Bruce

Here's your introduction to Jay Bruce courtesy of the Cincinnati Enquirer. They think that Hatteberg will be designated for assignment, and I tend to agree that's what they'll do. Dusty has no use for him, obviously, and he doesn't want to be there. Patterson is the biggest sink hole on the team, but his legs and glove basically still work, so as long as everyone is cool with using him strictly as a defensive replacement for Griffey or Dunn they should probably keep him around. If he ever bats when a game is on the line, Dusty should be required to have his head examined.

For the record: I've complained an awful lot about what the Reds have done this year, but I do think keeping Bruce down on the farm until now was the right move, assuming he avoids super two status. That extra year of arbitration eligibility would have cost the Reds a lot of dough, and they need all the dough they can get. The problem, as others have noted, has not been the absence of Bruce as such. Rather, it has been the absence of a stop-gap who is better than Corey Patterson.

In any event, I think Bruce has seen the last of Louisville, and the Reds can finally start building for 2009, which is what I thought they should have been shooting for all along.

UPDATE: Yep, Hatteberg was DFA'd.