Bronson Arroyo continued to impress on Wednesday as he beat future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux tossing seven innings of three-run baseball to pick up his fifth straight win. It's the longest winning streak by Reds' starter since Steve Parris won seven straight in 2000.

Arroyo has come a long way from his career-worst outing back on June 24 in Toronto in which he gave up 10 runs and 11 hits in just one winning of work.  

Arroyo has been rock solid and with the recent success the trade rumors are picking up. One of the teams that has been frequently mentioned are the surging New York Yankees. However, Arroyo indicated to reporters after the game that he wants to stay in Cincinnati.

“Honestly, if they trade me, they’re saying, ‘That’s it, we’re not going to build a winning team here,’” he said. “The starters we have have a chance to pitch here a long time, health-wise and age-wise.

“If they go ahead and trade me out now because of the salary I’ll make next year ($25 million in 2009 and 2010), then I feel they’re just cashing in the money for a losing team,” Arroyo added.

“When I see Bob Castellini I feel like he’s a guy who wants to win and I don’t think he is ready to say, ‘That’s it. I’ve put in as much as I want to put in, then go ahead and start tearing the pieces apart. I hope the vibes I get from him are for real. If it’s not, I’ll have another surprise coming my way.”

It would be nice to see Reds' fans get out of the mindframe that the team needs to unload contracts just because they are out of the race.  Arroyo is what he is, but there's no doubt he's a legitimate major league starter and with the team having so many young arms locked in, it is not going to kill the team to honor his contract. 

The Chicago Bears picked Matt Forte in the second round of this year's draft and for good reason. Forte finished his senior season with Tulane by rushing for 2,127 yards on 361 attempts and scoring 23 TDs. Granted he put up those numbers playing in a weak conference, CUSA. But still, rushing for over 2000 yards, even in college, is not something that should be looked over no matter what conference a guy plays in or what team he plays for. The guy ran for over 300 yards in a game twice last year, ran for over 200 yards five times and only failed to rush for at least 100 yards three times. Forte had two five touchdown games last season for the Green Wave and only failed to score in a game three times. And all of that is what makes Forte this week's Fantasy Football Rookie To Watch.

With Cedric Benson out of town, Forte, in all likelihood, should have the starting job for Da Bears. That's good news in the fantasy football world. Even with the offseason signing of Kevin Jones, Forte should have a hold of the top spot on the depth chart. Considering the fact that Jones could start the season on the PUP list (thus being unavailable until week seven at the earliest) and that he's never put a full, solid season together, those that draft Forte should do so in confidence.

If there's one position in fantasy football where a rookie can shine, it would be at running back, and Forte has all the skills to make for a good RB2 or RB3 or as a flex player if you play in a league that has that as an option. The Bears don't have much of a passing game to speak of, mainly because they don't have a QB to really speak of, so they will probably rely heavy on the run, which only adds to Forte's value going into fantasy drafts.

As I said in the GSI Mock Draft when I drafted him in the seventh round, Forte is a BEAST! He's the perfect size for a RB at 6'1", 224 pounds. If given enough carries he could end up having a better season than some other standout rookie RBs including golden boy, Darren McFadden. And the best part is he doesn't have anyone to really challenge him for the starting job like McFadden does with Justin Fargas in Oakland. (Granted, I did draft McFadden in the fourth round of the GSI Mock Draft, but that's neither here nor there.)

Look to take Forte in the middle rounds like I did. Rounds 7-9 are a good spot to try and snag him up if he's out there. If you have a couple RBs and a couple WRs in the first five rounds, round six may not be too early to try to grab him, but if you can wait until a round or two later and grab another wideout in round six, consider going that route. Forte is a guy that not many people probably know about. The hardcore fantasy football players will, but if you play in a casual league you may be able to wait him out.

The final rounds of the Mock Draft don't offer much excitement to casual fans, but the experienced ones are going to take notes of developing trends:

RECAP: ROUND 1 | ROUND 2 | ROUND 3 | ROUND 4 | ROUND 5 | ROUND 6 | ROUND 7 | ROUND 8 | ROUNDS 9-10 

My Picks: Shockey going to New Orleans is just what the doctor ordered and after missing out on my Tier 1 guys - Witten, Winslow, and Gates (assuming he's healthy) - it paid off waiting. Shockey needs to prove he's healthy, but the Saints' system is going to bode well for his numbers. I expect him to be a top 5 player at the position. Ahmad Bradshaw is an intriguing player and as my RB5 I couldn't ask for more upside. He was a big part to the Giants' Super Bowl run last year and picked up the slack when Jacbos was hurt. It's like Thunder and Lightning II in New York. Bradshaw could turn into a Tiki-like performer given the opportunity. 

Nice Finds: WR Anthony Gonzalez (104), Patrick Crayton (105), David Garrard (111), and Seattle DEF (113)

Final Take: There is amazingly decent running back depth 120 picks into the draft. I am not as sold on the receiver depth being there though. I grabbed Kevin Curtis and Joey Galloway a couple rounds earlier to fill my bench, leaving some to look at chumps in the latter rounds (i.e. HUMBERT - Derrick Mason). Waiting on tight end and defense is going to pay off nicely for me, but this is a 10-team draft. I could've got burned a bit in a larger league.

Could someone explain to me when it became fashionable for idiots on the radio and television to start calling extra innings "overtime"?

Basketball, football, hockey, soccer, bad minton have "overtime" but baseball DOES NOT!!!

Just like in the movie "League of Their Own" where Tom Hanks said "There's no crying in baseball" someone needs to tell these IDIOTS that there is no overtime in baseball.

Oh Yeah, one more thing.  It isn't HOME BASE either it is HOME PLATE.  Good Lord is anything about the game sacred anymore?

We are 100 games into the season and only one Cincnnati Red has more than 20 doubles, Edwin Encarnacion.  The lumbering team has just 14 three-baggers on the season as well. This just proves how one dimensional theis tam is on offense.  They have built a reputation on beating teams with the long ball and not showing the ability to win games with small ball.

Looking at some of the slugging percentages of these team and there are disappointments abound.  Jeff Keppinger leads the way with just 16 of his 70 hits going for extra bases and a .388 SLG %.  This was the guy who was supposed to be the squads premier gap hitter. 

Ken Griffey Jr. continues to hit in a run-producing spot in the line up despite his abysmal .412 SLG %.  At this point in his career he is no better than a number seven hitter.

Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce and Joey Votto all should have a SLG % between .480-.490, none of them are near that mark.

The catchers have been horrible as well combining for 93 hits and just 32 for extra bases.

Throw in all the junk off the bench (Corey Patterson, Andy Phillips, Norris Hopper, Paul Janish and Scott Hatteberg) that hasn't produced any offense at all this season and you have all the ingredients for consistently low scoring outputs by the Reds. 

The team struggles to move runners along and when Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn are repeatedly hitting the ball off the wall and only getting singles out of it.... that is a huge problem!  The team needs an infusion of speed and and a removal out of the parts that no longer fit.

Tampa Bay is in a spot it's never been before - playing games that matter in July and beyond - and it will be very intriguing to see how they hold up over the next couple of months of baseball.

Having endured a seven-game losing streak heading into the All-Star Break that cost them their division lead - which had grown to five full games before their skid - they've rebounded to surge back to the top of the American League East.  However, another lost Tuesday night leaves the Rays just a half game ahead of Boston and a mere three-and-a-half games in front of the suddenly-surging Yankees.

Every win beyond 70 will set a new single-single victory total for the Tampa Bay franchise, but those repeated record-setting performances will feel a bit empty if they don't lead to an unexpected playoff birth.  And unless you're a Yankee fan, you've got to be rooting for the Rays to bring post-season baseball to the Tampa area.

Chad wants a new contract. Chad is not going to play for the Bengals. Chad is not showing up to camp. Chad is healthy. Chad is hurt. Chad wants more money. Chad is coming to camp. Chad won't be a distraction. Chad. Chad. CHAD!

 
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