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2008 The front office would much rather Reds fans remember their getting Brandon Phillips for table scraps or grabbing Jeff Keppinger off the waiver wire, but the swap that brought Majewski to the Queen City might be the deal most emblematic of recent Reds history. Majewski may or may not have been injured when he came over from Jim Bowden's Nationals, but the mere thought of being snookered by Ol' Leatherpants had the Cincy media in a lather. More than a year after his shoulder injury came to light, there's no sign of when or if Majewski will ever get his effectiveness back. 2007 The wheels of justice are a few sprockets shy of a full gear in Pax Seliga, but even so, the Reds` grievance seems dicey. The Nats are insisting all relevant medical reports were turned over, and doctors described Majewski`s injury as nothing more than tendonitis, even if it did force him to the DL. Whether or not Jim Bowden committed an error of ommission by not directly mentioning that Majewski had a cortisone shot in July, the Reds ought to have to prove that information would have encouraged Krivsky not to make the deal. Since Krivsky overlooked both Majewski`s workload (he ranked second in the majors in relief innings pitched at the time of the deal) and the medical reports, that`s not going to be an easy case to make. As for Majewski himself, he`s a decent enough sinker-slider guy. The real problem wasn`t that he was hurting, it was that he isn`t the second coming of Goose Gossage--getting Gary Majewski was not going to put the Reds in the playoffs, though Krivksy acted like it would. Whining about it after the fact is just so much face-saving nonsense. 2006 We live in an age of mayhem, which makes Majewski a pitcher with the most modern sensibilities. His career rate for plunking people, majors and minors together, is one victim every 49.3 batters faced. Translated to a full big league career, that would rank fifth among pitchers since 1960. Who`s ahead of him? Surprisingly, mostly contemporary hurlers: Brian Fuentes (one HBP per 38.7 hitters), Byung-Hyun Kim (43.5), Rolando Arrojo (45.4), and Willis Roberts (46.6). There`s not a Drysdale to be found among that lot. As Ayala started to break down, Majewski wound up taking on more of the setup role. He should be the better bet going forward, however violent his tendencies. 2005 Courtesy of his power assortment, Majewski had to bounce around a little, getting picked as a Rule 5er, returned to his team, then traded almost exactly a year later to Montreal in the Everett deal. He's one of the better mid-20s relief prospects in the system, which isn't a huge honor, but it should be good enough to earn him a regular job in the 2005 pen.
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