Hey! Who Kidnapped The Bengals Front Office?

Are you kidding me? The Bengals front office did this? They pulled the trigger on a deal that makes perfect sense? It's so out of character that I expect the NFL to show up at the Bengals offices asking for urine samples. Lucky for the Bengals it was Hue Jackson's starting quarterback who went down with an injury last Sunday. Jackson is a former Bengals assistant and is very fond of Palmer. But give the Bengals credit for being shrewd and squeezing more out of Carson Palmer in one trade than the Bengals squeezed out of him in three of the past four seasons. I'm still sitting here late on a Tuesday night, stunned that the Bengals get a first round and at least a second round pick for the fading Palmer. The Raiders must have had patches over both eyes the past several seasons. Who knows? Maybe Palmer steps in and lights it up for Oakland right away. Maybe Chad's route running is what made Palmer look like a frightened Barney Fife trying to figure out how to shoot a gun straight. We shall see. But kudos to Mike Brown for dropping the stubborn mule act long enough to raid the Raiders of valuable draft picks. It's the latest in a string of decisions by the Bengals front office that makes you wonder. Has Mike Brown gone mad? Has he been kidnapped and an impostor has taken his place? No, that can't be it. It was vintage Brown at the January press conference announcing the return of Marvin Lewis as head coach. It was vintage Brown at the pre-training camp luncheon sticking to his mantra that a deal is a deal and if Carson wants to take his ball and go home, so be it. So I really believe it is the real Mike Brown still in the Bengals main office making the main decisions. But what a roll this guy is on. If steps up to a craps table, I'm laying my chips right next to his. In the draft, the Bengals resisted a nice trade offer for their first round pick from Atlanta. I thought it would have been a smart trade, until the first day I saw A.J. Green in training camp. Difference-maker, that's the phrase that jumped into my head. What a great pick. The Bengals also did something in the second round that goes against the old grain. They had decided on an offensive system, and set their sights on the perfect guy to run that system. Andy Dalton looks right at home in Jay Gruden's system. Hopefully for the Bengals these decisions are a trend and not a hiccup in 20 years of futility. The Bengals have a locker room that values team play, a businesslike approach, and good old execution of the plays. All of that makes it a locker room with great chemistry. It may not be good enough to make the playoffs this season, but I am no longer betting against them. Now it's time for Brown to resist pulling in troubled players who can be had for less than market value. If he can resist that, the league may want to skip the urine thing and go straight for the DNA.

Good News For Reds?

There may be good news in the wake of Reds G.M. Walt Jocketty "angrily" denying speculation/reports that the Reds would at least listen to offers for Joey Votto. Maybe the Reds have plans to raise their payroll in the future to the $100 million range. I don't believe it for a second, but that is the only logical reason the Reds would have zero interest in entertaining offers. In a perfect world Walt Jocketty's denial would make perfect sense. If all payrolls were equal there would be no reason to even think about trading a player as valuable as Votto. But baseball economics is far from a perfect world. Perhaps Jocketty is trying his best to keep the Votto camp happy because they are not totally sold on trading Joey just yet. That is a distinct possibility since coming to grips with trading a great player is a tough thing to do. Plus, they are still at least a year away from having to face the reality of having a $17 million man on the roster. But unless the Reds are going to raise their payroll significantly in the next couple of years, not listening to offers is negligence.

No Flash, Just A Win

When A.J. Green crossed the goal line with his first NFL touchdown reception, it was nice to see him just toss the ball aside. Hopefully this is the way the "New" Bengals go about their business. Make plays, score touchdowns, go back to the bench, repeat. Andy Dalton looked calm and composed. Early in the game he pump-faked to the right, then found a tight end down the middle. He knew where his receivers were supposed to be and by golly, the receivers were there. Not once did I see receivers looking at the quarterback with confused looks and hands in the air. It appeared the Bengals players were on the same page. For a while, I thought maybe the Browns and Bengals had switched helmets. It was the Browns with 10 penalties in the first half, it was the Browns falling asleep in the huddle, and it was the Bengals taking advantage. It is still a work in progress, and fingers must be crossed when it comes to Dalton's injured wrist. But kudos to the players and the coaches. They appear to be putting football and the playbook first. There appears to be focus. There appears to be respect for the game. I'm not taking any bets on when Mike Brown will sign some knuckleheads off the scrap heap to mess this up, the poor man can't help himself if he thinks he's getting a bargain. But for one Sunday, it was nice to see another team self destruct, and the team in stripes playing with self-respect.

C'mon Carson, Do It!

Carson Palmer has one last card to play to force Mike Brown's hand. I hope he plays it. For the plan to work to perfection, Palmer needs to hope Andy Dalton looks good in his first couple of starts. If he does, then it's Carson's time to put Brown in a corner. Just imagine if the offense under Dalton is showing progress in Jay Gruden's new system. Dalton was practically hand-picked by Gruden to run his system. Then two games into the growth spurt, here comes Palmer. If Dalton looks good early, Palmer should show up and declare he is back, reporting for duty, ready to hold a clipboard on the sideline while smacking Brown's wallet for close to 700k per game. Would the Bengals really sit Dalton down and insert Palmer, thus stunting the growth of this new offense and new era? Is Palmer really cut out for this offense? We know before wrecking his knee and popping his elbow, Palmer had a very strong and accurate arm. He still flashes that, but it hasn't been there consistently. So the Bengals choices are distasteful: Play Palmer and stunt the growth of a promising Dalton, or have the most overpaid backup quarterback in NFL history. Would Mike Brown really pay Palmer over 600 grand a game to occupy one of the best seats in the house, especially with so many empty seats at PBS that used to be occupied by paying customers? Would Brown do that to prove a point? If he does, then I never want to hear him ask the county for another penny to fix a scoreboard or buy a new leather chair for his office. Mike should do anything and everything to trade Palmer as soon as possible and move on from this idiotic chapter of an idiotic two-decades long novel. Naysayers will point out, "well if Palmer forces Brown's hand, then players will be lined up out the door to get away from the Bengals." I'm not buying that argument during a week that saw the Bengals sign two of their most valuable veterans to extensions. If this team is good enough for Andrew Whitworth and Leon Hall, then it's good enough for a lot of veterans. If someone like Palmer (who should be a leader) wants out, then get him out of here as quickly as possible. You don't win with those guys. If Carson comes back it will be a mess. It's a mess that should have never happened in the first place. Palmer should be on another team, and the Bengals should already be training the draft pick (or picks) they received in return. But since Brown isn't going to fix this mess on his own, maybe Palmer will give him the final shove he needs.

Dalton the Worst?

If nothing else, rankings and lists get people talking. John Clayton at ESPN ranks Andy Dalton as the worst starting quarterback in the NFL. From reading the article it appears Clayton is also holding the quarterbacks responsible for those around them. He says of Oakland's Jason Campbell, "too bad he doesn't have an offensive line that can block for him." So in these rankings the quarterback is responsible for those "ole'" blocks that can make said qb look like a fool. Dalton's last place ranking should come as no surprise, unless you happened to be paying attention to the Panthers starting quarterback this preseason. Cam Newton is ranked one spot ahead of Dalton. Newton has shown nothing in the "art of an NFL quarterback" department. Dalton has. But Clayton says Newton's "mechanics functioning in an NFL offense have exceeded expectations." Really? Those expectations must have been very, very low for the top overall pick in the NFL draft. Newton has completed a mere 40% of his passes this preseason. Apparently draft position has something to do with the rankings too, since former top pick Alex Smith is rated 28th on the list. Smith has struggled mightily in the league for six seasons. I would take Dalton's chances of panning out over a guy who has had ample time to get it right, but hasn't, in 54 career games. But there is no question Newton's talent is immense, and upside is a huge factor in these rankings. So is experience. Sam Bradford was 30th as a rookie in last year's preseason rankings by Clayton, but shot up to 14th this preseason. Like I said, rankings get us talking. But when it comes to rookies, those rankings can also be severely flawed.

Dog Days But Bradley Shines

The dog days are here and Cincinnati is left with the fading Reds and a Bengals team that started the preseason like they were a terrible team. They reminded me of the Cincinnati Bengals. They were that bad. I'm not sure what else can be said about a franchise that can't find it's own helmet with both hands, but I'll come up with something down the road. At least the tennis at Kings Island will give us a little diversion this week. My highlight for the weekend was Keegan Bradley winning the PGA Championship. A no-name, a rookie, he came out of nowhere. But oddly enough, I've been following Keegan Bradley for about a year now. Last year at the Chiquita Classic at River's Bend, I was grabbing guys off the practice green to interview. By complete chance Keegan Bradley was one of those guys. He was very approachable, friendly, and a good interview. Golf is in his blood. His father is a club pro and his aunt happens to be hall of fame golfer Pat Bradley. Also during our small talk he mentioned he had attended St. John's and was still a die-hard fan of the Red Storm. He wore his red shirt on Sunday to prove it. So after he was greased with some Big East conversation, he talked a little "mechanics of the golf game" with me. It was a treat so I kept an eye on him to make sure he finished in the Top 25 of the Nationwide Tour and made it to the PGA. He did. But you honestly aren't expecting much from the guy. Still, anytime I perused the leader board I would look for Keegan. Then back in May while on vacation I had a moment to turn on the television to see the end of the Byron Nelson Classic. Leading the pack was Keegan Bradley. I was actually pumped to see the guy win a tournament. I guess that made me a closet-fan of the kid. Now for him to win the PGA Championship is crazy. I can't imagine how he feels. But after watching his game this weekend, he might have a bunch of wins in that golf bag. He can bomb it off the tee, and his putting showed a deft downhill touch. (We won't talk about that chip on 15)

It's Votto or Alonso

We'll now have to wait for the off-season, but the Reds have to make a tough decision. Or maybe it's not so tough. But they will either have to trade Yonder Alonso, or trade Joey Votto. A lot of people clamored for Alonso to play left field. Those same people were screaming "What?!" when they saw Alonso imitate a drunken Bleacher Bum on Friday and Saturday while chasing balls in the outfield. So here's the decision: you either trade Alonso or you trade Joey Votto. They both appear to be first basemen and first basemen only. Period. End of story.
Obviously Votto will bring you the most in a trade. But do you even open that door and explore moving your best hitter to another team? Different people handle that type of thing different ways. Some will see it as a slap, some will see it as business. It would be difficult to mess with a situation that clearly works so well for the Reds and Votto. Maybe Alonso makes it an easier decision by whacking the ball around at the major league level. Should he continue to do that, I would think he should fetch a decent prize in return. I'm not one to give up easily but I really don't see a future for either one in the outfield. I think you have to move one of the two before next season.

By the way, two quick observations on some new blood in town: A.J. Green is a thoroughbred. He has that "Wow" factor just running around in practice. He reminds me of one of my all-time favorite Bengals, wide receiver Isaac Curtis. A.J. is that smooth, and he's a little bigger. He also reminds me of Carl Pickens (without the 'tude) the way he goes up and claims the ball in the air. I'm never big on spending high draft picks on wide receivers, but this kid looks pretty special.
Observation Two: Dave Sappelt might be playing left field for the Reds for years to come. He looks the part. Oh, he's not 6'2", 220 lbs., but he sure looks like a ballplayer to me. The hit-robbing catch in left field Sunday was a beauty. But the best thing about Sappelt comes in the batters box. He better get the majority of the playing time out there the rest of the season.