[Stardust]

The perception around baseball is that the Reds are ready to sell. But the man who will ultimately make that call, CEO Bob Castellini, says he’s not to that point.


“I believe we’re not at that point,” he said. “If we can get our pitching to show up and get our hitting to show up at the same time, we’re still possibly contenders.


“How long that lasts, you’ll probably know before I do.”


Time is definitely getting short. The Reds are nine games under .500 at 44-53, 7½ games out of first with 65 games to play.


They placed two more players – Chris Dickerson and Micah Owings -- on the disabled list Monday. They have nine players on the DL currently.


“I don’t think we’ve dealt with injuries any worse than the Mets and they have twice the payroll,” Castellini said.


Castellini tried to stress the positive.


“The guys have to keep their chins up,” he said. “It’s been tough.”


Dusty Baker and Walt Jocketty have said all along that the Reds are trying to add players to help win this year.


They’ve talked to the Toronto Blue Jays about Scott Rolen. Talks began three weeks ago. The Reds were hovering around .500 at the time.
They’ve since slid hard. They are 3-12 since July 7.


The only way dealing for Rolen makes sense is if the club feels it needs a veteran presence in the clubhouse for this year and next. Jocketty was the GM in St. Louis when he traded for Rolen.


Rolen would be a major upgrade over Edwin Encarnacion defensively. But the deal to work financially, Encarnacion would have to be part of it.


Toronto is also trying to trade Roy Halladay. Reports out of Toronto say the Jays would like to move Halladay before making other moves.

Also, the Yankees do have interest in Bronson Arroyo. But the money and his inconsistency make it unlikely to happen.