Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo was apologetic when he returned my call after a few days. He had a good excuse -- he had been out on his boat sailing off of the Florida coast.

I was seeking to do a story on his reaction to the hot stove talk in recent weeks that the Reds might have to slash payroll and move players like himself. He's due to make $11 million in 2010.

"I really haven't paid any attention to it," Arroyo said. "I haven't been on Reds.com or ESPN.com to read it so I've been totally clueless. People tell me 'I've seen your name thrown around in trade talk.' Honestly, I'm not thinking about it. If I got traded before Opening Day, I'd be more surprised than when I was traded from Boston [to the Reds in March 2006]."

Always good for speaking his mind with originality, Arroyo's ignorance to the hot stove hoopla didn't mean he didn't have an opinion.

"In my mind, there was no reason to get [Scott] Rolen [in a July 31 trade] if we're turning around and moving guys without waiting to see what happens [during the season]," Arroyo said. "I think they'll give us four months to see if we can compete in the division. If we're not, we'll have a big scale back. For now, they seem committed to win."

One more quote:

"I know the budget is tight," Arroyo said. "But if you re-sign Ramon [Hernandez] for a year, why then go in the other direction? If we were saving, we could have easily had [Ryan] Hanigan catching 130 games next year."
Man I love this guy. He isn't afraid to speak his mind and let people in on how he feels about situations and the way things are evolving. Good to see a baseball mind thinking like the fans though. He makes perfect sense.