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Weathers Willing To Play Anywhere

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John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer has the latest on Reds reliever David Weathers, who is eligible for free agency.  Weathers says he’s talked to the Reds about coming back, but hasn’t discussed dollars.  Weathers considered his two-year, $5MM deal to be below-market.  He wanted to stay in Cincinnati at that time (December of ’06), but now he’s open to any team.

Weathers, 39, posted solid ERAs in recent years despite shaky peripheral stats. It should be noted that he cleared waivers in August, implying the contenders looking for bullpen help didn’t think too highly of him.  He apparently rates as a Type B free agent, but it’s not known whether the Reds will offer him arbitration.

Reds Make Offers To Hairston, Weathers

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5:00pm: Jocketty told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon that he hasn’t heard back from Weathers’ or Hairston’s people in about a week since making the offers.

1:01pm: According to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Reds made contract offers to David Weathers and Jerry Hairston Jr.  Both are eligible for free agency. Weathers would probably serve as the seventh inning guy, while Hairston might handle center field duties.  Weathers seems to profile as a Type B free agent, while Hairston is neither A nor B.

Fay believes GM Walt Jocketty will also attempt to re-sign relievers Mike Lincoln and Jeremy Affeldt.  Affeldt had pretty big demands at the outset of the last offseason (four or five years), but ended up signing for one year.

Odds and Ends: Bowden, Cain, Young

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Links for Tuesday…

  • Chat today!  2pm CST.
  • Joe Pawlikowski at River Ave. Blues looks at some under-the-radar free agents.
  • MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy crunches the numbers and determines that it would be difficult to fit C.C. Sabathia into the Brewers’ payroll.  I think they could retain Mike Cameron and sign Sabathia, but only if they’re willing to take payroll into the mid-$90MM range and forgo other improvements.  Or, they could save $17-19MM by declining Cameron’s option and trading Fielder.
  • Reds beat writer John Fay muses on the team’s offseason needs.
  • Nationals GM Jim Bowden was diagnosed with a form of skin cancer this summer, but delayed surgery until after the season (a decision he regrets).  He’s OK now and back to work.
  • I get this question all the time: if the Yankees sign C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira, do the Brewers or the Angels get the Yanks’ first-round pick?  Baseball America’s Jim Callis explains that it’s determined by which player has the higher Elias rating.  In this case it might be Tex by a hair, but the official rankings are not out yet.
  • MLB.com’s Chris Haft heard the Twins covet Matt Cain and would be willing to trade Delmon Young for him.  Haft does not believe the Giants would make the one-for-one swap.
  • As of Monday night, the Mariners had not decided on their new GM.  They are not supposed to make an announcement during the World Series, so today remains an option.  It’s also been suggested they announce it tomorrow before the Series begins or get a waiver and do it on Friday (an off-day). 

Reds Will Let Patterson, Bako Leave

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9:38pm: A bit more on the Reds from Jocketty via John Fay – Paul Bako won’t be back, and the team has mild interest in Josh Bard.

10:56am: Mark Sheldon of MLB.com talked to Reds GM Walt Jocketty, who said he will not re-sign outfielder Corey Patterson.  Patterson, 29, hit .205/.238/.344 in 392 plate appearances.  This decade, only Alex Gonzalez of the 2000 Marlins had a worse OBP (.229) over 390+ plate appearances.  Gonzalez, however, had only one PA in the leadoff spot (Patterson had 155).  Patterson did play strong defense in center field this year.

Sheldon expects the Reds to attempt to re-sign at least two of their nine free agents in David Weathers and Jerry Hairston Jr.  John Fay guesses the Reds will also talk to Jeremy Affeldt and Mike Lincoln.

Odds And Ends: Cardinals, Astros, K-Rod

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Links for Saturday…

  • It doesn’t sound like Jon Daniels has autonomy in Texas.
  • Ian Hunter of Country 103.9 in Ontario recently talked to MLBTR about the Blue Jays. Click here to download the mp3.
  • Reds GM Walt Jocketty has talked to three or four of the Reds’ nine free agents.  John Fay speculates those players are David Weathers, Jerry Hairston Jr., Mike Lincoln, and Jeremy Affeldt.
  • The Padres’ grievance against shortstop Khalil Greene won’t be heard until spring.  The case of Doyle Alexander may be a precedent; the Yankees were not able to recover any money after Alexander broke a knuckle by attacking a dugout wall in ’82.
  • Matthew Leach of MLB.com takes a look at the Redbirds’ upcoming offseason.  Leach estimates that after all the contract and arbitration items are settled, the Cards will have around $25MM to look for a middle infielder, a middle reliever, and perhaps a new closer or #4 or #5 type slugger.
  • Likewise, earlier this week Astros MLB.com beat writer Alyson Footer reported on GM Ed Wade’s offseason plans. Wade is expected to make some tweaks to the roster, but it’s unlikely he’ll make any major moves. Footer suggests the Astros could look for a couple of rotation arms, and speculates on the possibility of signing Ben Sheets.
  • The O.C. Register’s Mark Whicker doesn’t see Francisco Rodriguez coming back to the Angels.

Alejandro A. Leal writes for UmpBump.com and can be reached here: alexo05 {at} umpbump {dot} com.  Tim Dierkes also contributed to this post.

Odds and Ends: LaCava, Colletti, Andruw

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Links for Wednesday…

Odds and Ends: Manny, Laird, Strasburg, Chipper

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Let’s gather up today’s linkage.

Jocketty Wants Right-Handed Slugger

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According to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, GM Walt Jocketty lists a right-handed run-producing hitter as the Reds’ top offseason need.

In our Reds Offseason Outlook, we suggested the Reds attempt to trade for Adrian Beltre.  That could improve the team on both offense and defense.  Commenters on that post noted that Chris Dickerson could play center field in ’09, leaving a vacancy in left.  Right-handed hitting left fielders on the free agent market include Manny Ramirez and Pat Burrell.  The Reds could also consider Matt Holliday or Magglio Ordonez as trade targets.  Payroll could increase to $80MM, which could leave the Reds with $20MM to spend.

As for the Reds’ own free agents, Hal McCoy sees them attempting to re-sign Jeremy Affeldt, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Mike Lincoln.

Padres Rumors: Bell, Hensley, Giles

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A couple of Padres rumors this morning from Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune…

  • Reliever Heath Bell says talks on a multiyear deal didn’t get very far and he’s content using the arbitration process for the first time.  Bell stands to earn a million or two in ’09.
  • The Reds are interested in Padres pitcher Clay Hensley.  Hensley, 29, posted a 5.31 ERA in 39 big league innings.  He pitched another 48 innings in Triple A.  His strong groundball rate could make a nice fit for the Reds.  Jeff from Cot’s Baseball Contracts told me Hensley has enough service time to qualify as a Super Two, meaning he’ll be arbitration-eligible this winter.
  • Tim Sullivan of the U-T says Brian Giles is the Padres’ primary offseason issue.  In my opinion, it’d be embarrassingly cheap for the Padres to choose the $3MM buyout over the $9MM option.
  • Nothing imminent on the Trevor Hoffman front.

Offseason Outlook: Cincinnati Reds

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The Reds are next in our Offseason Outlook series.  Their probable commitments for 2009:

C – Ryan Hanigan – $400K
C – Wilkin Castillo – $400K
1B – Joey Votto – $400K
2B – Brandon Phillips – $4.75MM
SS – Alex Gonzalez – $5.375MM
3B – Edwin Encarnacion – $450K+
IF – Andy Phillips – $440K
IF – Jeff Keppinger – $403K
LF – Chris Dickerson – $400K
CF – Ryan Freel – $4MM
RF – Jay Bruce – $400K
OF – Norris Hopper – $403K
OF –

SP – Aaron Harang – $11MM
SP – Bronson Arroyo – $9.5MM
SP – Edinson Volquez – $400K
SP – Johnny Cueto – $400K
SP – Micah Owings – $402K

RP – Francisco Cordero – $12MM
RP – Jared Burton – $400K
RP – Mike Lincoln – $550K+
RP – Bill Bray – $400K
RP – Gary Majewski – $400K+
RP – Ramon Ramirez – $400K
RP – Nick Masset – $400K

Non-tender candidates: Matt Belisle – $1.25MM+

Other commitments: Yonder Alonso – $400K

Rotation candidates: Daryl Thompson – $400K, Homer Bailey – $400K, Ramon Ramirez – $400K

The Reds have roughly $54.5MM committed before arbitration raises to Encarnacion, Lincoln, and Majewski.  After that, they’ll still be under $60MM (with a fifth of the payroll going to the closer).  The Reds entered this season with a $74.1MM payroll, so they might have money to spend.

The Reds had a below-average offense this year, and the losses of Adam Dunn and perhaps Jerry Hairston Jr. may make things worse.  On the other hand, the Reds won’t give 1,200 plate appearances to Keppinger, Corey Patterson, and Paul Bako again.

Top two positions of concern: shortstop and center field.  After missing all of this season due to a knee compression fracture, can Gonzalez return to his ’07 form?  For lack of a better option, I have Freel penciled in at center.  However, he’s injury-prone and already on thin ice.  Maybe Drew Stubbs deserves a look.  Or the Reds could sign a free agent, maybe someone like Jim Edmonds (who can be useful if he doesn’t face southpaws).  Mark Kotsay could also work. A simpler solution, as many commenters below have noted, would be Dickerson in center and a free agent left fielder signed.

Encarnacion’s defense at third base is not pretty.  I would love to see Walt Jocketty make an aggressive offer for Adrian Beltre.  I’ll let you speculate on scenarios.

The Reds’ rotation has a chance to be excellent next year without outside additions.  Arroyo, Harang, and Cueto all posted ERAs above 4.60 in ’08.  However, Arroyo and Harang finished strong and Cueto was solid for a rookie.  Throw in Volquez and a healthy Owings and the Reds could be tough one through five.  Thompson and Bailey provide more depth than most teams can boast.

Bailey could be trade bait, perhaps offered to Texas for a catcher.  But the Reds intend to give Hanigan a shot, and I like that plan.  As for the excess cash, where to spend it?  I don’t see needs beyond a backup catcher and veteran center fielder.  I suppose some dough can be spent to re-sign or replace Jeremy Affeldt as the go-to lefty.  And maybe Hairston will re-up at a reasonable rate.  But if I’m Walt Jocketty, I’m only tinkering in my first winter as Reds GM (aside from the Beltre idea).  This team has sleeper potential.

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