By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Dan O'Brien enters his first Winter Meetings as the Reds' general manager hopeful, but realistic.

"What you want to accomplish and what you can actually do are sometimes two different things," said O'Brien, on the eve of meetings in New Orleans.

Translation: You trade contracts, not players, these days. And given the Reds' financial situation, they aren't going to take much on in the way of payroll. For instance, the Reds aren't going to counter National League Central rival Houston's signing of free agent Andy Pettitte with a similar move.

Still, O'Brien's shopping list for the baseball annual swap can be summed up in two words: starting pitching.

"We know we need to fortify our starting pitching," O'Brien said.

If the season started today, Paul Wilson, Jimmy Haynes, Jose Acevedo, Aaron Harang and Brandon Claussen would likely be the rotation.

There's a lot of question marks in that group. Haynes is coming off a year in which he went 2-12 and was limited to 18 starts. Claussen has made one big-league start. Neither Harang nor Acevedo has a full year in the big leagues. Wilson, the best of the bunch last year, has a 28-47 career record.

Minor league signee Todd Van Poppel and former No. 1 pick Dustin Moseley are probably sixth and seventh on the depth chart. They could make the club with a good spring.

But adding a veteran, 200-inning guy would be a step in the right direction.

O'Brien comes into the meetings at a disadvantage. The Reds are looking at $5 million to $6 million in leeway on the player payroll - if they start the season in the upper $40 millions, the figure they gave prospective GM candidates.

That probably will keep the Reds from trading for a top pitcher unless Ken Griffey Jr. ($12.5 million), Sean Casey ($6.8 million) or Danny Graves ($6 million) are part of the deal.

The price of starting pitching is staggering. Consider: Bartolo Colon received $12 million a year from Anaheim, and Pettitte received more than $10.5 million a year from Houston.

Free agent Sterling Hitchcock or Freddy Garcia, whom Seattle would like to trade, are pitchers who could fit the Reds' budget.

But trades are only one way to obtain players.

"We're going in with a four-pronged approach," O'Brien said. "No. 1, we're going to look closely at the Rule 5 Draft and see if there are players who can potentially help us. Two, we're going to visit with teams that we feel we have a legitimate fit with. Third, we've going to visit with agents. This is a popular gathering place for agents. And fourth, we're going to have our entire front office staff together here, so we're going to evaluate our players all the way from rookie ball to the major leagues."

The Reds, of course, have other needs besides starting pitching. Third base is a huge question mark. The club could use a leadoff hitter. A veteran middle infielder would help.

But none of those needs is a high priority, O'Brien said, compared to pitching.

"We'd make a move only if it's a definite upgrade," he said. "Last year, obviously, the club was decimated by injuries. We feel if all our players are healthy, we have the potential to be an exciting offensive club."

Positions players are less costly than pitchers. But the contract former Cardinal Fernando Vina signed with Detroit shows that nothing in baseball is cheap. Vina got a two-year, $6 million contract after hitting .251 with four homers and 23 RBI in 61 games last year.

The Reds quietly have been working the free-agent market for weeks. O'Brien has said the club isn't interested in free agents who would require compensation because that's counter to the club's new emphasis on player development.