.

CINCINNATI – Cincinnati Reds’ first baseman Joey Votto appears to be a shoo-in for the National League Most Valuable Player award, but many don’t realize the important role the exchange rate plays in the decision.

“It’s tougher for a Canadian in this sport,” said Minnesota Twins’ Justin Morneau. “Not only do we have to be 1.01422 times the player of an American to be noticed, but we’re also relentlessly subjected to lumberjack jokes.”

Despite the iniquity, things are better today than they were just a few years ago for citizens of the Great White North. As recently as 2002, a United States player (USP) was worth one and a half Canadian players (CAP). Things have been much different since 2008, thanks to a soft USP.

“Five years ago things were even worse, eh?” said New York Mets’ outfielder and British Columbia native Jason Bay. “You’d think that no one would really care about the Home Run Derby, but you’d be wrong, hoser. Try not hitting any and see how your exchange rate drops.”

Baseball macroeconomists cite the undervalued Chinese player, pegged to the USP at 0.14988 as playing a role in this changing baseball economy, but most people don’t really understand what that has to do with anything.

“I saw that Votto play,” said Chicago Cubs’ starting pitcher Ryan Dempster. “When I wasn’t busy listening to Alanis Morisette and Glass Tiger. He’s definitely worth 1.01422 times the best American player out there.”

Most agree with Dempster. The real question is whether the beat writers can avoid choking on all these stale Canadian stereotypes long enough to do the math: how a whole season of Canadian Votto compare to one month of Venezuelan Carlos González with an exchange rate of 1:4,240.11.

Must wins don’t come along too often in a baseball season. Certainly never in the first half of the season like some fans think.

But after yesterday’s shut-out, no-hit loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Cincinnati Reds are facing their first legitimate must-win game in years.

Edinson Volquez probably wasn’t the best choice to start Game 1 of the best of 5 series. But it is nice that for Game 2, the Reds will have Bronson Arroyo to send to the mound. He’s been there before, pitching in the playoffs with the Boston Red Sox. And he’s had the best year of any of the Reds starters, one of the best of Arroyo’s career. I’ve never been his biggest fan, but there is some comfort that will come from having him pitching tomorrow.

The hitters will have to show up, too. They’ve now played one game with the loud, loud, loud Phillies crowd. Much like how the Reds crumbled under the pressure back when Brandon Phillips called the St. Louis Cardinals “little bitches”, they did not play loose and relaxed in the series opener. That one game is really all the time they’ll have to learn. Because if they lose tomorrow, they would have to win 3 straight to get past the Phillies. And you know Roy “Mr. No-hitter” Halladay would be starting again.

Instead, the Reds will be facing Roy Oswalt, who they have owned for the past year and a half. Things could go well, so long as Bad-rroyo doesn’t make an appearance.