Just heard on FSN from Jim Day that the Reds have put Griffey on the disabled list retroactive to April 13 due to a strain in his right knee.

The move probably corresponds with the return of Jason LaRue from the disabled list after he had his knee scoped just before the start of the season, but I guess they could still surprise us and bring up Chris Denorfia or something.

After the Reds brought up Quinton McCracken to fill in the hole in the outfield, it only makes sense to stop taking up a space with one of them. Too bad they made the Reds play for four days with only 24 players.

Chris Denorfia has been sent down, per Marc, to make room for our newest second baseman, Brandon Phillips.

No big surprise here. Denorfia wouldn't have been with the big team at all if Jason LaRue hadn't gone on the DL to have his knee scoped. Even so, it's hard not to agree with Anon8:08:

Denorfia was with the squad in 2005 and started 6 games and made 3 webgems on ESPN and has the heart of Rudy. Two for two this year in pinch hits including scoring the winning run Thursday night. Minor league player of the year… yeah let's send him down… smart move.

I just keep telling myself that he'll be back, but I can't shake the sneaking suspicion that general manager Wayne “Kriv-dog” Krivsky might just trade him for another middle infielder. In a way, he already has.

The phrase has lost all meaning.

Per Marc:

Old news by now, I know (been away from the computer for a while), but the Reds have acquired infielder Brandon Phillips from the Indians for a player to be named or cash.

Phillips, 24, was long considered one of the top prospects around, and thought to be the key to the Bartolo Colon deal a few years ago. Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee ended up providing quite a bit more return for the Tribe.

He'll be on the Reds' active roster, though a corresponding move won't be made until Sunday. Matt Kata was designated for assignment to make room for Phillips on the 40-man.

Another interesting pickup. I keep waiting for a really big domino to fall somewhere here, considering all the catchers, second basemen and outfielders floating around. Stay tuned, I guess.

OK, so Marc thinks we're going to see the huge corresponding move to this one. But we've been waiting for that shoe to fall since they signed Womack back in December.

KC2HMZ, who by now ought to be listed as an official writer for RHM, had this to say about the deal in the comments:

Pssst! Don't look now, but the Reds just obtained Brandon Phillips from the Indians for a player to be named later or cash.

Phillips was part of the booty in the same trade that got the Indians Grady Sizemore and sent Bartolo Colon to the Expos.

Phillips' problem has been that he can't hit a lick. He actually won the Tribe's 2B job in the psring of 2003, but hit like .210 in 88 games and got sent down to Buffalo. He's played here in Buffalo for the last three years, where I've been able to see with my own eyes that he's a dynamite fielder at both 2B and SS who would be an all-star in the majors if he'd quit trying to hit every pitch 600 feet and learn to be a contact hitter.

That, and LaRue comes off the DL on, like, Monday. I still think there's going to be a major trade here, the Reds have too many catchers and too many middle infielders.

To give this move an even more sinister shade, Marc says in his subsequent post that general manager Wayne Krivsky felt the need to point out Phillips' service time at short stop on multiple occasions.

Would the Reds stockpile a zillion second basemen just to trade their one really good shortstop? The idea makes me slightly ill.

Admittedly I haven't been to all of the games the Reds have played since I've been here. The haul out to the Twins' stadium was just too long and the idea of going to Winter Haven was just to nauseating, but I've been to a lot of games.

In all those games, I've seen David Weathers only twice. And one of those was his start against the Blue Jays. Alternately, I've seen Mercker plenty of times.

Is Weathers falling out of favor? Have I just not seen many opportunities for a right-handed closer candidate? Then I saw a story in Louisville's Journal-Courier.com. Sorry, I can't find the link, but the quote was:

“I've asked him [his son] about retiring and what he thinks about it,” Weathers said. “Before it was like, `No, dad, I just want to go to the field and play with you.' But I think he's getting to that age where he wants me around a lot more and coaching his Little League team and all that. It's getting me closer.”

Could be a good opportunity for Belisle, Coffey, and Wags, I reckon. One of them starts demonstrating some veteran leadership, and the closer job might just be all his.

OK, so I haven't really had the time or Internet access to do a proper job of researching Broson Arroyo, but I'm 90% confident that I'd be saying the same thing after proper research as I'm going to say now: I think this was an adequate move.

Arroyo might not be the best pitcher in the world, but he's an improvement over our options. And the Reds just didn't need Peña's home runs and lack of defensive skill. We've got tons of that already. I'm super-psyched to think that this move opens up some space for Dewayne Wise or even (dare I say it?) Chris Denorfia.

And don't forget the benefit to Peña. He's a young guy with tons of potential that just keeps not getting met in Cincinnait. He never quite fit in with the Outfield Buddies, and he never seemed to be getting a chance. He's in a good place to give a new venue a try. Maybe the change of pace will be what it takes to let him finally put it all together.

Thanks to the anonymous person who sent me a couple photos of Arroyo, as well as some rather disheartening sound bytes. I credit you with that 10% lack of confidence in this move.