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Reds Notes: Votto, Phillips, Baker

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A few items of note to share out of the Queen City …

  • The Reds funded Joey Votto's big contract extension with the $25MM per year they've received in revenue sharing over the past 10 years, writes Bill Madden of the New York Daily News. We've heard whispers previously that the Reds had drawn upon shared revenues to lock up Votto, though this seems to be the first mention of such a specific sum.
  • GM Walt Jocketty said there's no updates on a potential contract extension for second baseman Brandon Phillips, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Jocketty, however, remains optimistic that a deal will get done within the next week or so, Fay adds. In case you missed it earlier this week, the Reds reportedly offered Phillips five years and $60MM, with a sixth year apparently being a stumbling block in negotiations.
  • Reds owner Bob Castellini reiterated that Votto's extension won't interfere with the team's ability to extend Phillips or manager Dusty Baker, according to Joe Kay of the Associated Press. "It has no bearing on our conversations with Brandon Phillips and, hopefully, our conversations with Dusty as we go forward," Castellini said. Baker is in the final year of a two-year extension he inked after the 2010 campaign. This season marks his fifth on the Reds' bench.

Latest On Reds, Brandon Phillips

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The Reds offered Brandon Phillips a five-year, $60MM contract extension for the 2012-16 seasons, Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio reports (Twitter link). One Reds source believes Phillips would sign if the Reds offer a sixth guaranteed season.

The Reds were already in serious discussions with Phillips when the club got sidetracked by the Joey Votto deal, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. Cincinnati GM Walt Jocketty said yesterday that he’s optimistic about working out an extension with his second baseman within a week. Bowden heard last night that the Reds had offered Phillips a five-year deal in the $62.5-65MM range.

Quick Hits: Phillips, Kinsler, Podsednik, Moyer

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Links for Thursday, as the first full day of the regular season wraps up…

  • The Reds and Rangers are working towards contract extensions with Brandon Phillips and Ian Kinsler, respectively, and ESPN's Jim Bowden says (on Twitter) there's some work left to be done on each. Phillips is expected to get $12.5-13MM annually, Kinsler $13.5-14MM.
  • Scott Podsednik will report to the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate, his agent confirmed to David Murphy of The Philadelphia Daily News. Podsednik was not technically a Major League free agent this offseason since he spent all of last year in the minors, so he was unable to opt-out of his contract at the end of Spring Training.
  • Jamie Moyer's can make $2MM in incentives op top of his $1.1MM base salary, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports (on Twitter). The 49-year-old left-hander will open the season in the Rockies’ rotation.
  • Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright took note when Matt Cain of the Giants signed earlier in the week, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. "Obviously, you have to pay attention to it,"Wainwright said. "It's a tremendous deal for him." Cain obtained $112.5MM in new money from the Giants, establishing a record for right-handed pitchers.
  • Ivan Rodriguez is working out and says he's in shape, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Heyman suggests the Rays could be a fit for the veteran free agent.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

Reds Expect To Extend Brandon Phillips

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6:16pm: ESPN's Jim Bowden hears that the Reds offered Phillips a five-year deal in the "neighborhood" of $62.5-65MM (Twitter link). That is just north of Dan Uggla's five-year, $62MM contract with the Braves.

3:51pm: GM Walt Jocketty said on today's TV broadcast that he's confident the Reds will complete a contract extension with Brandon Phillips within a week, according to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer (on Twitter). The ACES client will be eligible for free agency following the 2012 season if the Reds don't lock him up.

Earlier this week it seemed unlikely that the Reds would lock Phillips up long-term. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported last week that the likely asking price for Phillips is a raise from his current $12MM salary on a four or five-year deal. Phillips posted a .300/.353/.457 line with 18 home runs and 38 doubles in 675 plate appearances last year. He won his third Gold Glove in 2011, and deserved it based on advanced assessments of his fielding.

The Reds announced a ten-year, $225MM extension for Joey Votto earlier this week.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

Extension Updates: Votto, Niese, Kinsler, Greinke

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It’s been a big week for extensions, as Joey Votto and Matt Cain signed historic contracts on Monday. Here are some extension updates from around the league, starting with a couple additional notes on Votto’s deal.

  • John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer has the annual breakdown of Votto's deal (Twitter links). He'll earn $12MM in 2014, $14MM in 2015, $20MM in 2016, $22MM in 2017, and $25MM during each of the final six years. The club option for 2024 is worth $20MM with a $7MM buyout.
  • Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com has a breakdown of Jonathon Niese's new extension with the Mets (on Twitter). The southpaw gets a $250K signing bonus with annual salaries of $769.5K, $3MM, $5MM, $7MM, and $9MM. The two club options ($10MM and $11MM) can each be bought out for $500K.
  • Reds president and CEO Bob Castellini was the one driving the Votto deal, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. Other ownership groups have some concern over the ten-year deal, Crasnick adds.
  • The Rangers are discussing a long-term deal with Ian Kinsler, and while the sides are in agreement on the contract length — six years — they haven’t yet found common ground in terms of contract value, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Kinsler doesn’t want to negotiate after the season begins on Friday.
  • Casey Close, the agent for Zack Greinke, and Brewers GM Doug Melvin will speak tomorrow to “fill each other in on where discussions stand,” the GM told Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Greinke had been representing himself, but his new agent will handle talks from here on.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

Quick Hits: Oswalt, Cain, Soria, Votto, McCourt

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We're less than 24 hours away from the first official game at Marlins Park, as the Fish show off their new ballpark in their season opener against the World Series champion Cardinals.  Here are some news bits to tide us over in the meantime…

  • The Giants' extension with Matt Cain is "a sound deal," several non-San Francisco team executives tell ESPN's Buster Olney (via Twitter).
  • Roy Oswalt will likely need around 60 days of preparation time to be ready to pitch, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).  This fits with Oswalt's previous statement about looking at a midseason return.
  • Royals closer Joakim Soria underwent Tommy John surgery today and the medical team "couldn't have been more pleased" with the procedure, a club source tells MLB.com's Dick Kaegel.  Soria will miss the entire 2012 season recovering from the surgery.
  • Joey Votto's 10-year, $225MM extension with the Reds is "one of the crazier seeming contracts in baseball history," writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.  Heyman talks to several anonymous team executives about the contract, with theories ranging from the Reds being worried about the Dodgers' aggressive new ownership to the Reds being able to afford Votto thanks to several years of collecting luxury tax payments.  Then again, one competing GM says simply, "The Reds look like they have no plan."
  • Attorneys for Major League Baseball made a court filing arguing that the Dodgers shouldn't be allowed to emerge from bankruptcy until the team pays back $8.3MM worth of bills from the league, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
  • Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at how some recent big contracts around baseball could impact the Cardinals.  Miklasz thinks that Cain's deal will make Adam Wainwright's next contract even more expensive, but I don't agree, given that Wainwright is three years older and has a more checkered injury history.
  • Several Padres players, as well as several players from the entire NL West and AL West, are discussed by opposing scouts in a chat with Tom Krasovic of Inside The Padres.

Reds Notes: Votto Reaction, Phillips

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Here' the latest out of the Queen City, including lots of thoughts about Joey Votto's contract extension…

  • Votto has full no-trade protection for the 10 years of his extension, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter) notes that the no-trade clause also covers the final two years of Votto's existing contract (covering 2012-13).
  • Votto's deal is "slightly backloaded," a source tells ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link) but doesn't included any deferred money.
  • The Reds think they still have a chance to reach an extension with Brandon Phillips, tweets Jerry Crasnick.  We heard yesterday that it was looking unlikely that Phillips and Reds would work out a new deal before the season begins.
  • It's telling that Votto and the Reds seemed to work out an major extension "in a matter of weeks" while Phillips and the club haven't been able to make much progress after a year of contract talks, writes Ken Rosenthal.  A team insider tells John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer that while the Reds like their second baseman, "Phillips isn’t going to compete for the MVP every year. Votto is."
  • Also from Fay's link, he notes the differences between Votto's deal and Ken Griffey Jr.'s nine-year, $112MM deal with the Reds from 2000.  Fay feels the Reds believe they'll get a new local cable TV deal before their current agreement expires in 2016, and that the Reds' revenue streams from MLB's national TV contract and new media sources will also increase, thus allowing the team to push the payroll to around the $100MM mark.
  • Ken Rosenthal wonders if Castellini pushed Votto's deal though, a la Tigers owner Mike Illitch becoming involved in his team signing Prince Fielder.  Rosenthal also thinks Votto's extension could eventually become an albatross for the small-market Reds.
  • Cincinnati's smaller-market status, however, played a role in Votto's desire to stay in town.  The first baseman told John Fay (Twitter link) that "I'm about to sign a huge deal, John, and you're the only media I have [to] answer to."
  • In case you missed it earlier today, the Reds claimed Alfredo Simon off waivers from the Orioles.

Reds Claim Alfredo Simon

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The Reds have claimed Alfredo Simon off of waivers from the Orioles, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets. The Orioles had placed the 30-year-old right-hander on waivers over the weekend.

Simon posted a 4.90 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 43% ground ball rate in 115 2/3 innings as a starter and reliever for the Orioles last year. He has a 44.7% ground ball rate and an average fastball velocity of 94.5 mph in four seasons with Baltimore.

Ryan Madson will miss the 2012 season and Nick Masset will open the season on the disabled list, so the Reds are short on relievers. Simon will join right-handers Jose Arredondo, Logan Ondrusek and Sam LeCure in manager Dusty Baker's bullpen.

Olney On Votto, Cain, Hamels

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Two National League stars signed massive extensions yesterday and Buster Olney discusses the two deals in his latest column at ESPN.com. Some highlights, starting with Joey Votto's $225MM deal:

  • “At some point this contract will be a drag on a team in a mid-market,” one talent evaluator told Olney. Another called the deal “nuts,” and a third said it’s “absolute insanity.” One supporter of the deal said letting Votto go would have crushed the franchise.
  • If the Giants hadn’t offered Matt Cain a record-setting deal, he would have obtained a nine-figure deal elsewhere. Olney suggests it’d be hard to find a more consistent pitcher than Cain.
  • Talks between the Phillies and Cole Hamels have been dormant in recent weeks, but could be rekindled at any time. Olney finds it hard to imagine that an offer worth markedly less than Cain’s $112.5MM deal would have much appeal to Hamels and agent John Boggs. Ruben Amaro Jr. recently said the Phillies can afford three $20MM starters.

Brandon Phillips Extension Unlikely

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7:42pm: Talks between the Reds and Phillips continue following the Joey Votto extension, reports ESPN's Jim Bowden (on Twitter).

1:19pm: The Reds are nearing a long-term deal with their star first baseman, but it doesn't look like their second baseman will obtain an extension of his own this offseason. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that a deal between Brandon Phillips and the Reds is unlikely (Twitter link).

Rosenthal reported last week that the likely asking price for Phillips is a raise from his current $12MM salary on a four or five-year deal. Phillips posted a .300/.353/.457 line with 18 home runs and 38 doubles in 675 plate appearances last year. He won his third Gold Glove in 2011, and deserved it based on advanced assessments of his fielding. The 30-year-old is set to hit free agency after the 2012 season.

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