John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the Reds have signed Kip Wells to a minor league deal.
Wells, 32, pitched to a 5.33 ERA for Cincinnati and Washington last year, with a pedestrian 40 walks, 43 strikeouts in 72 2/3 innings.
Reds GM Walt Jocketty said it is still possible the team will sign Jonny Gomes, but there is no news on that front. Beyond Gomes, Cincinnati has no other free agent targets.
Can’t be any worse than last year….hopefully
Separate posts for Wells and Lamb?
Kip Wells really needs to bounce back from what was a really disapointing season. if not, he won’t make the team.
Insurance. Volquez/Arroyo/Harang/Cueto/Owings or Bailey
Insurance for those guys are Chapman/Leake/Lehr/Maloney respectively.
Don’t forget the great Mike Lincoln. ha. yea this move is just for spring training and minor league depth or long relief in an injury situation.
volquez is going to miss most of the season. bailey has a spot secured.
…Why? Guys like these are a waste of money.. you add them for insurance knowing everyone will cringe if they’re actually forced to make a start. What’s the point of having someone in the minors if you don’t have any intention of them every making any kind of impact in the future?
The thing is its low risk insurance, and its not like Kip Wells has never shown potential before. But yes I am sure the Reds do not hope they need to count on him, but hes a player they are familiar with that has at least minimal potential to help out in a pinch.
Exactly, although I’m not sure I wouldn’t count him out of the race for the 5th spot out of ST. Among Lehr, Owings, Lincoln, Maloney, and Wood, nothing really stands out. Might as well throw Wells in and see if he can’t get on a roll in the spring and have a couple of good starts out of the gate.
They’ve got to avoid injuries to their SPs if they want to compete though, that’s for sure. Volquez out til at least (likely) August, Leake and Chapman probably not options this year, at least not until June or so. Until those guys are ready, the 5 spot is likely going to be a revolving door.
An early season injury to Harang, Arroyo, Cueto, or Bailey means 2 of Wood, Wells, Lehr, Owings, Maloney, and Lincoln have to start, and that isn’t a pretty picture.
Maybe I’m not giving him enough credit because he was good early in his career but it’s hard for me to watch the Reds give a guy a chance that has struggled for so many years when they have a multitude of young arms to try out
He actually wasn’t that bad after Dick Pole tweaked his delivery a bit. He gained about 2-3 MPH on his fastball and his numbers weren’t that bad once he went through an adjustment period with the new mechanics … and as everyone else said … its minor league deal with absolutely zero risk. What’s to dislike about it?
What’s to dislike is the fact that the Reds could be setting themselves up to miss out on guys that could make a significant impact like Gomes because of their tight budget by spending on guys that are unlikely to make any impact
Minor league deal is hardly hurting the budget & not going to stand in the way of whether or not they sign Gomer
I feel the same way about some of these minor league deals. I know there isn’t much risk and these guys are just filler, but there comes a point when if injuries happen, I think I’d rather just take my chances with a young guy who has potential instead of a nomad like Wells who might not be terrible, but offers no upside whatsoever.
I generally agree with that, except you also want to consider if the minor league player is ready to take the leap to the majors, the arbitration clock. The certainty is in that Kip Wells will take the ball if it is given to him.
Obviously, the Gomes deal must be hinging on an MLB vs. ML deal. Dollarwise, I can’t think the Reds are far from the dollars-goal for Gomes (prolly in the neighborhood of $900k-$1MM). Gomes had a fantastic year at the plate in 2009, and he deserves the MLB deal for that. Sure, he has lousy range in the OF, but many stars do too. He costs the same runs on D as does Jason Bay. I think Jocketty is being stingy and unreasonable here. And I rarely side with the player in such matters.
I was at a game in early October where Kip Wells gave up 12 runs in like 6 innings. 1 Grand Slam to Chris Carpenter. That’s right, Chris Carpenter the Cardinals Ace. Also, He gave up an 2 RBI double to him. So Carpenter had 6 RBI, all off Kip Wells.
I never want to see this guy pitch in a Reds uniform ever again.
Wells is insurance if there is an injury and if none of the young guys are ready. The rotation at Louisville should be a good one and include Wells. If he does well at AAA and if the young pitchers there struggle at AAA, Wells may get a call for a spot start or go into the rotation while someone is on the dl. Very low risk, lots of ifs, unlikely we’ll see him at GABP. Reds made their best offer to Gomes long ago and its still out there, Jonny is waiting to see if he’ll get a better one somewhere else. At this point it appears he’ll spend 2010 in Cincy.
Kip is there for AAA depth and MLB emergencies period. No need to get worked up. He won’t pitch for Cincy unless there are a bunch of injuries. My bet is Gomes signs a minor league deal a day or two before Spring Training begins. He is just more insurance as the Reds try to get either Heisy or Francisco to stick.
Lincoln, Wells, Miles, Rolen…I’ve seen this team somewhere before.
Kip can be solid if given the opportunity. On a contender he can give you double digit wins and a low WHIP for sure. I love this signing….GO KIP!!!