Say hey, baseball: The Reds still aren't shopping Johnny Cueto

Listen, we know it's tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage, and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn't easy. It's okay, though, we're going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning, and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.

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The Reds are 15.5 games out of the NL Central lead, and 7.5 out of a wild card spot, trailing seven teams. Their playoff odds -- and granted, these are just odds -- are 0.6 percent, better than just two teams in the entire league. Technically they still have a shot! All it would take is a ton of offense, amazing pitching and so on. You know, just the stuff they didn't enter the season with, and at the non-mathematical halfway point, still don't have. And yet, they haven't even begun shopping their most significant trade chip, Johnny Cueto, according to ESPN's Buster Olney.

Cueto is going to end up signing a massive contract, one the Reds just can't afford unless they completely change their pay structure going forward. And why would they? Having Cueto and Joey Votto wasn't enough for them before -- tying up more payroll with older versions of the two of them doesn't seem like it'll work, either. All this makes the delay in moving Cueto questionable, even if the hope was that they would be competing this year, or if they just wanted to make sure Cueto would be in a Reds hat during this year's All-Star Game, which Cincinnati is hosting.

So, maybe we'll see the Reds realize this is the end soon, or, they will stop pretending Cueto isn't available once the All-Star Game is in the rear view. Like with the Phillies and Cole Hamels, Cueto is a major piece of the rebuilding process in Cincinnati. Unlike Hamels, though, Cueto is a free agent at the end of the season, so the Reds can't just keep waiting and waiting. Even a team that delays the inevitable as often as the Reds has to be aware of that, so by July 31, this should all be forgotten about. Right?

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