Seeing Red

     On Tuesday, my hometown Cincinnati Reds added a top-tier arm to their bullpen. Walt Jockety signed closer Ryan Madson, formerly of the Phillies, for one year and just over $8,000,000, a great deal that has caused much of the baseball world to predict that the Reds will win the NL Central. Madson replaces Francisco Cordero, known to Cincinnati fans as "Uh-Oh", for his ERA has gradually gone up and always seems to put the lead in jeopardy. Madson, however, is the opposite posting a 2.37 ERA and saved 32 games, making him a valuable commodity to own.
    
     The Madson signing is not even the biggest or potentially the most beneficial to the Reds' hopes of winning the division. This offseason, the Reds front office has shown that THIS is the year they contend and make a run at the National League Pennant, and this was shown by their trading for Mat Latos, a hard throwing 24 year old ace who was a contender for the Cy Young award a few years ago. And on top of that, they traded one of the then expendable starters, lefty Travis Wood, to the division rival Chicago Cubs for reliever Sean Marshall, who will now create a formidable one-two punch with Madson in the 8th and 9th innings.

     Taking all these moves into account, I predict the Reds win the NL Central by 3.5 games, finishing with a record of 94-68.

Image Retrieved From: http://dailypostal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Ryan-Madson.jpg