Listen up, Walt

You might think you’re a genius and I’m certain there are a plethora of fans out there who would love to crown you as such for your days in St. Louis and for your legendary McGwire trades and all of that happy horse poo.

But I have some cold hard facts for you. You’ve done squat in the past year as the GM of the Cincinnati Reds. You’ve done absolutely nothing in terms of throwing the nucleus we have a life jacket so they can go out and compete like they were supposed to. You signed one poor extension after another to veterans who are nothing more than has-beens and never will’s and then at the trade deadline you took your ball and went home while every other team in the division did something to give themselves a shot in the arm.

Fact is, the organization needs a couple more serious bats in the middle of the lineup, one in LF and one at 3b (and I hold out some hope that Rolen might still be one of these for one more year). This doesn’t mean a guy like Johnny Gomes. A real, legitimate threat who can hit in the middle of the order and support guys like Stubbs and Bruce whom you’ve been putting too much pressure on all year long.

We’ve got an array of 6 and 7 hitters masquerading as a lineup. We also need to recognize the redundancy of Stubbs, Heisey, and Sappelt. You have to figure that only one can play everyday; and that has to be in CF; and move at least one of the other two.

There is no reason our purse strings are any tighter than the Brewers. Over the last two years, they’ve added Wolf, Marcum, and Greinke while we’ve added nothing to the rotation from outside the organization and you gave a very bad extension to Arroyo. Underperformance from Arroyo, Volquez, Bailey, and Wood is the primary reason this team is where it is. Underperformance from the front office and especially the GM would be another way of putting it.

It’s now or never this offseason, Walt. And you’re clouding what was your good legacy.