John Fay of the Cincinnati Enqirer says the Reds have talked to the Seattle Mariners about left-hander Cliff Lee.

“I will say this: We’re looking at anyway we can to improve the club,” GM Walt Jocketty said. “To improve the club, it would have to be a pretty significant player to do that. We have a lot of good things going. We don’t want to disrupt that.”

Seattle supposedly has been asking for a young productive hitter that is close to being major-league ready, and Fay suggests the Reds’ Yonder Alonso could fit that description.

Fay adds that it will likely take more than Alonso to get Lee, and he expects the Reds’ interest in Lee to change depending on how Edinson Volquez returns from Tommy John surgery.