Newest Red Ryan Dempster. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        The Reds were involved with nine — count 'em, nine — player transactions Thursday. What does it all mean?

        • It means the Reds think Ryan Dempster can be the No.1or2 starter they've been seeking.

        • It means the Reds think Ken Griffey Jr. will be healthy for the second half, making Juan Encarnacion expendable.

        • It means the outfield of the future is Griffey, Austin Kearns and Adam Dunn and that the rotation used the last time Griffey was healthy has been scrapped.

        • It means the Reds brass, like talk-show callers, just couldn't wait any longer to get Brandon Larson up here from Triple-A Louisville. Basically, they gave up on either Seth Etherton or Brian Reith, take your pick, to make room for Larson.

        • But more than anything, it means the Reds are trying to contend, albeit within a budget. Net salary added Thursday: $0.0million. The Reds gave up one prospect (Ryan Snare) and gave up on two more (Etherton and Reith) to make it all happen.

        The last two Julys, the Reds were dumping players and collecting prospects.

        Dempster, a 25-year-old right-hander, was the key to all this. The Reds were willing to overlook his record this year (5-8, 4.79 ERA) and look at his arm and potential.

        “We think he can be a No.1 or 2 starter,” Reds general manager Jim Bowden said. “He has tremendous stuff. He's a bulldog. He doesn't want to come out of the game. He's on pace to throw 200-plus innings for the third straight year.”

        And — this is huge — the Reds could afford him. Dempster makes $2.45 million. Encarnacion ($1.55 million) and Wilton Guerrero ($800,000) make about that combined.

        “We can't add payroll,” Bowden said. “When you're trying to trade for a No.1 starter, that makes it very difficult. We tried to structure a deal that would help us win without taking on payroll.”

        The Reds couldn't do that and get Cleveland's Bartolo Colon, the only true No.1 starter on the market. So they turned to Dempster, who has the potential to be in Colon's class.

        Pitching coach Don Gullett has had success turning around veteran pitchers after off years. The Reds are going to find out what he can do with a top young arm.

        “We think Don Gullett can help (Dempster) become a front-line starter,” Bowden said.

        That's the big question: Can Dempster do that?

        “He's a great competitor,” said Reds special assistant Gary Hughes. “He's got an above-average fastball and a good, hard slider.”

        Can he be a No.1?

        “I wouldn't want to put that on anybody,” Hughes said.

        Whether Dempster does or doesn't become a No.1, he should help the Reds stay in contention this year.

        The Reds' starting pitching has been good enough to keep them in contention so far, but it has faltered lately. Neither Joey Hamilton nor Chris Reitsma has won a game since May. The fifth starter, knuckleballer Jared Fernandez, has made only three major-league starts.

        Dempster will give the Reds innings. He threw 226 in 2000 and 211 last year and did not miss a start either year. His three complete games this year are three more than the Reds have as a team.

        Dealing Encarnacion means the Reds think Griffey, on the disabled list with a strained hamstring, will be back shortly.

        “He worked out (Thursday),” Bowden said. “He's close.”

        The time to trade Encarnacion was right. He's having a career year — .277, 16 homers, 51 RBI — so his value is at an all-time high.

        The outfield rotation the Reds used the last time Griffey came back was a failed experiment. None of the players liked it, but Encarnacion was particularly unhappy with it.

        His play fell off with Detroit when his mood soured, so the Reds saw trading him as the way to avoid unsettling a happy clubhouse — and a way to get a top starter.

        Larson, a 26-year-old third baseman, simply forced the Reds' hand. He was hitting .348 with 24 homers and 68 RBI at Louisville.

        “He improves our bench,” Bowden said. “He gives us a big bat, somebody who can hit the ball out of the ballpark. If our starting infielders continue to struggle, he'll give them competition.”

        Larson's promotion could lead to another trade.

        “Everyone in baseball has been asking about him,” Bowden said.

        But Larson has to show he can do it at the big-league level — he hit .121 in 33 at-bats last year. If he shows he's ready for the big leagues, that makes Larson much more valuable on the trade market, or it makes Aaron Boone expendable.

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