Loading ...From John Fay:
Javier Valentin has decided he would like to end his career as a Red.
The club didn’t exactly give him a lifetime contract, but the Reds did extend his deal through 2007 with a club option for 2008. The extension is worth $1.25 million per year.
Ok, it’s not a lot of money and he has done a decent job as a PH this year….but….
Signing Valentin gives the Reds two catchers under contract for 2007. Jason LaRue, the No. 2 catcher, is due to make $5.2 million next year.
David Ross, Cincinnati’s No. 1 catcher, will be eligible for arbitration for the first time in the offseason.
You couldn’t GIVE Jason LaRue away right now and Ross is headed for arbitration, which will bring him a hefty pay raise, unless the Reds try to sign him to a multiyear deal after one breakout season.
You would think that something has to give in the offseason as far as the Reds’ catcher situation is concerned.
LaRue’s contract makes him difficult to trade, and he’s been reduced to a once-every-five-days catcher because of his offensive struggles.
Gee, ya think?
Difficult to trade is a vast understatement.
How does this extension make any sense?
Doesn’t make any sense to me. Hope someone can explain it.
Easy. LaRue gets DFA’d after the season.
I thought he was reduced to a once every 5 day catcher because of Ross’s unexpected offensive surge? Ross hasn’t really had any sort of slump worth taking a look at the other two guys. Larue goes 4-for-4 the next time he catches Harang, does he get any more playing time?
Greg, do you really believe they’ll DFA him owing him $5.2M?
He has been good off the bench. I’m thinking the only reason they would resign him is to have that left handed power bat off the bench. I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with his work behind the plate, at least not beyond helping mediate/translate between coaching staff and spanish-speaking pitchers.
It’s a relatively cheap deal for the Reds. He has won a few games for us single handedly this year, need we not forget.
As far as LaRue… there is nothing to be done. He is done and the Reds will just have to bite the bullet. Maybe he can pull it together and start next season strong, not that uncommon for a player to bounce back.
Ross is our catcher of the future, I think that has become fairly evident. (I hope I’m not wrong on that one)
He has been good off the bench. I’m thinking the only reason they would resign him is to have that left handed power bat off the bench. I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with his work behind the plate, at least not beyond helping mediate/translate between coaching staff and spanish-speaking pitchers.
It’s a relatively cheap deal for the Reds. He has won a few games for us single handedly this year, need we not forget.
As far as LaRue… there is nothing to be done. He is done and the Reds will just have to bite the bullet. Maybe he can pull it together and start next season strong, not that uncommon for a player to bounce back.
Ross is our catcher of the future, I think that has become fairly evident. (I hope I’m not wrong on that one)
He has been good off the bench. I’m thinking the only reason they would resign him is to have that left handed power bat off the bench. I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with his work behind the plate, at least not beyond helping mediate/translate between coaching staff and spanish-speaking pitchers.
It’s a relatively cheap deal for the Reds. He has won a few games for us single handedly this year, need we not forget.
As far as LaRue… there is nothing to be done. He is done and the Reds will just have to bite the bullet. Maybe he can pull it together and start next season strong, not that uncommon for a player to bounce back.
Ross is our catcher of the future, I think that has become fairly evident. (I hope I’m not wrong on that one)
my internet connection was screwing up… sorry to post the same thing 3 times, it was definitely unintentional. Working fine now though.
See you guys at gametime tonight.
I agree Larue is history. He has been untradeable.
Ross has had a fantastic season, but it came out of nowhere. His career OBP before this year was on the wrong side of .300 (400+ ABs). I think that a lot of his gains year are for real. But in case he regresses big time, having Valentin around will cushion the fall. Plus, Valentin can always serve as decent trade bait next July if things are going south. I think this was a good move.
Oh it definitely was. No problem with it at all really. Low cost and low risk… Let’s just hope Ross’s breakthrough is permanent and that this is not a career year for him.
Ross is the catcher of the future? He’s only 2 or 3 years younger than Larue, isn’t he?
Ross is going to be worth a couple of million next year through salary arbitration. I’d entertain offers for him on the market and see what I could get for him relative to what I could get for Larue (assuming I’d have to send at least half of Larue’s $5 million with him) and weigh the options. Given a full season for both catchers, I’d expect relatively similar production. I don’t understand how everyone is so sure that Larue is “done” given his sporatic playing time and small sample size. This is the first time in several years that he’s not played 5 out of every 7 days.
To me, this almost says that Ross is gone. Unless they seriously consider throwing LaRue into the garbage, which would be wildly inconsistent with what they’ve done so far. Of course, they could carry 3 catchers again.
Ross will be 30 on opening day. LaRue will be 33. They have the same birthday, if you can believe that. 30 isn’t young for a catcher, but 33 is old.
You can talk about sample size all you want, but it IS true that LaRue has started 50 games. His norm is 100.
More to the point, LaRue hasn’t had a hit in 6 weeks. Read that again, four or five times to let it sink in. And I don’t think this is the only time he’s gone almost that long, this season.
Does David Ross’ 2006 = Javier ValentÃn’s 2005?
Quite likely.
But I know for a fact that Jason LaRue’s 2006 = Dann Billardello’s 1984. (Or even Dave Van Gorder’s).
5+ million to not get a hit for 6 weeks… The Reds would be better of DFA’ing Larue and bringing up any (and I mean ANY) triple A batter-catcher or not. Ross is the catcher that I think most Reds fans (and probably most of the players) want behind the plate on a daily basis.
can someone explain DFA to this n00b?
Designated for assignment