"I'm rollin' nice," Aaron Boone said Wednesday morning, from the driver's seat of his nearly new Mercedes sedan. At least one set of Boone's wheels is close to 100 percent.

He was in California, on his way to a workout and two hours of rehab on his wounded knee. The ACL Boone tore playing basketball in January is healing faster than he expected. "Almost no bad days," Boone said. "One thing all this has allowed me to do is work out in May. I'm as strong as I've ever been. I'm in a pretty good place right now."

One place Boone won't be is here. Reds general manager Dan O'Brien crushed that wish as quickly as it surfaced.

Let's try to follow this:

The Cincinnati Reds have no interest in a player who could be a fixture in their infield for the next five to seven years. Who was 1A to Sean Casey's 1 in the race for Most Popular Red. Who is a pro's pro and a man's man. Who would set a terribly good example in the home clubhouse which, if all goes according to the Reds' "plan," will skew younger than Michael Jackson's accusers.

Boone can play three infield spots, the same three spots the Reds need to upgrade. Shortstop Barry Larkin is retiring. Second baseman D'Angelo Jimenez will be arbitrating and poised to make more than $2 million. The Reds won't pay him that unless he turns into Joe Morgan.

And there is third baseman Brandon Larson, The Future, who will be 28 in 11 days and hasn't proven he can do anything but get hurt. No offense to Larson; he's a good guy with bad luck and the defensive skills of a tomato-can heavyweight. But the numbers are what they are.

Naturally, the Reds don't think bringing back Boone is a good idea.

This is what makes you nuts. And wonder when the Reds became the pre-Marvin Bengals.

Boone, 31, made $3.5 million last year. He was due to make $5.5 million this year. A baseball agent estimated Boone would command no more than $1 million for the two-plus months he's likely to play this season. The Reds dumped $1 million when they traded Chris Reitsma.

Even if Boone didn't re-sign with Cincinnati next year, the Reds could deal him for a prospect. And fans would get to see a legit third baseman for 10 weeks.

There is nothing wrong with going young and cheap. But to do it right, you'd better be creative and smart.

Problem is, creativity isn't prized in the offices at Great American Ball Park. Thinking outside the box is not a strength. Carl Lindner values loyalty above all. That's fine, until it stifles independent thinking. Nobody down there wants to do anything except what they think Lindner wants them to do.

"We made a commitment to some of our younger players," O'Brien explained. "We're committed to giving (Larson) the opportunity to play third."

From where? The whirlpool?

Say what you will about the departed James G. Bowden IV. At the top of his game, Bowden was creativity defined. Ol' Leather Pants would have been on bended knee, begging for the pocket change needed to bring back Boonie. Even if he'd been rejected, Bowden would not have offered the media the lameness O'Brien chose in San Diego Tuesday.

Here's the problem with judging O'Brien: What he aims to do with the Reds will take years. Longer, maybe, than he'll be around. Another problem is, you don't know how much of any of this is O'Brien's idea, and how much of it is O'Brien following orders.

Small-revenue teams need to find different ways to compete beyond throwing money. Or, in the Reds' case, empty promises. Bringing back Aaron Boone would have been nice. Even an effort would have been appreciated.

E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com