Loading ...The Reds signed Scott Hatteberg to a one-year contract today:
Scott Hatteberg agreed to a one-year, $750,000 contract Sunday with Cincinnati, giving the Reds more flexibility at first base.
Hatteberg batted .256 with seven homers and 59 RBI last season for Oakland, which declined his contract option for 2006. The Athletics decided to stick with Dan Johnson at first base.
Hatteberg can make an additional $250,000 in performance bonuses, based upon plate appearances.
I don’t mind this signing, in the abstract. Hatteberg is a quality player to have on the bench.
However, I can just see how this is going to play out: Hatteberg will end up getting the lion’s share of the ABs at 1B, sending Adam Dunn back to the outfield, and Wily Mo Pena to the bench.
I don’t want to believe that will happen. But watching this club over the last decade, I can’t help but think that the Reds will figure out how to screw this one up.
My first thought was, I wonder which of Griffey, Dunn, Kearns, or Pena is going to be dealt. I see Hatteberg at 1B everyday after one of the aforementioned are dealt for some pitching.
Later,
Tom
maybe he’s signing players featured in moneyball. the fat catcher next?
We’ll see. I’m not sure what this means just yet. IMHO, a lot will be told when we see what kind of deal Dunn is signed to. That will tell a a bit more about what Krivsky’s plan might be.
Wasn’t I hearing complaining a week ago that Kullman’s comment that they wanted to avoid a hearing with Dunn at all costs was basically telling Dunn that they’d give him whatever he wanted and that there was no reason to negotiate down very far?
Now Krivsky is publicly taking the opposite stance. I don’t put a whole lot of stock in what a GM says in the open…let’s see what kind of deal Dunn is signed to.
I still believe that Castellini wants Dunn signed long-term and that he has indicated so to Krivsky. We’ll see what happens.
The USA Today fantasy site chimes in on the signing, and like myself, is not very impressed with it:
Scott Hatteberg – DH – Reds
Reds signed first baseman Scott Hatteberg, who had been with the Athletics, to a one-year, $750,000 contract.
Not very impressed with this, especially since it’s a major league deal and Cincinnati already had a full 40-man roster. Hatteberg isn’t even of a lot of use as a defensive replacement. He could be a fine pinch-hitter, but the Reds already have one of those in Jacob Cruz, and unlike Cruz, Hatteberg isn’t an option in the outfield. He’s not someone who should be guaranteed a job at this point of his career.
Another interesting tidbit there, is that the Reds are showing interest in Richard Hidalgo. He’s put up two monster seasons, the others have been pretty pedestrian or flat out bad, and battled wrist injuries last year. He’d be a much better signing than Hatteberg, but may cost more.
Richard Hidalgo – OF – Rangers
The Orioles, Red Sox and Reds have some interest in free agent Richard Hidalgo, according to Newsday.
The rumors of Hidalgo going to Baltimore died down when Corey Patterson was acquired, but the Orioles could bring him in to battle Patterson and Luis Matos for two outfield spots. The Red Sox would only need him against lefties initially, and the Reds wouldn’t even have a platoon role open for him. Washington would make some sense here — Hidalgo is clearly superior to Sammy Sosa defensively — but the Nationals haven’t been mentioned in connection with him.
Later,
Tom
A plus side to Hatteberg would be if his number of pitches and OBP rub off on some of the other hitters.
There must be some posturing going on to make a trade for pitching.
Maybe nothing more than late inning defensive replacement and bat off the bench. We were going into this w/out a single roster player with significant 1B playing time (Neither Dunn nor Valentin really count as significant … 30 starts b/w them)
Dunn should not be “replaced” in the late innings of any game.
Hatteberg had a 677 OPS last year. That’s unacceptable at a corner. It was last (21st) among all qualifying 1b in the majors. (Sean Casey ranked 15th). He ranked 139 of 148 major leaguers who had enough PAs to qualify for the batting title.
i can’t see Krivsky trading dunn and putting in hatteberg as has been suggested various places, who would we have at first next season? It’s not like we have a prospect coming next year who is blocked by dunn right now. Dunn should be the 1b for the next 10 years.
we have room for 5 bench players: valentin, freel, denorfia, womack, and now hatteberg. it seems silly to take the spot away from cruz, even though i expect hatteberg to bounce back to a .750 ops or so.
If they’re looking for a PHer…none of the ones you’re talking about will be as successful or as cheap as Cruz.
That would be nice. Considering the difference in park effects between OAK and CIN, he’s bound to look better on the surface. I guess one thing that could be said for the Reds: They’re “buying low.” Both Womack and Hatteberg were utterly, completely atrocious last year. As much as I insist on evaluating players going forward (i.e., not paying for last year’s stats), I suppose I should appreciate these moves. It’s just that when a guy has a toilet-bowl season at age 35, odds are that he’s done, not that he just had an off season and is primed for a rebound.
In the interests of disclosure: When playing MLB on my PS2, my first move was always to trade Sean Casey for pitching and move Dunn to 1b. But I’d also end up trading for Hatteberg, to use as the righty-masher half of a platoon while I shuffled guys around or after I traded Griffey. He was one of the 2-3 non-Reds I always ended up acquiring.
not that this says anything, but the buy low idea occurred to me also when i noticed that he’s been inconsistent most of his career. In seasons that he’s layed more than 90 games his OPS has gone:
.788, .805, .802, .677, .807, .725, .787, .677
so maybe we’ll get something around .750-.780. still, that’s well below average for 1b, so i can’t think that he’s being seen as a regular to open up a dunn trade.
but maybe cruz will make the team when kearns or wily are traded in ST.
I keep wondering – what starter is going to get bumped if this trade ever happens? Is Uncle Milty going to hit the bricks? Will we hear Narron talk about Claussen still needing to “prove himself”?
Prior to this signing, I think the Reds had 17 batters on the 40-man roster. Two of them are minor league catchers (Sardinha & Perez). Votto and Bergolla also aren’t coming North with the team. That left them with 13 players, assuming folks like Denorfia and Olmedo are shoo-ins for a 25-man roster spot.