Read More: Huston Street (P – COL), Josh Hamilton (LF – TEX), Edinson Volquez (P – CIN), Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds

The MLB Winter Meetings opened up on Monday, and already the Colorado Rockies have been liked to infielder Placido Palanco, but now the bigger news is that the team is reportedly in discussions with the Cincinnati Reds about a trade involving Rockies’ reliever Huston Street and Reds’ starting pitcher Edinson Volquez. Troy Renck of the Denver Post is reporting that the Rockies are looking to acquire a young starting pitcher with upside, and the Reds are trying to fill a need at closer, but the teams are struggling to make the money work.

Huston Street is due $8 million in salary in 2012, and for the Reds to even consider taking on that money in the deal they would likely also require a young, minor league pitching prospect included as well. 

Volquez went 17-6 and earned a National League all-star selection in 2008, after joining the Reds in a trade that involved outfielder Josh Hamilton, but has since served a suspension for PED use and has struggled with injuries as well. Even so, he is still only 28-years old, under team control through 2013, and made a paltry $1.623 million through salary arbitration last season.

For more coverage of all things Denver sports, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For more in-depth coverage of the Rockies, visit Purple Row. For more updates on the MLB Hot Stove, check out Baseball Nation.

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Saturday brought encouraging signs for the Cincinnati Reds and pitcher Edinson Volquez—in Louisville.

Volquez, demoted Monday after posting a 6.35 ERA in 10 starts with the Reds, pitched as if he’s eager to get back to Cincinnati, working a season-high 7 2/3 innings Saturday in the Class AAA Louisville Bats 4-3 victory over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

“I felt good,” Volquez said, according to The Louisville Courier-Journal. “I haven’t had all my pitches like that in maybe two months. Tonight was probably my best game. It means a lot. It brings my confidence back, and I’ve got to keep working.”

Volquez was in line for the win until he allowed a two-out solo home run to Ramiro Pena in the eighth that tied the score at 2, the only negative on the night for Volquez.

“He hit a good pitch,” Volquez said, according to The Courier-Journal. “It was down and in. A lefty is always looking for something in. They have that golf swing. There was nothing I could do about it. It’s one pitch. The best thing was that we won.”

Before the home run, the only run he had allowed came in the first inning.

Volquez was so dominant that Bats manager Rick Sweet let him try to finish the eighth even while there was bullpen action.

Volquez retired the first two, but then Pena hammered the tying shot to right field. Sweet let Volquez pitch to one more batter, and Jesus Montero beat out an infield hit. That was it for Volquez, who threw 109 pitches, 69 for strikes.

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Read More: Shin-Soo Choo (RF – CLE), Michael Brantley (CF – CLE), Joey Votto (1B – CIN), Jay Bruce (RF – CIN), Edinson Volquez (P – CIN), Travis Buck (LF – CLE), Jack Hannahan (3B – CLE), Carlos Carrasco (P – CLE), Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds

Asdrubal Cabrera went 5-for-5 with two homers and five RBI, Michael Brantley added three hits and two ribbies, and Shin-Soo Choo drove in a pair as the Indians finished off a sweep of the Cincinnati Reds in the first round of the 2011 Battle of Ohio with a 12-4 win at Progressive Field that saw the Tribe improve to 29-15 and maintain a seven-game lead in the American League Central.

Carlos Carrasco (3-2, 5.16 ERA) hung around long enough to get the victory, going six innings and surrendering all four runs — including home runs from Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. Carrasco struck out three and walked only one while allowing six hits in winning his second straight.

Chad Durbin came on with a man at second and nobody out in the seventh and worked around an error to shut the door and keep the lead at 8-4, before Cleveland put it away with a four-run seventh.

Rafael Perez worked a scoreless eighth, and Josh Judy made his major league debut in the ninth, giving up a single and a double but keeping the Reds off the board.

After Votto gave Cincinnati the lead with his blast to the bleachers in the first, Asdrubal connected off of losing pitcher Edinson Volquez (3-2, 6.35 ERA) with Brantley aboard to put the Tribe ahead.

Choo then doubled, and after Carlos Santana was retired for the first out, but moved Choo to third, Travis Buck walked, and then things got interesting.

Buck broke for second with Orlando Cabrera batting, then put on the brakes as Choo bluffed for home, drawing a throw to the plate. As Choo headed back to third, Reds’ catcher Ramon Hernandez uncorked a throw into left field that hugged the line all the way to the wall, allowing both Choo and Buck to score and giving the Indians a 4-1 lead.

Choo drove in Brantley with a single in the second to make it 5-1, though it could have been more, as the Indians failed to further add to their lead with runners at first and third and none out.

But the Tribe came through in the third when Brantley hit a sacrifice fly to score Austin Kearns, who had reached on a hit by pitch. Then Asdrubal Cabrera singled to score Jack Hannahan, who had walked, and Cleveland was up 7-1 and Volquez’s day was done.

Volquez allowed seven runs — six earned — in only 2.2 innings, with seven hits, four walks, and the hit-batsman.

The Reds got a run back in the fourth on Bruce’s homer, then added two in the sixth to get to within 7-4. In that sixth, Joey Votto doubled in his second run of the game, and a Brandon Phillips ground out cut the Indians’ lead to three.

Asdrubal Cabrera hit his second homer in the bottom of the sixth off of Sam LeCure to make the lead 8-4, and then in the bottom of the seventh, with one out, Kearns tripled off of new reliever Jordan Smith and scored on Hannahan’s double to make it 9-4. Lou Marson walked and Brantley doubled, scoring Hannahan and moving Marson to third. Asdrubal drove in his fifth run of the afternoon with a single, and the final run of the inning — and the game — scored when Choo hit a sac fly.

The Indians now welcome the Boston Red Sox to town for a three-game set beginning Monday night at 7:05, as the Tribe looks to move to 19-4 at home.

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GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Cincinnati pitcher Edinson Volquez got tired during his first outing of the spring Thursday. Not his arm, that was fine. But it’s amazing Volquez didn’t nod off in the dugout after his recent schedule.

Volquez, the scheduled Opening Day starter, went 2 1/3 innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits in Thursday’s 7-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants. He walked two, struck out two and threw 60 pitches in his first outing of the spring because of visa problems that caused him to return to the Dominican Republic.

“I got a little tired,” he said. “My arm felt strong. But my body got a little tired.”

Volquez spent all of Wednesday traveling. He left the Dominican at 7:30 a.m., flew to New York and caught a flight to Phoenix, which arrived at 10:30 p.m.

“I was happy to be on the mound again,” he said.

In order to get there, Volquez had to deal with another dose of government bureaucracy in his quest to obtain his work visa. He flew Sunday to the Dominican for his Monday morning appointment. After that, he went to the U.S. Consulate.

“They said my visa wasn’t ready, so I left my passport,” Volquez said.

The call came Wednesday that the visa was ready.

“I was worried bad,” he said. “I was like, ‘I can’t wait anymore, I’ve got to get back to Arizona.’”

Volquez’s visa was held up because he failed a Major League Baseball drug test for performance-enhancing drugs and was suspended for 50 games in 2010. Volquez took and passed two drug tests — one by MLB, the other by the consulate — before leaving the Dominican the first time Feb. 16. He’s passed two more since arriving in camp.

Volquez will start a minor league game March 15, an off day. He’ll get two more starts before Opening Day.

“I think I’ll be OK,” he said. “I threw a little bit down there (in the Dominican) at the complex. When they told me Monday morning my visa wasn’t ready, I went to the complex.”

He thinks he’ll be fine going into the season.

“I’ve thrown so many bullpen sessions and simulated games,” he said. “I feel like I’m going to be ready.”

Volquez said he won’t have to go through this process in 2012.

“That’s what they say,” he said, spoken like a man who’s dealt with a lot of bureaucrats lately.

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Cincinnati Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez is going back to the Dominican Republic to obtain his work visa, hoping to a straighten out a problem that appears to stem from his performance-enhancing drug ban last year.

Volquez already has been picked to start on Opening Day for the NL Central champions.

The 27-year-old righty plans to be back in the Dominican this weekend and meet with U.S. government representatives Monday. He expects to rejoin the Reds at their Arizona camp on Tuesday.

Volquez only has a travel visa right now. He has not been allowed to pitch in any exhibition games for which admissions were charged. His ban last April for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug apparently has prevented him from getting the proper documentation.

Volquez has been allowed to work on the back fields and threw 50 pitches in live batting practice Wednesday. He will get four starts between now and Opening Day.

“When I get back, I’m going to jump right into a game,” Volquez said Thursday. “Four starts should be enough to get ready. When I come back, I’ll pitch four or five innings. The 50 pitches yesterday was about three innings.”

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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The Cincinnati Reds have agreed to a one- year deal with right-handed pitcher Edinson Volquez, avoiding arbitration.

Cincinnati, OH (Sports Network) – The Cincinnati Reds have agreed to a one- year deal with right-handed pitcher Edinson Volquez, avoiding arbitration.

Volquez became the final arbitration-eligible Reds player to sign, according to the club’s Twitter account. Financial terms of the deal were not released.

The Dominican Republic native made 12 starts last season after making his debut in July. He missed the first several months of the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and also served a 50-game suspension for a violation of the league’s drug policy.

He went 4-3 with a 4.31 earned-run average, and fanned 67 batters in 62 2/3 innings.

Over six years in the majors with Texas and Cincinnati, the 27-year-old has tallied a 28-22 record in 74 games (70 starts), with a 4.36 ERA and 375 strikeouts.

© 2011 The Sports Network

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