From CincyShirts.com....

Joey Votto is the Reds' most important player.

This goes without saying.  He's their best hitter, one of their best defensive players, and he's their highest-paid employee. Everything the Reds do begins and ends with how Joey performs and how the organization maximizes his talents.

Drew Stubbs was not even close to being the Reds' most important player.  Comparing Joey and Drew as players would be an exercise in silliness, but let's compare Wins Above Replacement numbers.

Joey in 2012: 5.6
Drew Stubbs in 2012: 0.2

Joey's WAR led the team.  Stubbs, if you take out September callups, was 26th.

I know this metric is nerdy and might not reflect a player's total importance to his team, but if you use it, Drew Stubbs was the Reds' 26th most-important player in 2012.  Needless to say, he was replaceable.

And in replacing him, the Reds just made their most important player, a guy who had more extra base-hits than RBI in 2012, even more lethal.

Tell me again why we're spending so much time crying over the departure of the team's 26th man?

We'll get into this at 3:04 today on ESPN1530. Other stuff too....

Guests
3:42 - Walt Jocketty
5:42 - Buster Olney, ESPN.com

Topics
Where did all the Drew Stubbs apologists come from?
Lotta talk about what Shin-Soo Choo isn't.  I will tell you exactly what he isn't.
Did the Reds just make Joey Votto better?  Isn't that why this deal is a win?
The Shin-Soo Choo trickle down effect.
With Shin-Soo Choo, Hannahan, and Hanigan in the fold, how awesome will the Banana Phone be?
A new term for when a guy bails on date: The Tuberville.
Would you bring back Scott Rolen?

Plus, I've got a pair of Bengals/Ravens tickets to giveaway, and you have a chance to win wings for a year from Buffalo Wild Wings in today's #MoEggerTQD.  The fun stars at 3:04 today on ESPN1530.