The biggest move of the Reds’ off-season was adding 33-year old righty Francisco Cordero to be the new closer. He pitched in 66 games (0 starts) for the Brewers last season and he was 0-4 with 44 saves, a 2.98 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Cordero also whiffed 86 batters in only 63.1 innings which shows what kind of nasty stuff Cordero has. He will be among the league leaders in saves this season and that should give Reds’ starting pitchers a lot of confidence out there on the mound.

38-year old righty David Weathers will likely be the top set-up man from the right side this season for the Reds. He pitched in 70 games (0 starts) for the Reds last season and he was 2-6 with 33 saves, a 3.59 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Look for Weathers to do a solid job in his new role.

29-year old lefty Jeremy Affeldt was signed to join the starting rotation but he will be the top lefty in the Reds’ bullpen instead. Affeldt pitched in 75 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 4-3 with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Affeldt will give the Reds a nice power lefty for the bullpen.

27-year old righty Jared Burton burst onto the scene for the Reds last season. He pitched in 47 games (0 starts) for the Reds last year and he was 4-2 with a 2.51 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Look for him to do a solid job in the middle innings for the Reds in 2008.

27-year old righty Todd Coffey will also be around this season. He pitched in 58 games (0 starts) for the Reds last season and he was 2-1 with a 5.82 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. Coffey has now pitched in 196 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 12-9 with 9 saves, a 4.48 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP.

40-year old lefty Kent Mercker has made a successful comeback for the Reds. He last pitched in the majors in 2006 with the Reds. Mercker has now pitched in 677 games (150 starts) in his major league career and he is 73-67 with 25 saves, a 4.16 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP.

27-year old lefty Jon Coutlangus will start the season in the minors but he could get a call by the Reds at some point in 2008. He pitched in 64 games (0 starts) for the Reds last season and he was 4-2 with a 4.39 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP.

25-year old lefty Bill Bray will also start the season in the minors. He pitched in 19 games (0 starts) for the Reds last season and he was 3-3 with 1 save, a 6.28 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He is a better pitcher than that so the Reds will expect a lot of him when they eventually call him up this season.

28-year old righty Gary Majewski will start the season in the minors and the Reds need him to get healthy. He pitched in 32 games (0 starts) for the Reds last season and he was 0-4 with a 8.22 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP. Majewski has now pitched in 51 games in his career with the Reds and he is 1-6 with a 8.29 ERA and a 2.11 WHIP.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: B-

The top three starters on the Reds will be veterans but the season will be determined by how well the young pitchers do at the back end of the rotation. 30-year old righty Aaron Harang has really turned into the ace of the Reds’ pitching staff over the last two seasons as he has compiled a 32-17 record with 434 strikeouts. Look for more of the same out of Harang this season. If the Reds’ didn’t play in a launching pad, Harang might be a contender for the Cy Young Award this season.

31-year old righty Bronson Arroyo took a step back last season for the Reds. He started 34 games for the Reds last season and he was 9-15 with a 4.23 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He’s a better pitcher than that so look for him to rebound this season with a better than .500 record in 2008.

31-year old righty Josh Fogg will be the #3 starter when the season begins. He pitched in 30 games (29 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 10-9 with a 4.94 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. Fogg did pitch great in the post season for the Rockies but he will likely be nothing more than an innings eater for the Reds with a record around .500 just like he did for the Rockies in the 2007 regular season.

24-year old righty Edison Volquez will be the #4 starter for the Reds this season and they hope he does well because he was what they got in return for Josh Hamilton. He started 6 games for the Rangers last season and he was 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He also started 26 games in A+AA+AAA ball last season and he was 14-6 with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP.

22-year old righty rookie Johnny Cueto will be the #5 starter for the Reds this season when the year begins. He started 28 games in three levels in the minors last season and he was 12-9 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He whiffed 170 batters in 161.1 innings which shows what kind of stuff he has. He is the #4 rated prospect in the Reds’ system according to Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook, so the Reds have high hopes for him.

28-year old righty Matt Belisle will start the season on the D.L. but he might get a chance to start at some point in the 2008 season for the Reds. He started 30 games for the Reds last season and he was 8-9 with a 5.32 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. The Reds would likely rather use Belisle as the long man in the bullpen this season.

22-year old righty Homer Bailey is the #2 rated player in the Reds’ minor league system according to Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook, but he will start the season in AAA-ball. He started 9 games for the Reds last season and he was 4-2 with a 5.76 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. He also started 14 games in A+AAA ball last season and he was 6-4 with a 3.82 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He will likely be the first starter called up by the Reds if they need help.

25-year old lefty Bobby Livingston will miss the start of the season due to injury. He started 10 games for the Reds last season and he was 3-3 with a 5.27 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C+

Las Vegas is pretty smart on this number. The Reds have Dusty Baker in the fold to manage the Reds and they made a huge improvement in the bullpen by adding closer Francisco Cordero. They also made solid moves in bringing in Corey Patterson, Josh Fogg, Edison Volquez and Jeremy Affeldt. With those factors in mind and the National League Central not being that strong I would suggest a small play on the over for 2008.

38-year old lefty swinging RF Ken Griffey Jr. is sitting on 593 homers heading into the 2008 season and he should eclipse that easily as long as he stays healthy! Griffey played in 144 games last season for the Reds and he was 146 for 528 (.277 avg, .868 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 30 homers and 93 RBIs. He showed off impressive range in RF last season but he still made 8 errors in 133 games there. Look for Griffey to have another solid season with the bat as he still has a sweet swing.

Norris Hopper played in 13 games in RF last season and he didn’t make any errors while showing off outstanding range. Ryan Freel could also get some playing time in RF this season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: B

28-year old lefty swinging Corey Patterson will get most of the playing time in CF at least against righty starters. He played in 132 games for the Orioles last season and he was 124 for 461 (.269 avg, .690 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 8 homers, 45 RBIs and 37 stolen bases. Patterson played in 132 games in CF for the Orioles last season and he made 3 errors while showing below average range. Patterson did hit .310 vs. lefties last season so he might get most of the starts in CF this season.

32-year old righty swinging Ryan Freel was the starting CF last season for the Reds when the season started but he missed a lot of the season due to injury. He played in 75 games for the Reds last season and he was 68 for 277 (.245 avg, .655 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 3 homers, 16 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. He made only 2 errors in CF last season in 59 games there while showing above average range.

29-year old righty swinging Norris Hopper played in 121 games for the Reds last season and he was 101 for 307 (.329 avg, .759 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 0 homers, 14 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. He also is an outstanding fielder as he only made 1 error in 55 games in CF while showing amazing range.

32-year old righty swinging Jerry Hairston is a big-time long shot to make the Reds final roster. He played in 73 games for the Rangers last season and he was 30 for 159 (.189 avg, .538 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 3 homers, 16 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He played in 22 games in CF last season and he made 1 error while showing outstanding range there.

21-year old lefty swinging Jay Bruce is the CF of the future for the Reds but he wasn’t deemed ready to start this season in CF….yet. He played in 133 games in A+AA+AAA ball last season and he was 166 for 521 (.319 avg, .962 OPS) with 87 runs scored, 26 homers and 89 RBIs. His time is coming soon and Reds fans should be excited about it.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C+