Because the Reds have known for more than a year that Joe Nuxhall would be cutting back his schedule this season and retiring before the 2005 season, you would have thought Marty Brennaman's new partner would have been chosen long ago.

But the Reds' radio broadcast team for 2004 is still Marty and Joe and an announcer-to-be-named-later. That could be the situation at Wednesday's luncheon.

The announcement could come any time, but as of last week, the Reds were looking at six candidates.

Cincinnati Reds radio partners Joe Nuxhall, left, and Marty Brennaman have been together for a lot of years. (Brett Coomer/file photo)

Chief operating officer John Allen confirmed that Dan Hoard, Chris Welsh, Tracy Jones and Jeff McCarragher were candidates and added that Joe Sunderman and Steve Stewart were being considered.

Sunderman is the play-by-play announcer for Xavier University basketball, and he does a nice job with XU. He hasn't done baseball, but he has a connection to the Reds: His wife works for chief executive officer Carl Lindner.

"They asked me to send a tape," Sunderman said. "Then they asked for another tape."

Stewart works for WBAL in Baltimore and has filled in as a play-by-play announcer on Orioles broadcasts.

Jones and Welsh are former Reds. Jones works as a talk show host on WLW, and Welsh has been the color analyst on Reds television for 11 years.

Hoard is the voice of University of Cincinnati basketball and football. He also has subbed for Nuxhall and Brennaman on Reds broadcasts.

McCarragher is the play-by-play announcer for the Norfolk Tides, the Mets' Triple-A affiliate.

WISHFUL THINKING: You could have had Greg Maddux on Opening Day, followed in the rotation by Jason Johnson and Kenny Rogers.

Or it could have been Kelvim Escobar, Johnson and Rogers. Or Maddux and Sidney Ponson.

Those are some of the combinations the Reds could have had for the 2004 rotation if the Opening Day payroll were the same as 2003.

It looks as though the payroll for Opening Day 2004 will be right around $47 million. That's roughly $12 million less than it was on Opening Day 2003.

With that money, Maddux (unsigned, but probably signable for $6 million or so), Johnson ($3.5 million) and Rogers ($3 million) could have been added. Those three were 36-27 last year.

Ponson, who was 17-12 with a 3.75 ERA last year, could have been on the Reds' shopping list. He signed with Baltimore for $22.5 million over three years.

Escobar (13-9 with a 4.29 ERA last year) signed with Anaheim for $18.75 million over three years.

CHANGE OF VENUE: The Reds are going to relocate their camp in the Dominican Republic to a facility closer to the airport. The club had been using Jose Rijo's academy.

EL DUQUE? The Reds were among the teams who scouted Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez in Miami last week. Asked if there was a chance the team would sign him, general manager Dan O'Brien said, "Based on the scouting report, no."

ROSTER: Adding right-hander Todd Van Poppel to the 40-man roster as the Reds did Friday puts them one below the limit.

With non-roster invitees Reggie Taylor and Mike Matthews in the mix to make the club, it's unlikely the Reds will add any more free agents before camp opens.

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E-mail jfay@enquirer.com

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