In their many talks about baseball, Hall of Fame outfielder Henry Aaron stressed one point to Braves teammate Dusty Baker. A position player is more valuable than a pitcher because he affects more games.

But right about now, you'd have a tough time convincing Baker, in his first season as Reds manager, that his old friend is right. "There's more need for pitchers today," he says. "I'm glad we have (Edinson) Volquez. We need him."

The Reds traded center fielder Josh Hamilton to the Rangers for Volquez last December. Hamilton leads the American League in RBIs and is among the leaders in home runs and slugging percentage; additionally, he is playing well in the field. Volquez, mixing 96-mph fastballs with an effective changeup, is 5-1 and leads the National League with a 1.06 ERA. He has not allowed more than one earned run in any of his seven starts.

The Rangers traded Volquez, 24, because they liked other pitching prospects in their system and they needed a legitimate center fielder. The Rangers also were not convinced Volquez, who was 3-11 with a 7.20 ERA for Texas over three years, could hold up for an entire season.

If the Rangers misjudged Volquez, it would not be a surprise. General manager Jon Daniels has traded Chris Young (now a key member of the Padres' rotation), Armando Galarraga (off to a nice start with the Tigers) and John Danks (3-3 with a 3.18 ERA for the White Sox). The Rangers, hardly rich in pitching, have only one pitcher on their roster to show for all that dealing: Brandon McCarthy, who is coming off a 5-10 season with Texas and is on the D.L. for the third time as a Ranger.

The Reds gave up Hamilton because the club has a heralded outfield prospect, Jay Bruce, nearly ready to advance and they were concerned about Hamilton's durability. Hamilton had injuries last season, when he made something of a storybook return after missing nearly four full seasons because of suspensions related to the use of illegal drugs. Privately, the Reds wondered how much damage Hamilton had done to his body in those days.

Cincinnati's Jerry Hairston, who played for Texas last year, offered his take on the Rangers' willingness to part with Volquez: "They've been trying to develop pitching forever. Then they get a guy who can be a No. 1 or No. 2 and trade him." Advantage, Cincinnati.