As was mentioned in the comments, and has been reported on ESPN.com, the Reds exercised 2008 options on three players today:

Adam Dunn: $13M Scott Hatteberg: $1.85M Javy Valentin: $1.35M

The Reds turned down Eddie Guardado’s $3.5M option, but are reportedly interested in bringing him back at a lower price.

I love all these moves, at the prices. My only only worry is that Dusty Baker will be tempted to play Hatteberg instead of Joey Votto. Wayne Krivsky says I shouldn’t worry:

“These things take care of themselves through spring training,'’ Krivsky said. “We want to give Dusty all the weapons we can to win with. I think we have depth at several positions.'’

To me, Joey Votto earned a starting position by hitting .321/.360/.548 in 84 big league ABs, after going .294/.381/.478 at AAA. Hatteberg makes a great backup and pinch hitter at $1.85M, but I seem to recall him saying that he wasn’t interested in that sort of role, quite yet. Frankly, after the season he had (.310/.394/.474), he should have a starting job. I’m just not sure it should be with the Reds.

Dusty Baker had a conference call today with the Reds beat media (via Rosecrans):

On recruiting free agents:

“I haven’t been recruiting. Two days ago, I was on a plane.  I got a package yesterday. I’ve got to see who is a free agent.”

However, Dusty did say he’s talked to Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, but it wasn’t about coming to Cincinnati.

“I probably talked to 40 players who called to tell me congratulations. I talked to Mark, but we were talk about his family and well-being, since he lives in San Diego. I’ve talked to a number of guys who live in that area — Jacque Jones, Dave Stewart, Phil Nevin. I was talking to him about his house and family.

“I didn’t talk to Kerry directly, he sent me an email saying congratulations. I told him, ‘I’ll see you down the line.’ It was construed as if I was talking to someone about baseball. The fire and their well-being outweighed baseball.”

Here’s the quote from the original press conference (before anything was burning in San Diego, btw):

Baker said “a number of players…called me about coming to Cincinnati.”

“I can attract players to come here,” Baker said.

I have no idea how the media got the idea that players were calling Baker “about coming to Cincinnati.”  He was definitely “misconstrued.”   

Have heard from our spotlight players in the last few days, here’s what they’re up to in the off season:

Thomas Pauly:

The arm and shoulder are doing great. I go into the field at least three times a week for the shoulder program and to throw, so i’m trying to stay optimistic about everything.

Off the field, I’m just trying to stay busy. I’ve been enjoying the football season and the Sarasota saltlife (fishing, beach, scuba diving, and I even went surfing with (Richie) Gardner last week for two days of nice waves over here) and I’m making a few weekend trips to see friends I haven’t seen in a while.

I also trained for and completed two triathlons recently, first of those i’ve done in 7 years, so that’s been an athletic challenge i’ve tried to tackle away from the field to keep me busy. It’s also been really nice to see hard work actually start to pay off again and I did pretty well in the two races. I’m thinking about running a marathon in February but I still haven’t decided on that yet. Also taking a GMAT prep class and will be taking the GMAT, in case baseball doesn’t work out, I might ship off to business school.

And from Logan Parker:

My offseason is going to be eventful. I’m going to try to help out with the (University of Cincinnati) Bearcats baseball team when I can. I’m going to be lifting and trying to rehab my shoulder. Also trying to find some sort of income. Also going home for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Thanks for all of yalls support and the Redleg Nation Player of the Month Award.

Note: Logan injured his shoulder diving back into first base in the second playoff game.

Matt Klinker said that he was going to post something himself, so be watching for that.

Trent Rosecrans has “possible interviews lined up” (not sure what that means, now that I read it again) with John Dewan of The Fielding Bible, one of my favorite baseball books of the last couple years, and The Bill James, of lots of great and important things (this is what he’s promoting now).

Trent’s soliciting reader questions via email, so please head over, click on his email link, and ask away.  Should be good interviews — two fascinating subjects, and Trent, as always, is doing his homework.

According to the Chicago Tribune:

Former Cubs third base coach Chris Speier is expected to join Dusty Baker in Cincinnati as bench coach, sources said Sunday.

Speier replaced Wendell Kim as third base coach under Baker in 2005, and generally was considered one of the better third base coaches the Cubs have had in years. But when Baker and his coaching staff were let go after the 2006 season, Speier sat out the ‘07 season.

The Cubs eventually re-hired Larry Rothschild as pitching coach.

Along with pitching coach Dick Pole, who was Baker’s bench coach in Chicago, Baker will likely have three former Cubs coaches on his staff, since former Cubs bullpen coach Juan “Porky” Lopez is also expected to wind up in a similar position with the Reds.

With three weeks left in the Arizona Fall League. Reds farmhands are faring pretty well for the most part.

Adam Rosales, who tore it up in 2007 in half season stints at A+ Sarasota and AA Chattanooga, is continuing his hot hitting with a 1.219 OPS in Arizona.

C Craig Tatum stalled this season in AA Chattanooga after a midseason promotion from A+ Sarasota, where he put up an .873 OPS. He has found his stroke in Arizona where he is putting up a 1.005 OPS.

OF Chris Dickerson may be having a breakout season. He too is burning it up in Arizona with a 1.081 OPS. Chris is coming off a decent showing in AAA Louisville where he posted a .796 OPS after being promoted from Chattanooga, where he struggled with a .676 OPS in 114 ABs.

Sam Lecure has a 2.25 ERA in 4 relief appearances in Arizona. This after posting a 4.17 ERA in 21 GS at AA Chattanooga.

Ben Jukich has a 15.26 ERA in Arizona after 3 GS. This after splitting the season between A+ Stockton, 5.40 ERA, and A+ Sarasota, 3.55 ERA.

Pedro Viola has found it tough going in 4 relief appearances in Arizona, putting up a 29.70 ERA. He fared much better in the regular season, posting a 1.42 ERA in 46 relief appearances over three levels (A Dayton, A+ Sarasota, AA Chattanooga).

Tyler Pelland 3.00 ERA in Arizona after 4 relief appearances. Pelland was converted to the bullpen this season. He put up a 3.95 ERA in 66 IP at AA Chattanooga, followed by a 3.04 ERA in 23.2 IP at AAA Louisville.

Arizona Fall League

Player          AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB  OBP  SLG  AVG   OPS
Adam Rosales    23  5 10  2  1  1  10  1 .480 .739 .435 1.219
Craig Tatum     26  5 10  2  0  1   4  2 .429 .577 .385 1.005
Chris Dickerson 43 10 14  2  1  4  12  3 .383 .698 .326 1.081

Player        W L   ERA G GS  IP  H  R ER HR BB SO WHIP
Sam Lecure    1 0  2.25 4  0 8.0  6  2  2  0  1  8 0.88
Ben Jukich    0 2 15.26 3  3 7.2 19 14 13  4  3  4 2.87
Pedro Viola   0 0 29.70 4  0 3.1 14 11 11  1  1  1 4.50
Tyler Pelland 0 1  3.00 4  0 3.0  4  1  1  0  4  3 2.67

There are about three weeks left in the Hawaii Winter Baseball League. The Reds have three prospects participating there this season.

The most notable is Chris Valaika, who started the season playing SS at A Dayton where he hit very well, putting up an .847 OPS. He was promoted about midseason to A+ Sarasota but struggled there with a .641 OPS. His struggles continue in Hawaii where his OPS is currently at .631.

OF Michael Griffin is faring a little better in Hawaii with a .723 OPS. This after posting a .767 OPS in 386 ABs in A+ Sarasota, and then an impressive .856 OPS in 165 AB at AA Chattanooga. Note the 0 BBs in 102 ABs in Hawaii. Not sure what they sent him there to work on, but after 31 BB in 551 ABs in the minors in 2007, you’d think this would have been one of them.

Logan Ondrusek is the lone pitcher the Reds sent to Hawaii, and he is struggling with a 5.71 ERA in 17.1 IP over 5 GS. Logan is coming off of a full season at A+ Sarasota where he started 22 of 31 games putting up a 4.43 ERA.

Hawaii Winter League

Player            AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB  OBP  SLG  AVG  OPS
Michael Griffin  102 16 30  3  2  2   6  0 .301 .422 .294 .723
Chris Valaika     82  8 20  4  0  2  12  3 .271 .366 .244 .636

Player         W L  ERA G GS   IP  H  R ER HR BB SO WHIP
Logan Ondrusek 1 2 5.71 5  5 17.1 28 13 11  0  5 12 1.90 

Doug has finished his countdown of the Top Forty prospects in the Reds season; here are the top ten. I doubt anyone would argue with the names in Doug’s top four, or the order in which he has placed them.

I do have a fairly big disagreement with his #5 selection; I doubt Drew Stubbs would make my top ten at this point, despite a couple of strong months at the end of this season (though he’d probably be in my top fifteen). I can’t really quibble with the rest of his selections, though I’d probably move Juan Francisco up a few spots, and maybe Matt Maloney, too.

Overall, however, very good work by Doug.

I thought it would be interesting to look at what Wayne Krivsky has done in the way of contract extensions. My gut impression tells me on the big moves (Adam Dunn & Aaron Harang), Krivksy has done really well. But he’s also signed several inferior players to contract extensions that have blocked better, younger, cheaper players. Let’s see what the transaction log tells us…

Feb. 13, 2006 - Adam Dunn (2 years, plus an option for ‘08). Locked up the team’s #1 or #2 asset at below market rates. Good work, and a good start to Krivsky’s tenure.

June 28, 2006 - Jerry Narron (through ‘08, plus an option for ‘09). Krivsky may not take full blame for this one, but it was obviously a huge mistake.

July 26, 2006 - Scott Hatteberg (through ‘07, plus an option for ‘08). This move worked, on paper. Hatteberg played very well in 2007. The move had other consequences, though, in that it blocked Joey Votto, who sure looked like he could have played first base for at least half of the ‘07 season. I can’t see Hatteberg’s ‘08 option being picked up, but we’ll see.

July 31, 2006 - Rheal Cormier (through ‘07). This was necessary in order to get Cormier to agree to the trade to the Reds. A double whammy, as he was terrible in both the ‘06 stretch run and ‘07. Jerry Narron simply refused to use him, and he was cut by Memorial Day.

Aug. 26, 2006 - Javy Valentin (through ‘07, plus an option for ‘08). The LLM’s power disappeared this year (.276/.328/.387), but he was still a decent contributor for the money ($1.25M). I’m guessing they pick up the option (though I can’t remember how much it’s for).

September 25, 2006 - Juan Castro (through 2008, with an option for 2009). Castro was coming off a season where he “hit” .251/.281/.351. He was 34 years old. The move was utterly senseless at the time, and looks 800 times worse, after Krivsky signed Alex Gonzalez to play SS and acquired Jeff Keppinger to be a good-hitting utility man. Oh, and Castro hit .180/.211/.236 in 54 games, before hitting the DL. The question becomes whether Krivksy & Castellini have the stomach to admit his mistake and eat the $1.075 for Castro’s ‘07 and ‘08 buyout. I suspect they do - they did cut Cormier.

December 12, 2006 - David Weathers (through 2008). In 2007, Weathers did exactly what he’d done in 2006: 70-something innings with a 3.55-ish ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. Even if you dismiss the value of “the closer,” Weathers was a very valuable contributor to the Reds, and well worth his $2.25M.

February 6, 2007 - Aaron Harang (through 2010). Harang didn’t miss a step after signing his big contract, giving the Reds another 230 innings with a 3.73 ERA. Great move.

February 8, 2007 - Bronson Arroyo (extended through 2010, with an option for 2011). This one feels a little like Krivsky (and/or Castellini) got caught up in the excitement of the Harang signing. Bronson was already signed through 2008, so Krivsky bought a journeyman pitcher’s age 32 and 33 seasons, for $25M. That looks a whole lot worse when you think of it that way. Arroyo pitched 210 innings in 2007, with a 110 ERA+. I’m less than optimistic that we’ll be considering Bronson an asset come 2010.

April 16, 2007 - Ryan Freel (through 2009). Freel will earn $7M over the ‘08-09 seasons, when he’ll be 33-34. I sure doubt he’s going to be worth having around at that price. Norris Hopper apparently proved that he can do essentially what Freel does, without the risk to life and limb, and at a greatly-reduced price. Freel hit .245/.308/.347 in 295 plate appearances, with 47 Ks and only 15/23 on steal attempts.

April 27, 2007 - Todd Coffey (extended through 2008). This looked really dumb about 27 days later, when Krivsky demoted Coffey. Or 14 days after that, when he demoted Coffey again. On the season, Coffey threw 51 innings, allowed 89 runners, 12 HR(!), and had a 5.82 ERA.

My report card:

Good moves: Dunn, Harang, Weathers, Hatteberg, Valentin.
Jury’s still out: Arroyo, Coffey.
Likely mistakes (or worse): Narron, Cormier, Castro, Freel.

Your thoughts?

It appears that LHP Phil Dumatrait has been claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh. In addition, LHP Michael Gosling and SS Pedro Lopez were claimed by Toronto.

Dumatrait certainly failed miserably in his major league stint this year, but I always thought he could be a decent lefty reliever. Guess we’ll never know now. He’ll probably be the #2 starter in Pittsburgh.

Tom Tango has released the annual Fans’ Scouting Report, which lets baseball fans rate players on defense.  The idea is to appeal to the “wisdom of the crowd,” and try to move beyond the weaknesses of both conventional wisdom and defensive statistics.  Turnout wasn’t especially high, but it’s interesting to look at, anyway.

Brandon Phillips was rated the Reds’ best defender, with an excellent overall score of 78 (average is 50, and one standard deviation is +20).  BP ranked third among all 2bs, behind Mark Ellis and one point behind Orlando Hudson.  And he’s basically the only Red who ranks in the upper tier at his position.  I don’t think we need anything else to tell us that we were watching a bad defensive club, once again.

Our buddy Adam Dunn ranks last on the team, with a score of 21, which seems low, even for Dunn.  He scored only 11 for both “instincts” and “first step,” which might be reasonable, but a 10 for “hands” is just wrong.  Dunn pretty much catches what he gets to - it’s just getting to it that’s the problem.

Griffey and Hopper both scored 55, which we know can’t be correct (many ballots may have been cast before Hopper got significant playing time).  Griffey’s being carried by excellent scores in “insticts” and for his throwing arm.  His ”speed” score of 32 is worse than Dave Ross’.

Freel’s 54 is dragged down by below-average throwing figures (and he’s lucky “decision-making” and “threat to others” aren’t categories).

Josh Hamilton was second the club in defense, with absurdly high throwing scores, and very good scores on everything but instincts and hands.  I think that’s pretty accurate.

Alex Gonzalez did very well, but I really don’t know how.  It seemed like he was always out, and when he was around, he played poorly in the field.  I don’t think he’s nearly as bad as he showed, but there’s no evidence that showed he was good, either.

EE scored above average, at 54.  His glove-based and instinct scores were very good, as was arm strength.  But 28 on throwing “release” and 22 on “accuracy” bring him down.  Seems fair.

From Yahoo.com (quoting the Chicago Sun Times):

Whether it’s simply to catch up on the past or plot for the future, new Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker has been chatting with his former Chicago Cubs co-aces, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.
‘’I talked to Mark Prior [Wednesday], and I’ve heard from Woody and some other guys,'’ said Baker, who will turn his focus to managing the Reds once his current gig as an ESPN analyst ends after the World Series.
Both pitchers could become free agents this offseason, and the Reds are starved for pitching.

I know this isn’t going to happen and it’s just someone filling newspaper space.

But if either or both were found to be recovered from injuries, and could be had for a reasonable price. I’d be in favor of it. These low cost - high ceiling pickups are what this team is going to have to do to compete in ‘08 and it’s something that Krivsky has shown some talent in pulling off.

But if they’re judged healthy, why would the Cubs let them walk?

See here.

Are there really six months until we can watch the Reds again?

Well, that was a terrible Game 1. I’m afraid we’re in for a miserable Series this year. Of course, anytime the Red Sox win, it’s gonna be miserable. Until lately, we didn’t really have to worry about that, did we?

Via JD, I see that Baseball America has an interesting note on Reds farmhand Craig Tatum. Before I get to that, however, I want to echo JD in that I am very encouraged to see the comments manager Dusty Baker had about 3B Edwin Encarnacion (you can read the quotes at the link above). You know we are big EE fans here at Redleg Nation, so I’m happy to see that.

(We’ve had plenty of criticism for Baker; it’s only fair to point out when we think he’s on the mark.)

Anyway, on to the Baseball America piece. RN editor Bill, in particular, has been a big Tatum supporter for some time, so we were intrigued at this report from the Arizona Fall League:

An exceptional receiver during his college career at Mississippi State, the Reds signed Tatum for $450,000 as a third-round pick in 2004 and he struggled through his first two seasons as in pro ball.

Tatum was sidelined by Tommy John surgery early in his career and when healthy spent the 2005 and 2006 seasons at low Class A Dayton, hitting .277/.344/.408 in ‘06 before moving to the Florida State League this past season.

Always a solid catch-and-throw guy, Tatum’s offense began to emerge in 2007. He hit .320/.348/.525 as a 24-year-old at Sarasota and earned a promotion to Double-A Chattanooga where he threw out 34 percent of baserunners in 46 games with the Lookouts.

“I look at him and he doesn’t show you anything on his throws between innings,” one scout from an American League club said. “But when there’s a runner challenging him, he shows you a cannon.”

Tatum gunned down two runners on Saturday, showing off a 1.92-second pop time down to second base in the process.

In addition to arm strength, Tatum has all the tools defensively. He’s an above-average receiver, blocks balls well and shows excellent leadership skills.

“He might be the best catcher I never read about,” Surprise reliever Randy Newsom said. “He just quietly does his job and he’s one of the best defensive catchers in this league.”

On top of that, Tatum has a short, compact stroke from the right side and uses all fields in his approach. While he scuffled early in his career, the AFL has been a coming out party of sorts for the Hattiesburg, Miss., native.

“He kind of got the reputation for being lazy early in his career,” said another AL scout who saw Tatum in college. “But he’s always had the tools. I think coming to the Fall League is the best thing for him in terms of allowing him to recognize that he’s for real. I think he might not have believed that before and this has been a huge confidence boost.”

Nice. This is an organization that isn’t exactly filled with catching prospects (other than 2007 first rounder Devin Mesoraco), so it would be a great development if Tatum turned into a legit player.