Ha! Let’s give him a raise!

Can they just release Alex Gonzalez? What the heck is wrong with his leg that it’s taken this long to heal?

Did you also see that Marcus Giles decided he wanted to play baseball again and signed with the Phillies on a minor league deal? That whole situation is bizarre. Did he need some time off to figure out how to succeed without PEDs?

The Pittsburgh Pirates offered minor league contracts with spring training invites to former Reds Anderson Machado and Pedro Lopez. They will be vying with Andy Phillips, among others, for a reserve infielder spot.

if he reaches incentives…..So Hairston, if he has a good season, is worth half as much as one Pat Burrell….that makes sense. Ugh.

"With the addition of Willy Taveras and Ramon Hernandez, along with Alex Gonzalez and Brandon Phillips, our defense substantially improves up the middle"

You sound completely full of shit now, Walt.

It appears that Cincinnati plans to make Hairston its starting shortstop this season because Alex Gonzalez won’t be ready.

“Hairston” and “starting” shouldn’t be ever typed in the same sentence. Ever.

Hairston was one of the better players on the Reds last year, but come on. A starting job? At a defensively challenging position? Potentially 4 million dollars? After an outlier year? With all of those injuries? Jockerty, you’ve got some ’splainin to do.

I guess it could be worse. He could have been “the answer” in LF.

move phillips to short. im sure he wants to. im equally sure he can handle it very well. i would much rather see kepp/hairston at 2B that SS. if it takes him some time to adjust, fine. i dont think anyone expects the reds to do anything next year. whatever . . .

has the Hairston signing as its top story. It says Hairston will likely be the #2 hitter, behind Taveras.

And speaking of Taveras…no jersey number yet, but he’s already been Photoshopped into a Reds uniform.

Then there’s this article, about how the Reds may have their eye on Baldelli. Also interesting is the speculation about whether Jocketty is kicking himself for not pursuing Burrell, or if they’re just so cheap they wouldn’t even shell out what Burrell got.

Gonzales isn’t going to be ready?

Why the hell didn’t we sign Furcal? Would’ve eliminated the need to sign T-Virus, and given us a real SS

IDIOTS!

No back-up info about why Seabass will not be ready. No quotes attributing the idea that Hairston will start at short. No info about the incentives. What a bunch of hackery in the name of being first with this little bullshit story.

I didn’t want Hairston back because if he’s healthy, Dusty will start him no matter what. On the bright side, it’s only for one season. On the down side, you mean to tell me that Taveras couldn’t have been signed for one season for much less than he’s guaranteed. This organization changes GMs and owners and still can’t wipe its ass with a roadmap.

On another bright note, I have no faith that this team will compete this year and will look for the bright prospect future. But, if they get no time to cut their teeth this year, how will we be a winner before ’11?

I’ve updated the WAR spreadsheet to add Cherry. I knocked Laynce Nix off the roster and cut 175 plate appearances from Gonzalez. It netted the Reds 0.06 WAR. Chipping away. Slowly chipping away.

The economy is really bad:

In a state like Ohio . . . the economics are really bad. The Indians may have had the best offseason of anyone [signing reliever Kerry Wood, among others], and they can’t sell tickets. On the front page of the Sunday New York Times, there was a story that 10-12 major Broadway shows are closing down this month, the most ever. And I kind of compare that . . . they’re luxury items the way baseball games have become luxury items, and I think that may be a tell-tale sign about the economy.

(It really is bad on Broadway. About half of all Broadway plays are closing this month.)

So, maybe Adam Dunn should sign a one-year deal and hope for a better economy next year.

One possible fly in the ointment: what if the economy is even worse next year? That is looking increasingly possible, and if it happens, Dunn could be wishing he signed a multi-year deal, even if it’s for less than he thinks he’s worth.