Cincinnati Reds Rumors

Odds & Ends: Orioles, Brewers, Green, Sellers, Astros, Byrd, Vizquel, A's

Some more links as the weekend begins... Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun notes that the Orioles didn't make any contract offers on the first day of free agency. The Brewers have signed 16-year-old Dominican shortstop Santo Aybar, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Baseball America rated Santo the 18th best Dominican prospect this year. Nick Green doesn't expect to back with the Red Sox, according to Dan Barbarisi of The Providence Journal. Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the Marlins, Royals, Tigers and Reds are currently baseball's most active sellers. The Astros signed minor league free agent Jose Valdez, according to...   Continue Reading

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O's Claim Tatum From Reds; Nix A Free Agent

The Orioles claimed catcher Craig Tatum off of waivers from the Cincinnati Reds, according to a team press release. The O's designated lefty Chris Waters for assignment to clear space for Tatum. The 26-year-old catcher posted a .471 OPS in 77 plate appearances with the Reds this year; a considerable dropoff from his .638 OPS in Triple A. In 2008, Baseball America named Tatum the best defensive catcher in the Reds' organization. Meanwhile, the Reds lost the rights to another player. Laynce Nix refused an outright assignment and elected free agency, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman.   Continue Reading

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Reds Rumors: Free Agents, Scutaro, Wells

MLB.com's Mark Sheldon has the latest on the Reds' offseason plans: GM Walt Jocketty says the team won't be very active on the free agent market. The Reds won't set a payroll until next month, but they won't be spending on big-name free agents. That probably includes Marco Scutaro, who would fit the team's needs. The Reds don't plan on offering free agent pitcher Kip Wells a major league contract.   Continue Reading

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Reds Notes: Taveras, Owings, Gomes

MLB.com's Mark Sheldon cleaned out his inbox and answered a few questions from Reds fans today. Here are some of the more pertinent details... The team would like to move Willy Taveras if they could, but there are very few takers for a player who posted a .240/.275/.285 line in 2009 and is due to make $4MM next season. Given his limited abilities and how Shelton feels that Taveras wouldn't be happy on the bench, the Reds have to consider cutting their losses with Taveras and releasing him. Micah Owings will likely not be used as trade bait, given that...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Butler, Holliday, Counsell

A batch of links to kick off the work week... Newly minted Royals Player of the Year Billy Butler has not held long-term extension talks with the team, MLBTR learned on a conference call today. Butler will not be arbitration-eligible until after the 2010 season. Desipio on the Cubs-Curtis Granderson idea: "In the end, this smells like a winter of Brian Roberts and Jake Peavy trade rumors. One that ends with us talking ourselves into how Marlon Byrd isn’t so bad after all." Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports believes it's a three-horse race for Matt Holliday: the Red Sox,...   Continue Reading

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Jocketty Downplays Payroll Concerns

If the Reds are really slashing payroll this winter, $3MM on Ramon Hernandez seems an unnecessary luxury. Talking to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon, Reds GM Walt Jocketty explained that his team isn't necessarily slashing payroll: "All of that stuff was speculation by a number of different writers. They see that our attendance is down and so that must mean our payroll will go down. We were grouped in with clubs that are reducing payroll but we're not in that position and hopefully won't be." Still, even maintaining a $73MM payroll won't be easy. Counting Hernandez, the Reds already appear to be...   Continue Reading

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Reds Re-Sign Ramon Hernandez

12:06pm: MLB.com's Mark Sheldon tweets the contract details: $3MM in 2010, with the vesting option worth $3.25MM. 9:59am: The Reds re-signed catcher Ramon Hernandez to a one-year deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal says the deal includes a 2011 option that vests with 120 games played in '10. The dollars are not yet known, but the Reds had declined Hernandez's $8.5MM option for next year. Hernandez, 33, hit .258/.336/.362 in 331 plate appearances this year for Cincinnati after coming over in a December trade from the Orioles. He missed time with arthroscopic knee surgery. Hernandez was out-hit...   Continue Reading

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Discussion: Reds Looking To Deal?

SI.com's Jon Heyman reported yesterday that the Cincinnati Reds might field offers for Brandon Phillips, Francisco Cordero, and Bronson Arroyo. We've heard plenty of speculation that the trade market will be more vibrant this offseason than the free agent market, with so few big names available through free agency. Phillips and Cordero would each match up well with the best free agents available at their respective positions, and even Arroyo posted a 3.84 ERA in 220.1 IP this season. Teams may be more inclined to inquire about their price tags than to dish out long-term contracts to similar or lesser...   Continue Reading

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Olney On Ausmus, Carroll, Prior, Penny

A few notes from ESPN's Buster Olney... Via Twitter, Olney's heard from other teams that the Reds would love to move closer Francisco Cordero. Of course, closers are plentiful and Cordero is set to earn $25MM over the next two years. I mentioned in our Reds Offseason Outlook that the team would have to eat half of that to make him mildly appealing. Similarly, the Indians would definitely listen on Kerry Wood, who is set to earn $20MM over the next two years. Olney believes other teams could join the Reds and Tigers in cost-cutting mode. He says the teams...   Continue Reading

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Mike Fontenot Gets Super Two Status

Three players - Mike Fontenot, Adam Jones, and Micah Owings - have exactly two years and 139 days of service time. According to MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger, only one could be designated a Super Two player, and it will be Fontenot. It might seem pretty minor, but once you refresh yourself on what Super Two means, check out these ripple effects from the tiebreaker decision... Fontenot is arbitration-eligible now, so the Cubs can't just renew him for $430K. He's coming off a poor season, but he'll still be more expensive in 2010. The Cubs are tight on payroll, so you have...   Continue Reading

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