[BCF4L]

Part of the money has went to Yonder Alonso, the Reds’ top pick in the June draft, who signed a major-league contract worth about $4 million, through 2012. By signing a MLB contract, he has to stay on the 40-man roster through 2012. He's the workout partner of A-Rod in the offseason.

BTW, the final deal on the Dunn trade: Dallas Buck, Micah Owings (who I think is a fine pickup if he doesn't fall on the DL because you can't pass an injured player through waivers) and Wilkin Castillo, 24-year old switch hitting catcher who's hitting .254 with six home runs and 47 RBI in 104 games for Triple-A Tucson. http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll...1071/SPT04

At first, I was upset about the trade. It's going to be hard to replace the offense that Dunn provided the Reds. Everyone points out his K's and BA, but let's face it, put him in a lineup with better hitters around him and no one focuses on Dunn's shortcomings.

Just keep this in mind: How many winning seasons did the Reds enjoy with Dunn playing everyday? None. How many winning seasons did the Reds enjoy with Junior? One - the first season. It just wasn't working. If the Reds couldn't hit the longball, they couldn't score.

I also read where a few salaries are going to jump next season, using more than 15 million of the 25 million that they cleared up by moving Dunn and Griffey.