LATEST STORIES FROM REDLEG NATION
Reds sign SP Jeff Francis to Minor League deal
The Reds addressed their need for starting pitching depth tonight, as John Hayman reports that the Reds have signed starting pitcher Jeff Francis to a minor league deal. Zack Links at MLBTR provides some basic info about Francis’ 2011 season.
Francis spent 2011 with the Royals, posting a 4.82 ERA with 4.5 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 across 31 starts. His 183 innings of work was his...
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19 days ago
Discuss
Reds reach 2-year agreement with Nick Masset
The Reds tweeted that the organization and Nick Masset have come to terms on a two-year contract worth a reported $5.5 million in guaranteed money, plus incentives. Masset had filed for arbitration at $2.9 million for 2012 and the Reds had countered with $2.1 million.
John Fay is reporting that this deal extends Masset beyond his arbitration years and includes his first year of...
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19 days ago
Reds Acquire SS/IF Wilson Valdez
The Reds have traded LH pitcher Jeremy Horst to the Philadelphia Phillies for SS/Utility infielder, Wilson Valdez. Mark Sheldon provides the essentials on Valdez at the plate:
Valdez spent the last two seasons in Philadelphia and batted .249 with a .294 on-base percentage, one home run and 30 RBIs over 99 games in 2011. A lifetime .243 hitter, the 33-year-old Valdez has also spent...
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19 days ago
Why I will miss CoCo.
Wow, the market really collapsed for Francisco Cordero. It appears he is going to the Blue Jays…as a setup man.
I know I’m probably in the minority, but I’m a fully-paid member of the CoCo Fan Club. Sure, he had his occasional problems, and he frustrated me just as much as he did you guys. In the end, however, he was what you would call a “stand-up guy.”...
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19 days ago
Reds sign Lenny Harris!
Yeah! Best pinch-hitter ever!
Wait…what?
Ooohhhh…the Reds signed Willie Harris. That makes more sense, I suppose:
The Reds agreed to terms with utility player Willie Harris on a minor league contract, two sources confirmed to MLB.com on Monday.
Harris, who will be invited to camp as a non-roster player, can earn an $800,000 base salary if he makes the club and his overall...
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21 days ago
Wanna hear something heard to believe?
Wily Mo Pena turned 30 today.
Happy birthday, big fella.
I would have guessed he was older…just something that I found surprising.
Talk about a guy whose agent didn’t do him any favors on his first contract…WOW!
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21 days ago
Rotation Slot Definitions for 2011
With the Reds stated pursuit of starting pitching for the top of the rotation this off season and the recent acquisition Mat Latos, there has been lots of discussions in regard to the slotting of pitchers in the starting rotation. Many like to tag starting pitchers as being a #1, #2, #3, #4, or #5 starter to describe their level of ability as a starting pitcher. The trouble is...
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22 days ago
I can’t wait
Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in four weeks. I’m not sure I can make it that long. It has been a long time since I was more excited about an upcoming Reds season. Anyone else feel that way?
Just needed to say that….
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23 days ago
Yes, The Reds Still Have Prospects
They’re going all-in, trading away the farm, and emptying out their farm system, but baseball scouts and analysts are still finding good Reds minor league prospects to compile various top prospect lists.
The latest list I saw earlier this week came from Baseball Prospectus. They characterize the Reds system “in 20 words or less: Considering the trades made for a 2012 run at...
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24 days ago
Will Leake Succumb To The Verducci Effect?
Mike Leake (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)Tom Verducci released his annual Red Flag List of young pitchers who are at higher risk for either injury or decreased performance for the upcoming season. His list is developed from the premise that inning workloads for young arms should be increased gradually from one season to the next. Pitchers whose workloads are increased by too much in a...
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25 days ago
Three Reds avoid arbitration
Cleaning up some loose ends, we just wanted to note — for posterity — that Homer Bailey, Bill Bray, and Paul Janish all avoided arbitration and signed contracts with the Reds in the last day or two.
Homer will make $2.4 million, about two million more than he made last year. Bill Bray also got a significant raise, nearly doubling his salary to $1.4 million.
I’m not sure how...
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26 days ago
Todd Frazier Replaced with Less Versatile Version of Todd Frazier
Ryan Ludwick is the newest member of the Reds and I have some seriously mixed feelings about it.
On the one hand, the Reds needed outfield depth. On the other hand, this negatively affects the construction of the bench.
As I read the tea leaves, the following players are locks to make the team: Hanigan, Cairo, Francisco, Ludwick, and Janish (until they sign another SS). That’...
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27 days ago
Redleg Nation Radio #65: with Reds prospect Tucker Barnhart
Redleg Nation Spotlight Player, and rising catching prospect, Tucker Barnhart joined Bill for an interesting conversation on this episode of Redleg Nation Radio.
You can listen with the player at the bottom of this post or right-click here to download the mp3 file to listen at your leisure. For links to all previous episodes of Redleg Nation Radio, check out the podcast’s home...
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27 days ago
Ryan Ludwick?
Good grief, I hope this turns out to be a false alarm, but…
Ken Rosenthal is tweeting that the Reds have agreed with left fielder Ryan Ludwick on a one-year deal, with a mutual option for 2013.
I guess it could be worse, but friends and neighbors, Ryan Ludwick isn’t as good as you think he is. Likely to be below average in 2012.
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28 days ago
Some Monday news….
- The Enquirer reports that the Reds have signed former All-Star catcher Dioner Navarro to a minor league contract with an invitation to the big league camp.
Jon Heyman is reporting that he signed for $800,000, plus $200,000 in incentives.
Comment: I am floored at this signing. They’ve already signed Corky Miller and Brian Esposito for minor league depth. This seems like a huge...
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28 days ago
Trading for a Clean-up Hitter: One Final Move?
The Reds have clearly and rightly made the choice to acquire elite pitching this off-season over adding a big hitter to the lineup. Most Reds fans now eagerly await watching Mat Latos, Sean Marshall and Ryan Madson take the mound in a Reds uniform.
With the pitching upgrade accomplished, attention has now legitimately turned to the question of who else, if anyone, will play left...
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29 days ago
Left Field
What should the Reds do with left field? That’s the glaring hole that remains on this roster; well, at least, it’s the biggest hole.
That question precisely is the focus of this piece by Dave Cameron. We all like Chris Heisey, but Cameron points out why the Reds need to be looking for an upgrade:
They’ve done well so far, but while the roster is almost done, they still have...
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January 14, 2012
HOF voter’s view on cheaters
As anyone that follows RN can tell you, I REALLY enjoy John Erardi’s writing. He published an article this week on his view on the PED issue and the HOF.
Here’s how it starts out:
I keep hearing that some of the higher profile voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America want some help in determining how to handle the upcoming Halll of Fame candidates who used...
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January 13, 2012
In case you aren’t excited enough about Ryan Madson…
Ryan Madson is the newest Red. He throws a changeup. It isn’t just any ordinary changeup, however.
It just might be the most effective pitch in all of baseball. Wow.
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January 13, 2012
Do the Reds Still Have Money to Spend?
Red Reporter has an excellent chart detailing the Reds’ current 2012 payroll. They currently have the team at $79.8M. I won’t try to improve on that except to say we have now learned that Madson is being paid only $6M in 2012 with a team option or $2.5M buyout for 2013 (thus the initial $8.5M that was reported).
That gives us a number of $77.3M
At the end of last season, the...
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January 12, 2012
Jonah Keri Likes the Reds Off-Season
It’s not just us. Grantland’s Jonah Keri has nothing but praise for Walt Jocketty’s off-season moves – particularly the Ryan Madson signing.
The lead:
Here’s what we knew about the pitching market heading into this offseason: There were exactly zero elite free-agent starting pitchers available, and roughly 83,000 closers. Any time there’s little...
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January 12, 2012
Thanks for the Memories
A few days ago, upon hearing of Larkin’s election to the Hall of Fame, I asked the other guys here to share a cherished Larkin memory or two. I thought it would be nice to share them with the rest of the Nation. I’ll start with mine:
This is pretty random, but I remember right after Larkin had retired, he mentioned that Bowden had tried to get him to play for the Nationals...
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January 12, 2012
More on Ryan Madson
David Schoenfield, over at ESPN’s SweetSpot, agrees with us about the newest Red, Ryan Madson; it’s a great pickup for the Redlegs:
Cincinnati Reds general manager Walt Jocketty may be too old to do a backflip, but he may be attempting one right now. This is how you build a good team in a small market with a limited budget: Sign one of the better closers in the game for a one...
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January 12, 2012
On Barry Larkin
Barry Larkin (Chad Dotson/Redleg Nation)***Warning: I’m gonna ramble a bit here.***
On Monday, my favorite baseball player was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
I’ve been thinking about Barry Larkin a lot these last few days. If you’ve read Redleg Nation for any length of time, you’ll know that I’m one of these gooey, Field of Dreams-type...
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January 11, 2012
The Worst Thing Ever Written About Barry Larkin
The headline on this Rob Neyer piece is “The Worst Thing Ever Written About Barry Larkin.” I might have titled it “The Dumbest Thing Ever Written About Barry Larkin.”
Neyer destroys it. A must-read.
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January 11, 2012
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