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.