Popo: A small-market team on the rise

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - Take a look around the Reds camp. There's Joey Votto, one of the best players in baseball, a season removed from an MVP award.

There's Jay Bruce, only 25 years old, but with two All-Star appearances under his belt already.

There's Brandon Phillips, arguably the best second baseman in the game.

Pitchers like Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey and Mike Leake have come up through the system. Mat Latos, Bronson Arroyo and Aroldis Chapman have been acquired.

Everywhere you look, there's talent and former Red Eric Davis has noticed.

"It's a breath of fresh air," Davis told me this week in camp. I had asked him to assess the state of the franchise. He thinks the state is very solid and promising.

Davis has a unique perspective on baseball in Cincinnati. He came up in the 80s when the Reds farm system was loaded with Kal Daniels, Joe Oliver, Paul O'Neill, Tom Browning, Chris Sabo and Tracy Jones, many guys who helped lead the Reds to the World Series title in 1990.

But then came some seriously lean seasons because scouts were pushed away, drafts were error-filled and the franchise was in turmoil.

The Reds in the era of Marge Schott quit spending money and quit using the farm system to develop talent, a requirement for a small-market team like Cincinnati. General Manager Jim Bowden used to say that it was nearly impossible for the Reds to compete because of the inequity in team revenues.

Baseball is not a very good business model, but teams like the Twins, the Rays and the A's have bucked the trend in recent years. And so have the Reds with two playoff appearances in the last three seasons.

Davis looks over the camp and sees good instruction again.

"There were years in camp when the only big leaguers you saw were the guys you were playing with," he said with a laugh.

Now when you look around, you see teaching from former big leaguers like Davis, Browning, Billy Hatcher, Mario Soto, Billy Doran, Chris Speier and Ken Griffey.

Davis credits Bob Castellini for having the vision and Walt Jocketty for putting the right people in place.

He said he thinks the Reds are positioned well for the present and for the future.