The Reds announced that they have agreed to a three-year contract extension with GM Walt Jocketty that will keep him in place through 2014 (Twitter link). Reds owner Bob Castellini promised last week that he would bring the longtime GM back.
The Reds currently have a 76-80 record (though they have scored more runs than they've allowed) and sit in third place in the NL Central. They won the division with a 91-71 record last year and made their first trip to the postseason since 1995. They lost in the Division Series, but only after re-establishing their relevance in the division and boosting attendance by over 3,000 per game.
MLBTR's Transaction Tracker provides complete documentation of Jocketty's moves with Cincinnati. This is Jocketty's third full season with the Reds (this was the last year on his previous contract), but he has been a big league GM since 1994. Click here to see what they were saying when the Cardinals first hired him 17 years ago.
If he can get the Reds a legit ace, I think they’ll be serious contenders and possibly a perennial NL Central Champion.
They have a solid middle of the order with Votto and Bruce. They have some solid prospects coming up. I think they’re going in the right direction.
I really though Jiminez would have been a perfect fit.. Im wonder how they havnt made Chapman a starter yet
They won the NL Central last year. That they are looked at as a potential “surprise” team next year is an indictment of Jocketty’s work so far. Scanning his Reds resume on the the transaction tracker doesn’t leave me very optimistic about the next three years.
Analysts and experts have picked the Reds to be a “surprise” team every year since 2008. The only “surprise” that has resulted from those years is 2010.
The real surprise for 2012 will be if Baker is fired (and Ca$htellini has to eat the rest of his contract) before the trade deadline if the Reds are under .500.
Don’t complain so much about Castellini man. It could be A LOT WORSE, think if Mike CLOWN ran the Reds… Castellini at least has some desire to win.
This guy complained last year about the Reds when they won the NL Central, then we never heard from him again until they started losing again. It’s the same old ball and chain with this guy. Give it up!
Let’s see; now that Jocketty is back, I wonder what washed up, over the hill, former Cardinals player the Reds will pick up next. Looks like Ryan Franklin is available….
I think we already had him didn’t we??? So confusing keeping track.
We had him BEFORE he went to the Cardinals and was a dominant closer for 3-4 years. That’s when Krivsky was GM, not Jocketty.