E-mailers want to know about the payroll and have the usual suggestions for roster tinkering and trades.

Read on:

Q, from Nick in Lima: I have a question about payroll. I'm wondering how position players like Austin Kearns or Adam Dunn make only $400,000 a year, and yet pitchers who don't play every day in every inning (i.e. Scott Sullivan or Jimmy Haynes) make up to $2.8 million a year? Does the salary still reflect a player's worth or just an agent's negotiation skills?

A: It doesn't have to do with skills or position. It has to do with length of service. Until Kearns and Dunn are eligible for arbitration, after about three years of service, the millions will have to wait.

Q, from Bill in Landen: Don't let John Allen get off so easy. He wonders why people criticize the Reds for their budget, and he says their budget in 1997 was in the high $20 millions. Well, please state the fact that their actual payroll was $46 million that year. Then the voters gave them a new stadium, ticket prices increased many times and the national TV revenue increased. No, I don't see why the fans would be critical.

A: If the payroll was $46 million in '97, the Reds pulled an elaborate hoax. The Enquirer archive has a story from March 10, 1997, with Jim Bowden talking about how he was looking to move players to get the payroll to $30 million. At the All-Star break that year, the Reds traded John Smiley and Jeff Brantley to dump payroll.

Q, from Bill not in Landen: Why not make Gabe White a starter? That puts a lefty in the starting rotation, and the bullpen seems to be deep enough without him.

A: White made nine starts in his previous stint with the Reds. He was 0-2 with a 7.41 ERA in three starts in '98 and 2-2 with a 4.71 ERA in six starts in '97. I think switching one guy from relief to starting per spring training is enough, and the Reds are set on starting Danny Graves.

Q, from Trent in Williamsburg, Iowa: Are the Reds still interested in trading Sean Casey? Wouldn't trading him help the Reds' salary situation as well as open up the door for Adam Dunn to move to first (which fits him better), while letting someone like Ruben Mateo/Reggie Taylor take over left field and become a productive seventh-spot hitter? It seems to work on so many levels.

A: I'd be surprised if Casey is traded for two reasons: a) Few teams are willing to take on salary, b) coming off an injury, his trade value has to be down.

Q, from Keith in Fairfield: My question regards the reality of Danny Graves in the starting rotation in 2003. There are questions concerning his stamina to start, he lacks a solid third or fourth pitch if my information is correct, and it seemed as if last season the batters were waiting for his mediocre (by MLB standards) fastball and were hitting it pretty well (see "blown saves"). In relief, he can throw his sinking pitches more often and his fastball to keep the batters honest. What do you think?

A: Graves has four pitches. He didn't use them all as a reliever, but starting will give him the chance. Still, his sinker has to work for him to be effective. Graves has never pitched more than 111 innings but is so pitch efficient that the Reds think he will work his way toward going seven innings fairly quickly. Graves needed only 61 pitches to go five innings in his first start of 2002.

Q, from John in Anderson Township: Payroll, schmayroll. If the Reds are so committed to winning, as they keep saying ad nauseam, then why is Bob Boone still sitting in the manager's seat?

A: Because he's under contract for another year and the team won 12 more games in 2002 than it did in 2001.

Q, from John in Indian Hill: Do you think the new Great American Ball Park can generate a substantial increase in fan support from April to September? What age group of fans do you think needs to be targeted the most as we head into this new stadium?

A: The first question is one I can answer with complete confidence: It will if the Reds win. Cincinnati loves winners and ignores losers. As for the demographics, I think baseball would love to attract a younger audience. But if the Reds could draw 3 million octogenarians, they'd be happy.

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com