The people of Cincinnati are none too happy with what went on this last week. John Erardi and John Fay cover it for the Enquirer:

"I'm so disgusted," said fan Alfred Joseph, 47, of Oxford, who attended Thursday's game. "They take taxpayer money with the assumption that they are building a competitive team, and that doesn't seem to be the case."

The Reds players weren't any happier than the fans.

"It's a joke," Reds pitcher Ryan Dempster said. He said Reds chief operating officer John Allen "came down here (to the clubhouse after the firing of Boone and Bowden) and told us they were not going to throw in the towel. I guess the best way to do that is to go out and trade your two best players and your closer."

Said team captain Barry Larkin: "It's a salary dump. We've been told it's not, but they got rid of two salaries."

I think John Allen has lost the trust of his players, and that's a real bad thing. However, I don't think trading Boone and Guillen is a long term disaster. Guillen's season could be a fluke, and Boone is past his prime. They still have Kearns, Dunn, Casey and Griffey, which if all are healthy would be a solid nucleus of an offense. They have Claussen, who could turn out to be their ace this year. And they have a little more money for the GM to work with next year. Obviously, they aren't trying to win this year, but I don't think they are in all that bad shape for next year, especially if they get a GM who knows what he's doing. Short term this is bad; long term it could be okay.