Question from Jim in Loveland: How dumb is Dave Miley? If you pitch to Barry Bonds and he hits a home run it's 1-0. If you walk him and the next batter homers, it's 2- 0. A homer by Bonds and being down by1 is more easily understood than a homer by Feliz and being down by 2. There are times when an intentional walk (such as against Milwaukee last week, or if there are a couple of men on)is needed but Miley has no idea when those times are. The game was 0-0 (late innings) and nobody was on base. Whywould you intentionally walk anyone; why would you put anybody on base? You don't do that. Ask Sparky Anderson.Both blunders cost the Reds the ball game. Is Dave Miley really as stupid as the sportswriters are in this town? The Reds are truly minor league and they show it every night. I think Dave should go back to school and take "Intentional Walks 101."

A: That was the 25th time Bonds was walked intentionally. Jack McKeon did it four times in a game. Your logic works if Feliz hits home runs as often as Bonds. At the time, Bonds had hit one once every 5.7 at-bats. Feliz had hit one every 43 at-bats. If Miley doesn't walk Bonds and Bonds hits a home run, you're going to call him stupid for that. Miley won 1,115 games and had a .570 winning percentage in the minors, which makes him either luckiest manager or earth or not stupid at all. As for sportswriters, you're toning things down, Jim, "stupid" wasn't underlined and bold in your latest missive.

Q, from Matt in Montgomery: Do you think the Reds will trade for a minor league third baseman to platoon with Brandon Larson? What about a guy named Kevin Youkilis (third baseman for the Red Sox AAA club)? He didn't have a great spring training, but the past two years he has great OPS numbers. When do we try someone else beside Larson? Plus the guy is a Cincinnati native!

A: Youkilis is hitting .250, while his OPS (on-base plus slugging) is just over .700 for Pawtucket. I don't know if he's the answer for now, and I don't know if the Red Sox would be willing to part with him. As far as platooning with Larson, they're both right-hander hitters, so that doesn't work. I don't see the Reds adding anyone at third until the offseason anyway. They've made clear they're going to give Larson a chance this year.

Q, from William in New York City: I've got a couple of questions about some former Reds prospects and what's happened to them. Remember when Reds GM Jim Bowden was touting Bobby Basham as the Reds' next great pitcher in spring of 2002 after his performance the prior fall in Arizona? What ever happened to him?

And what ever happened to Ty Howington?

What about Chris Booker, the ex-Cubs prospect, who the Reds got in the Michael Tucker trade a couple of years ago?

And, finally, where did Juan Cerros disappear to? He was good enough to be on the Reds 40-man roster this past off-season. I've searched the Reds minor league affiliates, and none of these guys is to be found.

A: All in extended spring training

Q, from John in Mount Carmel: OK, I'm confused. O'Brien says "I'd much rather change for a very specific purpose and a desired goal as a result" instead of changing for the sake of change. But if the specific purpose is to get a quality start, instead of an automatic loss, out of Jimmy Haynes' slot in the rotation, while preserving a fairly reliable long relief man in the bullpen (Van Poppel), then what else can you do but dump Haynes and bring up one of the youngsters? There must be something else at work here besides stubborn stupidity, but I sure can't figure out what that might be.

A: A $2.5 million salary, perhaps? But I agree. With Cory Lidle and Paul Wilson not under contract for next year, it's time to get some of young pitchers ready. Matt Belisle and Jung Keun Bong are pitching like they're ready.

Q, from Tyler in Washington, D.C.: Last night on TV, I watched Scott Williamson completely dominate Cleveland hitters. Knowing that the Reds already have eight blown saves I got pretty red in the face. Who did Cincy get for Williamson? And for that matter, has any of the salary dumping trades the Reds made in the past four years produced one player in the starting line-up?

A: The Reds got Philip Dumatrait, Tyler Pelland and cash for Williamson. Dumatrait had "Tommy John" surgery in April. Pelland is 0-4 with 7.78 ERA at Single-A Dayton, although scouts like his upside. I wrote at the time that I wouldn't have traded Williamson and I still feel that way. The one player they got in all those trades who they are using is Aaron Harang.

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