Red Reposter - Joey Votto would be thankful for his MVP, but he celebrated Thanksgiving last month

Jay Bruce was pretty stoked to hear about his friend Joey Votto winning the MVP
"That's awesome. He was a huge part of us getting to the playoffs," Bruce said. "It was very well deserved. It was also very cool to be part of a team with something like that going on." BREAKING NEWS FROM THE FUTURE: The Red Reposter Radiotron XT 4099, equipped with the latest in HD radio technology capable of receiving broadcasts from all around space-time, is picking up a broadcast from sometime in late November, 2011. It's fuzzy, but I think I can transcribe it for you: 

"...that's awesome. Bruce was a huge part of us winning the World Series," Votto says. "It was very well deserved. It's been very cool to be part of a team with two straight MVPs and a World Series championship. I'm looking forward to keeping this streak alive and winning a few more World Series over the next few years. I also want to give a quick shout out to my best friend Charlie Scrabbles, who's been with us from the beginning of the season. He's such a great guy and we couldn't have done this without him. Hey man, don't fall in the dark sauce! Ha ha! That's a little inside joke he and I share. We are really best friends, so we do things like that."

Jocko sez now that Votto has won his MVP they are going to approach him about a long-term deal
They haven't done so yet because they wanted to wait for him to get the award "to be fair to him". Classy move from a classy guy. The MVP certainly ups Votto's price tag, but it's difficult to say by how much. He's already 10 kinds of awesome, so a trophy does little to change that. Here's what Votto had to say about it:

"We haven’t had any talks. How open am I to that? I don’t know. You’d have to see the figures and talk about the years. Because we haven’t had any conversations about it. It wouldn’t be fair to comment on it. I’m not trying to dodge the question. But I’ve got nothing. That’s OK right now. I don’t want to be peppered with contract stuff all offseason." If they can't figure out a long-term deal, Votto is probably looking at a salary next year between $7 and 10 mil. I really wanted the Reds to try to get him locked up after last season because an MVP season like this raises his price exponentially. And while I would love to see the dude in Red for years to come, it can't be a prohibitive price.

No arbitration offers this year
Only Arthur Rhodes and Orlando Cabrera were even considered, but in the end neither received an offer. Both are still able to return to the Reds if they agree on terms, but the Reds will receive no draft pick compensation if they decide to saddle up for another team. All indications suggest that the Reds are close with Rhodes on a new deal, so an arb offer would probably have been unnecessary and irrelevant. Look for Rhodes to sign fairly soon for something like $3-3.5 mil.

The Fay chatted with fans yesterday afternoon and there were a number of juicy little bits to gnaw on
Here are some of the highlights: When asked if he thought Votto would sign a long-term deal, he replied - "Yes, I think they'll sign him. My best guess is he'll get $7 million, $14 million, $18 million. They first three years." When asked about Drew Stubbs as the lead-off hitter - "Stubbs worked on bunting nearly everyday all season and he still couldn't get a bunt down for a hit when the season ended. I like him as player, but leadoff doesn't seem to work with him. Phillips is (not) much better suited, but he's less streaky." When asked to predict the Opening Day rotation - "If I'm betting: Arroyo, Cueto, Volquez, Wood, Bailey. Chapman would go to 'pen. Leake will be a starter, so if he doesn't make it, he'd go to the minors."

He also says Jonny Gomes is a great deal for the money ($1.8 mil), Jose Arredondo has a great chance to make the bullpen out of Spring Training, and trading for Justin Upton isn't going to happen because he thinks "if the Reds make a trade of that magnitude it would be for a leadoff guy".

Doug Gray asks you to do some amateur scouting on Didi Gregorius
I saw him last season in Dayton and Brendan creeped him out by shouting his name a jillion times. The poor kid was visibly frightened. Lucky for him, Wa-a-a-a-a-acky Paul showed up to distract Bren-Bren and Didi was able to slip out of the stadium without incident. Anywho, Doug has a few videos for you to look at and see what you can see about Didi's hitting. His glove at SS instantly makes him an interesting prospect, so if he can hit at all he has a future.