Reds Sign Jacque Jones, Daryle Ward

What happened to Jacque Jones? He was pathetic last season.

Does Dusty want any other former Cubs? His favorite player Neifi Perez is still out there, I believe.

we might lose 120 games

"might"???

I thought Hal Mcrae wrote the article

That would be funny

Good ol' Dusty is trying to re-create his Cubs teams one mediocre player at a time...

Eeek. This is not good. I wanted the Reds to do something good because I can see thier games in N.C and wanted something interesting to watch when Edinson or Cueto arent on the hill. Now I fear this is going to be another bad season.

These are minor league contracts. Why is everyone freaking out. I don't mind knowing that we have Jones as a back up in Louisville

Talk about overreacting! Big deal - they are just signing MINOR LEAGUE contracts to fill out some spots in AAA and MAYBE a bat for the bench. The Reds will not lose 90+ games this year. They won't be great, but they will hover around .500. They have a lot of promising young talent - and a fat, old bench player isn't going to make it all fall apart.

Scared of the Reds, I don't think so. I pay attention to all of baseball, especially teams that are in the NL Central. I posted a comment because these are former Cubs and our former manager is managing the team. The Reds are not scary, 4th place at best.

Corey Patterson ONLY signed a Minor League contract last year and look where THAT got him....

The Reds are loading up on OFs because they hope one or two have good STs and show that they still have something in the tank. After Bruce and Taveras, they have Gomes, Hairston, Dickerson, Ward, and Jones competing for the last three OF spots. I wouldn't be surprised to see them pick up another fringe OF or two in a couple weeks. Garrett Anderson comes to mind.

Wow, overreaction. Are there any Reds fans here?

Our outfield right now is- Bruce, Taveras, Dickerson, Hairston Jr., Hopper then maybe Gomes/Ward/Jones to compete for a bench spot. Get your facts straight.

It's hilarious to see Cubs fans talk trash cuz all you have to do is ask when they last won a championship? Atleast the Reds won in 90.

If I was a Cubs fan, I would be worried about the awful trades made in hopes for Peavy rather than the Red's minor league system.

I'll take the Reds identity of the Big Red Machine over the Cubs of the goat and Bartman, any-day-of-the-week.

"Ok, this is coming from a cubs fan who hasn't won a world series in how many years? "

He's a fans, how the heck are fans suppose win the World Series?
And if you are implying the ol 100, I doubt he has been alive that long.

Good luck with 2009..

"He's a fans, how the heck are fans suppose win the World Series?"

You obviously knew what I was talking about. We aren't 5 here. If this is such a big deal to cub fans that we signed Jones and Ward to MINOR LEAGUE deals, how are they explaining the signings of Mike Stanton and Paul Bako? I mean seriously. I think I'd rather take Ward and Jones. That's the problem with cubs fans. They are so arrogant, yet they haven't won a world series in over 100 years. How can you talk trash? I take that back, not all cubs fans (Tim).

Can we leave the my team has done this or that out?

Either way Daryl Ward never played for Dusty. He did play with the Cubs but not for Dusty.

Gleb, the Reds aren't in trouble. They probably aren't contending this year but most of their prospects are 1-2 years away. I don't understand why you believe the Reds will lose 90+ games this upcoming season since they haven't lost more than 90 since '03 and lost just 90 during '07. The offense will be god awful but the pitching is shaping up to look superb.

I never realized depth was a bad thing.

Oh and Grizzlyfox, don't forget Hopper is going to compete for an outfield spot along with the extreme longshot Drew Stubbs.

Everyone else, I'm a Reds fan and there is no reason to be doing all this taunting about WS rings. That's the past.

Yeah forgot about Hopper, although I think it's a safe bet to say if he doesn't look decent during ST he's going to be in Louisville.

EVEN MORE MEDICORE HITTERS THAT WILL DO WELL IN THAT SANDBOX OF A FIELD THEY CALL THE GREAT AMERICAN BALLPARK!

cubs have one finger to hold up

we have a whole fist

Ahh man, I remember Daryle Ward hitting all those pinch hit homers for the Nats back in the day...

Ronnie,

Get your facts straight.

Reds Sign Corey Patterson
By Tim Dierkes [March 3, 2008 at 7:35pm CST]
According to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Reds have signed 28 year-old center fielder Corey Patterson to a minor league deal. Patterson, a Boras client, makes for a surprising bargain with a dash of upside. He happened to reach free agency in an offseason with a center field surplus. He's reunited with former Cubs manager Dusty Baker, who some say mishandled Patterson at times. Fay believes this takes Kenny Lofton off the table for Cincy.

The Reds are calling it a center field competition, but Patterson will probably get the gig. This will allow the Reds to keep Jay Bruce in the minors until June and delay his future free agency by a year.

The Reds also inked another former Cub, Jerry Hairston Jr. He may have a hard time making the team, but his versatility could help.

ctown, what is your point? JHJ didn't make the club, he smoked triple A pitchers got called up and played his best although short season of his career. Dusty has already all but said they will be giving Dickerson all the chance in the world to stick it out in left either on his own or in a platoon(most likely situation). My guess is unless Dickerson absolutely sucks in spring training he'll be a starter...at least against right handed pitchers.

My point had nothing to do with JHJ but Corey Patterson.

People keep saying that the signings of guys like Gomes, Nix, Jones and Ward are "no big deal" because they are only signed to Minor League contracts.

I was pointing out that Patterson was "only signed" to a Minor League contract and Toothpick Baker found a way to not only get him on the team but have him be the starting Center Fielder and lead off hitter.

With the addition of these veterans, I AM worried that one (or more) of them will make the team and thus send Dickerson and Hopper to the Minors. Then, the Reds will again have NO CLUE if either of them can do well over a full season and the team will be in this same position NEXT YEAR, i.e. not knowing whether either are good enough to be able to play for a full season and whether they should be retained or need to be shipped out.

Since 2009 is going to be a losing season anyway, I have said all along that these two SHOULD be given a chance to play full time and guys like Willy T and the others should NOT have been signed and THAT money spent on ONE good hitter like Abreu.

Having an Outfield of Abreu, Dickerson/Hopper and Bruce would NOT have been the worst thing in the world.

Ha haa. Cubs bring up Marge Schott and Pete Rose. You have to resort to an owner as though she had something bad to do with our legacy? At LEAST, she was baseball's first female owner and she won a world championship in 1990. Next, Pete Rose, only the best Hall of Fame player not in the hall of fame, won championships in '75, '76, '80. Is looked upon by two generations of players and fans as the standard bearer of heart and hustle on a baseball field. Gambling on your team to win is GREATLY different than gambling on your team to lose.

I see the Hostility between the Reds and Cubs are still at its finest..lol...All Im asking from both sides of this article to cool the bashing about whos better than who and all this stuff about Championships...I could careless that my Cubs havent won a Ring in 101 yrs.....Ive only been alive for 23 of them..Instead of bashing each other, focus on the completions of both Cubs...The way my Cubs have been playing to some extent is unacceptable but they arent the only team....But to be the only 2nd team in baseball to post 2,000 wins is a good feat....Just like the Reds had the Red Machine Years...Good Luck to both teams...As long as we both finish above the Pirates and Cards thats all Im worried about...All Championships do is tend to make people become obnoxious and cocky for something they themselves havent won...

The Reds and Dusty Baker are a joke. They cut salary and replace it with scrap. Griffey had to go because he was in the way of developement. They could have kept Dunn and still have a team built primarily for speed and defense. You need a strong middle to win championships.