The Cincinnati Reds showed glimpses of becoming a good team in 2005. They brought big bats to the plate but they suffered from lack of quality pitching all season. In other words, they were the perfect overs team. The average total at home was just over 11 runs per game and the average on the road was barely under 10 at 9.9 runs per game. Consider playing overs on the Reds at home in 2006.

These Reds didnt get along with the road at all as they were just 31-50 last season. It is yet to be determined on exactly how this season will play out as the Reds dealt away 2-time All-star Sean Casey who has hit over .300 in 5 of his last 7 seasons and has accrued 1125 hits in 1081 games in his career. They gained left handed starter Dave Williams from the Pirates. It hardly looks like a fair trade as Williams is just 17-26 in his career and was just a 10-game winner a season ago. Obviously, Cincinnati is building for the future and it doesnt look like the future will be any time soon.

Aaron Harang leads this weak starting staff and he has been shaky at best. The team did trade for Dave Williams and Bronson Arroyo, and I do expect Arroyo to do a lot better in this division than he did in the toughest hitting division in baseball. The Reds havent gotten a solid feel for how their bullpen will shake out, and we are looking most likely at a bullpen by committee.

With Casey off to Pittsburgh, Adam Dunn, a converted left fielder, will likely return to first base. I expect shortstop sensation Felipe Lopez to pick up some of the slack for Casey by building off of last years All-star season in which he led all NL shortstops in homers and RBIs. Lopez hit .291 last season , but I expect him to hit over .300 this year. Even without Casey the Reds should once again be powerful offensive lineup, but they didnt do enough with their pitching situation to contend in the NL Central. Maybe one of the most powerful teams in the bigs, with Dunn being good for 40, and Griffey good for over 35 home runs. Its going to be tough to tell who will make a move to make up for the losses of Casey and Willy Mo Pena, but if Griffey can stay healthy then this lineup will be difficult to face.

The Reds are a tough team to get a solid feel for betting wise and whenever we feel like putting some of our action on this team it brings back memories of Pete Rose and his shady days of managing this ball club. Lets hope that everyone is more successful this season in placing wagers on the Reds than this former great player was.

This article was written by Jimmy Boyd. Pick up his Free Baseball Picks here.