SATURDAY: The deal is now official, Sheldon tweets. It’s a two-year extension through 2016.
FRIDAY: The Reds have agreed to a contract extension with GM Walt Jocketty for multiple years, Jocketty tells reporters including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon (Twitter link). As John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported yesterday, both Jocketty and manager Bryan Price were expected to be retained, though the front office man was working on an expiring contract.
Despite a rough 2014 season, the Reds have generally flourished since Jocketty took the reins early in the 2008 season. Under his watch, Cincinnati has compiled three 90-win campaigns and two division titles. The club has, however, yet to win a playoff series in that stretch.
More importantly, several of the long-term commitments made under Jocketty are beginning to look questionable. The remaining portion of the contracts of first baseman Joey Votto (nine years, $213MM), second baseman Brandon Phillips (three years, $39MM), and starter Homer Bailey (five years, $96MM) all seem problematic looking forward, for various reasons (including injury and performance issues).
Jocketty does have plenty of pieces to work with in re-establishing an upward trajectory, but also faces plenty of challenges. Cincinnati entered last year with a team-record $114MM payroll, and already has $71MM committed to just ten players in 2015 — before accounting for Johnny Cueto‘s $10MM option, obligations to Raisel Iglesias, and some pretty significant arbitration raises. As MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently explained, given the possibility of increasing payroll constraints, Jocketty may need to deal from the team’s set of solid rotation pieces who have only one more year of control.
We got Jack
Hannahan!
Welp, there goes whatever hopes the Reds have for 2015 and beyond.
Well looks like we are already front runners for worst off season.
This is great news for the other teams in the NL central.
Yep that Joey Votto extension looks really good.
love this as a cubs fan.
In an already awful year this is the worst news of all.
The only bad contract is one that precludes you from signing another potentially bad contract. If the deals for Bailey, Votto and to a lesser extent Phillips keep the Reds from extending, say, Cueto, that’s more on Castellini than it is on Jocketty. While Jocketty has a disturbing proclivity for aging ex-Cardinals, kept Dusty around too long and has failed to get a left field bat for over two years, he has done some pretty great things as well: acquiring Choo, Chapman and trading for Latos among them.
Its not as bad as it seems. The Reds need to upgrade two hitting spots, the bench, relief pitching, keep starting pitching healthy, the coaching/manager/GM, and somehow get Votto to be Votto instead of trying to be one of the Alou brothers… Second thought. It is that bad