Not long after the mixed emotions and sad passing of a troubled legend, we celebrate the arrival of a new manager and a new hope. Strange times we live in everywhere we look.

We do our best to make sense of this disappointing first half of 2024. Then we talk about the love for minor-league baseball with our special guest, his love for Al Kaline, and the impossible task of picking the greatest living ballplayer now that the great Willie Mays has passed.

The Reds are close to finishing off their best April in recent memory with a killer schedule ahead in May. But fear not. This team is in it for the long haul. Listen in as Jeff talks with Locked On Reds podcast host Jeff Carr.

The Reds have adversity to contend with, but we believe this team will contend in the NL Central, probably win it, and this young team will make the playoffs. We like the improved depth, and just plain old like the fact that there are actual reasons to be optimistic.

Yes, that's a long title, but we were long winded. We like a few things we see but we remain relegated to the fact that this team is a ways off. The most talked about players under Reds control aren't in Cincinnati yet, which makes it difficult to see the future. We have an interesting discussion that goes slightly off the rails about potential. And dinosaurs. It's hard to explain. You'll just have to listen.

We talk about the potential lineup this season (and familiarize Tom with some names), we don't quite drool over the big three at the front of the rotation (but we like them a lot), we talk rebuilding philosophy with varying degrees of liking and trusting it, we learn the new rules and we pick the number of games the Reds will win. Don't get too excited about that last one. Also, random things happen like Billy Hamilton.

Yes, it's been a while. Almost as long as the Reds went between wins this season. Well, not quite, but you get the point. Heck, we recorded this at least two weeks ago and are just now getting around to posting it. Yes, we are apathetic. Can you blame us? We agree that the Reds are bad as presently constructed. But we don't completely agree on how to fix it. If you care, give a listen. If you don't care, listen anyway. There are no winners and losers on this podcast. But apathy? Yeah, we're here for that.

The lockout behind us, the Reds are gearing up for another season. Will they be any good? Lots of doom and gloom out there after the trades. But what are the Reds really up to? Will they be terrible? Probably not. Will they make the expanded playoffs? Probably not. But there's baseball and our summer conversations will be fun. And Joey has a new bat.