The Reds agreed to sign Russ Springer to an $850K deal, according to Bob Tompkins of the Alexandria Daily Town Talk. The 41-year-old right-hander threw for five teams and received offers from all of them, but he couldn’t turn away the team he rooted for as a boy.

“All of a sudden I went from being not really excited to looking at it as a kid again when I was pulling for [the Reds] during the Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, George Foster days,” Springer said.

He will report to Triple A Louisville and pitch for ten days to two weeks before joining the major league team. Springer, who pitched for the A’s and Rays last year, will make a pro-rated portion of $850K.

Springer has posted a 4.52 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 over the course of a 17-year career that began on the 1992 Yankees. His deal with the Reds is not a surprise, since they were known to be in the market for right-handed relievers.

This was takes directly from MLBTradeRumors.com. I'd rather had signed Weathers since we knew what we were getting ... your takes? Yay, nay?