Doc's Morning Line: The Cincinnati Reds are the best farm team for any contender

Luis Castillo is the Reds best pitcher. Brandon Drury is the Reds best hitter. Both could be gone by August. So could Tyler Mahle and Kyle Farmer. Ball-o-nomics is a bad deal for much of Flyover Nation. Say hello to the Reds, the best farm team for any contender you can name.

It’s bad enough for fans that players leave just as you’re falling in love with them. What’s worse is, you can be watching them shine while knowing they’re too good to play here. Castillo, Drury, Mahle and Farmer are having outstanding audition seasons.

And we’re not even talking about guys like Mike Moustakas or Tommy Pham.

Whom do you deal?

Reds pitching: Doc's Morning Line: What do you expect David Bell to do with this Reds bullpen?

Tyler Stephenson injury: Why the Reds made Aramis Garcia their starting catcher until Tyler Stephenson returns

Tejay Antone: As he recovers from Tommy John, Tejay Antone is changing the Reds' rehab culture

Whoever gets you the best return, obviously. But everything being equal, do you trade the anchor of your starting staff (Castillo) or the eternally teasing Tyler Mahle, for whom consistency is an ongoing quest, but whose talent is undeniable?

The only thing for certain is, the Club can’t half-a-- it. Nine toes in the trading pool is the same as no toes. Go big or go home.

Yeah?

That means Mahle for big prospects, Castillo for even bigger prospects. Drury won’t fetch as much, not even close. Ditto Farmer, who’s had a very good year, but plays a position not often in demand by contenders.

This is what stinks about baseball unless you have a collection of Yankees caps or you bleed Dodger blue. Think of the players the Reds have dealt in recent years, for money reasons. Think of their replacements. Shake hands with last place.

Castillo and Mahle are at the same money stage of their careers: One more year of club control via arbitration. Luis makes $7.35 mil now, Mahle $5.2 mil. Farmer is a year behind them. The Reds control him for two years, He’s making $3.15 mil, will get a huge boost. Drury is a free agent currently making $900,000.

Castillo was very good Wednesday. Drury hit his team-leading 13th homer. Who knows what this team will look like Aug. 1? A perpetual rebuild is not what anyone signs up for.

A better name for “prospect’’ is “suspect’’. Over the decades, the Reds have been fascinated with their suspects, and often overvalued them. Hey there, Willie Greene! Can I introduce you to Brandon Larson? They’re good friends with Robert Stephenson.

“Prospect’’ is baseball-ese for “ain’t done nothin’ yet.’’

In another six weeks, the Reds will continue the process of chasing rainbows. Maybe they’ll catch one. Until they do, try to be happy and not depressed while watching their best players audition to leave. It’s the cost of doing business. Divorce, MLB style.

These days, you don’t have to be a cynic to go into a season certain that the Reds best players will be chess men on some other team’s board, sooner or later. You can’t say the Reds are giving up on the season. They never believed in it in the first place.

I love baseball. I don’t love its rich man/poor man ways.

Now, then. . .

ME!ME!ME! I did an exit interview of sorts this AM, with Dan Hoard, for Dan’s Bengals podcast. My admiration for Dan is well known in This Space. Great broadcaster, should have gotten the Reds gig that went, I believe, to Steve Stewart many moons ago.

Dan’s also a great interviewer. We spoke for 45 minutes, about all things Bengal. It’ll be posted tomorrow and available wherever good podcasts are found. TML sez ckitout.

NICE KNOWIN’ YA, JESSIE BATES. . . AP:

The Pittsburgh Steelers made Minkah Fitzpatrick the highest-paid safety in NFL history with a four-year extension worth $18.4 million per season.

That was yesterday. You don’t have to be an expert on NFL salaries to know the Bengals don’t value the safety position highly enough to pay Bates Minkah money.

Just a not-so-subtle reminder that the bottom line will always be the bottom line, even when the winning makes us all giddy.

HAHA. . . The George Washington University board of trustees announced Wednesday that it will eventually no longer use the “Colonials” moniker as a nickname and cited the “division among the community about the moniker” as the reason. The nickname has been criticized for glorifying colonialism. (AP)

‘NATI’S OWN, YOUK, ON HITTING:

Which of your stats did you most care about?

Youkilis: “Average was always big for me. I knew that if my average was high, my on-base percentage would be high. I think that was the key. People don’t seem to talk about that. Average is a big part of on-base percentage. Somehow we’ve flip-flopped that. Maybe it’s the Adam Dunn effect, in some ways.” (FanGraphs)

BECAUSE TV IS MY LIFE. . . I know a show is good when I’m sad when a season ends and really sad when that season is its last. Doesn’t happen a lot. I hated losing Friday Night Lights, but not so much The Sopranos. Some shows, even the great ones, lose their way if they stay too long. Breaking Bad knew when to wrap it up. This Is Us, yes. Bosch, no. The current iteration of Bosch just isn’t very good.

I can’t possibly see Succession lasting more than another year. It’s just too hard to maintain that quality. Succession is a comet.

Which gets me to Yellowstone.

It’s good, not great, but verrry endearing. The lines that Kevin Costner and the amazing Kelly Reilly get to speak are top 1 percent. I’m one episode away from the end of Season 4. A 5 is scheduled, but I’m skeptical if it can match the verve and spirit of the previous four.

As always, any and all recommendations accepted.

AND NOW. . . I started the entertainment posts a decade ago, at least. I’ve been very pleased with the contributors I’ve used, who work for nothing and truly inform us on what’s happening around here. The crew I have now is especially good. Thanks to everyone whose words have made my weekends better. Yours, too, I hope.

Imbiber Dave took over for the great Tristen Shields several years ago, and he hasn’t missed a sip.

We had a perfect laid back evening of imbibing planned. Some delicious Kielbasa on the smoker, refreshing MadTree Ahuevo Mexican Lager, and a pool that thankfully decided it was tired of being cloudy just in time for the 4th of July.

My middle-aged constitution was not anticipating the heat of the last few nights however, so we quickly pivoted this party to the great indoors. Hopefully we’ll acclimate in another week or so.

As the food coma set it, we allowed a MadTree Rounding Third Red IPA to guide us towards our classic movie selection for the evening. Die Hard, the greatest Christmas movie of all time, felt right considering the concrete was on fire out back.

If you aren’t able to have fun crushing Grippos while John McClane makes a mockery of hilariously dressed robbers then you need to do some serious soul searching.

When chill-bibing is simply not going to work, may I highlight the brunch and cocktail scene in this city is absolutely fantastic. From places like MadTree’s Alcove, Boomtown Biscuits n Whiskey, Covington’s Cedar and sister restaurant Yuca in Bellevue, it has become extremely easy to start or ramp up your day in a big way.

Cheers!

cincybeerguydave@gmail.com

TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . Raise a glass to the inevitable, Mobsters.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Will Reds deal Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle at MLB trade deadline?