Reds Baseball

With precious few shopping days left before the holidays, the Reds still haven't landed that frontline pitcher they've been seeking for their starting rotation.

Fortunately, the buying season in baseball stretches well beyond Dec. 25. Even so, Reds fans with names of pricey free agent starters like Kevin Millwood and Jeff Weaver at the top of their wish lists should probably cross them off.

Reds general manager Dan O'Brien hotly pursued top free agent starter Matt Morris, but lost out when the right-hander signed a three-year, $27 million deal with the Giants on Dec. 12. O'Brien isn't interested in entering costly bidding wars for Millwood or Weaver, who are both represented by agent Scott Boras. Millwood, the 2005 American League ERA leader with Cleveland, was rumored to be entertaining four-year contract offers in the $45-50 million range. Another Boras client, lefty Jarrod Washburn, signed with Seattle earlier this week.

The quality of the pitchers available drops significantly from there. If Cincinnati lands a No. 1 starter at all this winter, it likely won't be through free agency.

"The bottom line is some of the other pitchers out on the market -- in trying to balance performance to potential cost -- it hasn't equated," O'Brien said. "We're looking to supplement the club in other ways. It may be the trade route or by giving individuals who were injured a bounce-back scenario."

The Reds already acquired lefty Dave Williams from Pittsburgh in the Sean Casey trade. Williams is not considered a top-tier starter, but he could still bolster the back end of the rotation with a solid season.

On Wednesday, O'Brien began perusing the list of pitchers not tendered a contract before Tuesday night's deadline. Among a group that carried few recognizable names were right-handers Wade Miller (Red Sox), Josh Fogg (Pirates) and Dewon Brazelton (Padres).

O'Brien also left open the possibility of signing a veteran pitcher to a Minor League deal with the chance to make the team out of Spring Training.

While specific names were not identified, we already know the Reds need groundball pitchers that can keep the ball inside the homer haven that is Great American Ball Park. Cincinnati pitchers allowed a Major League-high 219 home runs in 2005 while combining for a National League-worst 5.15 ERA.

Here are some pitchers the Reds could be looking over on the open market:

• RHP Jason Johnson: The free agent gave the Tigers 210 innings last season and ranked second in the American League with a 1.74 groundball-to-fly ball ratio while earning $4 million. However, the 32-year old Johnson has won just eight games in each of the last two seasons and has an unimpressive 4.88 lifetime ERA in nine seasons.

• Miller: The 29-year-old has a career 1.24 groundball-to-fly ball ratio. But he's coming off September shoulder surgery that repaired a torn labrum and wasn't expected to start throwing again until possibly February. In his two finest seasons, Miller was 16-8 with a 3.40 ERA and 15-4 with a 3.28 ERA with Houston -- but that was in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

• RHP Joe Mays: He is a skilled sinkerball pitcher that excels in getting grounders and double plays, but the 30-year-old comes with heavy injury baggage. Mays won 17 games in 2001 with the Twins but went 18-26 with a 5.81 ERA over the last four years with Minnesota. He missed all of 2004 recovering from Tommy John surgery on his elbow. He struggled in his 2005 comeback and went 6-10 with a 5.65 ERA and became a free agent when his $8.5 million club option wasn't picked up.

• RHP Kevin Brown: Not offered free agent arbitration earlier this month by the Yankees after earning over $15 million in 2005, Brown missed quite a bit of action this year with back problems and went 4-7 in 22 games with a career-high 6.51 ERA. If healthy and significantly more affordable than he's been in the past, he would bring 18 years of experience with a career 3.28 ERA and a 2.62 groundball-to-fly ball ratio.

• Fogg: A control pitcher who lacks velocity but keeps the ball in play, the 29-year-old had double-digit win totals for Pittsburgh from 2002-04. But he's coming off a rough 2005 season during which he was 6-11 with a 5.05 ERA while earning $2.15 million.

• Brazelton: A former first-round pick in the 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Brazelton has endured a rough career, going 8-23 with a 5.98 ERA in four seasons with the Devil Rays. He was 1-8 with a 7.61 ERA in 2005 before being traded to San Diego for Sean Burroughs earlier this month. The Padres said they hoped to re-sign him for next season. That's probably a good thing for Cincinnati.

Other names out there include Kaz Ishii, Ryan Franklin, Shawn Estes, Jose Lima and former Reds starter Brett Tomko. Additional pitchers could emerge on the trade market, but O'Brien would likely have to part with another chip from his club's high-octane offense.

"There are some pitchers available that we think represent an upgrade to our rotation or bullpen," O'Brien said. "I never handicap these things. We have a number of lines out there."