When Austin Kearns returns (assuming Ken Griffey Jr. is healthy as well), do you play Kearns and sit Wily Mo Pena?

Do you have them share right field?

Do you bring back the ill-fated four-man outfield rotation Bob Boone tried two years ago?

Reds manager Dave Miley won't lay out a detailed plan.

"It's a little early to talk about when Kearnsie comes back," Miley said. "But Wily Mo will get his at-bats.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Saturday's game

"You don't take a guy like him out of the lineup."

Miley probably won't face the decision until the second week of August.

Kearns, out after having right thumb surgery, is eligible to return Aug. 1. But Reds general manager Dan O'Brien says Kearns won't be back then.

"Austin just started taking dry swings (Friday)," O'Brien said.

But the Kearns-Pena question will not go away. Pena is 22, and based on his last 50 games, he's a budding star.

Kearns is 24 and - until his long run of bad luck with injuries - was clearly a superior player to Pena.

Adam Dunn is a fixture in left. Griffey is under contract through at least 2008.

Three positions, four players.

"It's a good problem to have," O'Brien said.

Because we're dealing with the Reds here and fans have long memories about the Big Red Machine days, it has been suggested that Pena or Kearns be moved to third. Pete Rose moving from left to third to open a spot for George Foster helped make the Big Red Machine what it was.

But because the Reds are dealing with young players in this situation, the move would have to come at spring training and not during the season.

But it's unlikely to happen.

The Reds tried Pena at third during spring training last year. That he never played there during the regular season tells you how that went.

Kearns seems like a more likely candidate. His baseball instincts are among the best on the club. He played infield in high school. And his arm is strong and accurate.

Still, it probably won't happen.

"Never has one person in the organization brought that up to me," O'Brien said. "My feeling is Austin takes pride in his offense and defense and feels his future is as an outfielder."

TRADE WINDS: O'Brien said the Reds continue to talk about trades - "the phone never stops ringing" - but nothing has happened.

Are the Reds looking for anything other than pitching?

"Pitching is the top priority," O'Brien said. "But we would make a move to improve the club in other ways. But pitching is the No. 1 focus."

GRULER UPDATE: Chris Gruler, the No. 1 pick in 2002, has been promoted from the Gulf Coast League Reds to Rookie Ball Billings.

Gruler, a 20-year-old right-hander, is coming off shoulder surgery in April 2003. He's still throwing only about 85 mph.

"His command is better," Reds player development director Tim Naehring said. "He still has a ways to go. But it will be good to get him under the lights, rather than pitching in the Florida sun at noon."

MONTANA MUSINGS: O'Brien just returned from Billings, where he got a look at a lot of the college players the Reds drafted in June.

"It's a first-rate group," he said.

Four players stood out: No. 2 pick B.J. Szymanski, No. 3 Paul Janish, No. 8 Greg Goetz and No. 9 Trevor Lawhorn.

Szymanski, a football player turned center fielder, went into the weekend hitting .295 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 12 games. Janish, a shortstop from Rice, and Lawhorn, a second baseman from East Carolina, form the double-play combination.

"They are both remarkably skilled," O'Brien.

They also have hit fairly well: Janish is hitting .277 with two homers and 14 RBI; Lawhorn is hitting .328 with a homer and 14 RBI. Both have as many walks as strikeouts. Janish has 22 walks and 22 strikeouts; Lawhorn has 10 walks and eight strikeouts.

Goetz, a left-handed pitcher from Bellevue (Wash.) Community College, hasn't put up great numbers. He is 1-2 with a 7.27 ERA.

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E-mail jfay@enquirer.com

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