The good news about Bartolo Colon going to Montreal is he didn't go to St. Louis. The Reds still have Sean Casey and Austin Kearns and no-name starting pitchers keeping them competitive game after game.

        That's the good. The bad is, Cincinnati didn't get Colon, an All Star-quality pitcher who could have made the summer a whole lot more interesting. The reason was the Reds won't add payroll.

        Maybe they'd have dealt Kearns, or promising pitcher Luke Hudson, with Casey for Colon. Maybe they'd have thought that price too steep.

        Maybe the Reds think they're good enough without Colon. They can line up Chris Reitsma, Jimmy Haynes and Joey Hamilton against the Cardinals' 2-3-4 starters and feel good about it.

        Probably not. Knowing Jim Bowden, he'd have done a deal for Colon. It would have been smart, even if it meant giving up a Kearns and picking up Colon's $6 million option for next season. When you have a chance to win, you take it.

        You don't agonize over prospects. You don't sweat potential. The notion of “mortgaging the future” is just rhetoric. You don't know what the future is. Three years ago, the Reds wouldn't trade Pokey Reese for Junior Griffey, because Reese was critical to their future.

        Kearns could hit 30 homers a year for a decade. Or he could be Pokey Reese.

        It's all moot, though. Colon would have cost the Reds a little more than $2 million for the rest of this year, and $6 million next. Ownership has said it won't add payroll, at least not until more fans start showing up.

        This is unfortunate.

        The Reds will move into a $280 million ballyard, largely paid for by you. Ownership will see the value of its investment increase handsomely because of your tax dollars. In four seasons, ownership has increased the cost of 70 percent of premium blue seats from $17 to $32. Half the green seats have risen from $13 to $24.

        It's still cheap to go to a Reds game — $5 for Top Six tickets is the best bargain in sports — but not if you want a good seat.

        Reds CEO Carl Lindner has said any payroll increase this year will be tied to better attendance. If you don't pay, neither will he. Apparently it's your fault the team doesn't have better players.

        When do owners, anywhere, start giving back? Why is it always the fans who take it in the wallet? Isn't agreeing to buy most of a new playpen enough? Isn't enduring nearly a doubling in blue-seat prices enough? When does ownership say, “For your loyalty, we're going to spend some money and get a pitcher”?

        Instead, fans are told they're not showing up enough.

        I tried calling Lindner Friday. I wanted to ask him those questions. And this:

        “What is better attendance? You got 92,000 for three games with lousy Pittsburgh, 160,000 more for six against Seattle and Oakland, two teams Reds fans care little about. Is that good enough? If not, what is? What is the benchmark fans must hit for ownership to flex its savings account?”

        Lindner didn't call back. You could applaud him for holding the money line while other owners don't. You also could wonder why rich owners expect Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class to pay for a player.

        If fans come, the Reds will build a better team. Shouldn't the better team come first?

       Contact Paul Daugherty at 768-8454; e-mail: pdaugherty@enquirer.com.

Cards 3, Reds 2 Reds box, runs DAUGHERTY: Chicken vs. egg Colon too pricey for Reds' budget White downplays effects of hand infection Hitchcock put on DL, Choate recalled Interleague roundup Notes from Friday's games

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