homer bailey and shameless plug

Reds GM Wayne Krivsky's thinking behind not considering promoting almost 20-year-old pitcher Homer Bailey to the big leagues: "When you bring up a premium guy, you never want to send him back'' to the minor leagues, Krivsky said. "It's the confidence thing. When they go back, you have to rebuild them mentally. It's a huge letdown. You have to be careful with promoting your players, especially the young ones who you think are going to be good a long time.''

Krivsky suspects that might have hurt newly acquired Brandon Phillips. After starting at 2nd base for the Indians as a 21-year-old in 2003, Phillips played poorly (.208 in 370 ABs) and was sent down. He spent the bulk of '04 and '05 in the minors, somewhat shellshocked.

Speaking of Krivsky and Phillips, I write for Thursday's paper how acquiring Phillips illustrates Krivsky's smarts as a GM. He's a very smart guy who doesn't feel the need to tell you how smart he is. The Reds should have hired him three years ago, but are fortunate they have him now. Read about Wayne and Brandon and the start of something good, in Thursday's paper. Live big.