If I wrote a post a week ago about what the Reds really need, the answer would have been to sack Corey Patterson already (he of the .200 average and .240 OPS), and bring up Jay Bruce to play center already. Or at the very least, stop having Patterson bat leadoff (fer chrissakes!).

But seeing how those problems have been (finally) solved, what the Reds really need now is a fifth starter.

Any kind of fifth starter would do, actually.

The Reds actually have a pretty awesome rotation from 1-4, with ace Aaron Harang, Rookie sensation Edinson Volquez, an improving Bronson Arroyo, and high upside flamethrower Johnny Cueto. Their lineup is also pretty stacked, now that Bruce has finally been called up (as long as someone will tell Dusty Baker to stop doing stupid things like telling Adam Dunn to bunt).

But what has really been dragging the Reds down is a guaranteed loss every fifth day. Current fifth starter Matt Belisle has been thoroughly execrable, allowing 47 hits in 29 2/3 innings while posting a 1.79 WHIP and a 7.28 ERA. Original fifth starter Josh Fogg was amazingly even worse, putting up a 2.09 WHIP and a 13.09 ERA in his 3 starts.

Even the most replacement-y of replacement pitchers would be a drastic improvement at this point, and you certainly have to think that AAA stalwart Homer Bailey or Double-A ace Ben Jukich (5-2, 2.34 ERA at Chattanoga), could do better.

- What They Need Index -

Today’s Reds Insider column from Enquirer writer John Fay quotes an anonymous Reds employee, who says the chances of Cincinnati landing Baltimore ace Erik Bedard at 75 percent.

The headline suggests Bedard could be “the missing piece.”

Fay thinks landing Bedard is the thing to do:

Should the Reds trade away so much of the future to try to win in 2008?

I think they have to.

I’m not so sure.

The Reds are missing more than just one piece.

Ok, maybe, maybe the Reds need only one piece if Ken Griffey, Jr. and Josh Hamilton stay healthy. Maybe the team only needs one piece if Bronson Arroyo reverts to his 2006 form (and 2006 WHIP of 1.18). His WHIP last season was 1.40.

Maybe the team only needs one piece if they can figure out who will pitch behind Bedard, Arroyo and Harang.

But right now, the team is talking about dealing Homer Bailey and Joey Votto, plus another prospect.

Votto hit four homers and OBP’d .360 in 24 games with the Reds last season, and those numbers are consistent with his minor league numbers.

It was only a few months ago that Bailey was being talked about as the next big thing. Now he’s expendable?

Bedard would make the Reds respectable. But he wouldn’t make them winners.

It sounds like Fay would settle for respectable. I can’t say I blame him. But I think he should set the bar a little higher.