Reds Looking To Get Better Now; Not Waiting For 2015

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The trading deadline is Thursday afternoon at 4:00.  The Reds are anticipating getting better for the stretch run, whether that is by getting injured stars, Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto back before the end of the season or by trade is undetermined.

"It is and exciting time of the year in baseball," Bryan Price said on Wednesday morning.  "If your a contender you look for pieces right now.  If you're not a contender, you look for future pieces."

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The manager put the Reds in the category of looking for pieces now.

"We're looking to get better," Price said.  "We're not looking for 2015. We have a bunch of guys that fight, they're gamers."

Price acknowledged that the Reds could deal for some help via trade even with Phillips and Votto getting closer to a return.

"Walt has been working the phones," Price said.  "We know that we have Joey and Brandon coming. We know we can get better by the end of August and the beginning of September.

In spite of going 2-for-9 since the All-Star break, the Reds trail Milwaukee by just five games with 56 games left in the season.

Ryan Ludwick took exception to a "Fan Graph" estimate that the Reds have a 15 percent chance of making the playoffs.

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"How do they ever determine these things," Ludwick wondered aloud  "The amazing thing is that some people believe that stuff.  It's like WAR.  I don't know how they calculate defense.  Do they even take into consideration the jump a guy gets on the ball/  They can measure distance but what about the jump or human element?'

In a separate conversation, Arizona manager Kirk Gibson agreed with Ludwick.

Gibson was asked about the change in the defensive metrics for his righfielder Gerardo Parra.

"Do you think the numbers are the Holy Grail for how you determine that?  When you play the game, year-to-year, you can filter the numbers anyway you want to.  You're going to have years when you're trending to the mean or even lower.  He's still the same player.  A guy who throws the ball good, if you get him going lateral, it's hard to throw guys out.  I'm not sure the numbers take that into account," Gibson said.