White signs 1-year deal
 

Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

Not sure how I feel about this deal... Being a major league contract, I would believe the contract is for at least $500,000.. I just think we have the likes of Hudson, Hancock, Wags, Mercker, Weathers, etc.. whats the point? If he can some how pull a Todd Jones and revive his career then deal him for prospects at the break then I'm ok with it.. just don't know how this improves the club

Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

with White, the Reds now have 41 players on the roster... who gets demoted or designated?

Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

Bubba gets the axe

Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

Can they demote White? ;)

Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

Standridge is another I would consider. White actually looks like he has something left in the tank to help the pen.

Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

I'm scratching my head on this one. The rotation will have Harang, Claussen, Milton, Williams, and possibly Wilson. Belisle will either be in the bullpen or a spot starter early in the season. Mercker and Weathers, unless traded, are in the bullpen. Coffey, Wagner, Standridge, Shackelford, Simpson, Burns, and Germano are all in the mix for the bullpen. I don't know whether Bong will be ready to go, but if so, he should be in the mix. Balfour is supposed to be ready sometime this season, if he is ever ready again. Although I believe that a bullpen can never be too deep or too good, signing Rick White to a major league contract is going to squeeze out one younger pitcher who could use the development and possibly force somebody onto waivers. I don't know who still has option years, but I would suspect that Germano, Burns, Bong, and Simpson are close to being out of options if they are not already. I would not wonder as much at this move if I felt White significantly improved the bullpen. I just don't think he brings that much to the table. He gave up 90 hits and 29 BB in 75 IP last year. He struck out only 11 more batters than he walked. Additionally, for what it's worth, the 2006 Bill James Handbook predicts a 4.53 ERA for the guy next year.

Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

I'm usually supportive of the FO moves (even DanO's) but I too am left wondering by this move. Did they not get their veteran presence in the pen when they added Hammond. It seems to me that Kullman has gone back to the days of Bowden when the REDS stocked pitchers for the sake of having them. It continued in the DanO era as well. It seems that the REDS sign as many pitchers as possible on the basis that on the law of averages one will pan out.

Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

They signed Mr. White?!

http://www.videovista.net/reviews/june04/resdogs4.jpg

Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

Methinks Burns could slide through waivers, unless DanO gets another GM job before he clears.

White Finally To Pitch For Reds
 

http://www.daytondailynews.com/sport...tml?cxtype=rss


Springfield's White finally gets to pitch for Reds

Veteran reliever fulfills goal, signs one-year deal

By Hal McCoy
Dayton Daily News
CINCINNATI | In all his travels through eight major-league cities in the past 12 years, relief pitcher Rick White always wanted to do one thing before he quit picking up rosin bags — pitch for the Cincinnati Reds, the team he loved as a child.
White, 37, gets that chance this year. The Springfield native agreed to a one-year $600,000 contract Monday with the Reds, with $300,000 more available in performance incentives.
In each of the past two seasons, when he was a free agent, White made himself available to the Reds, but they weren't interested. So, he signed with Cleveland in 2004 and with Pittsburgh in 2005.
White is a 1987 graduate of Kenton Ridge, a high school that also produced major-league pitchers Dave Burba and Dustin Hermanson.
He grew up a Reds fan, going often to games at Riverfront Stadium, and he said as late as last year, "I've always dreamed of pitching for the Reds. They were my team growing up, and I'd like to pitch for them before I retire."
He was 4-7 with a 3.72 ERA in 75 appearances for the Pirates last year. In his 10 seasons pitching for Pittsburgh (twice), Tampa Bay, the New York Mets, Colorado, St. Louis, the Chicago White Sox, Houston and Cleveland, White is 37-52 with a 4.24 ERA in 520 appearances, all in relief.
Arbitration update

Arbitration dates have been set for shortstop Felipe Lopez and first baseman Adam Dunn to determine how much richer the two Cincinnati Reds players will be. Even if they lose at their hearings, they win, because they'll receive large raises.
Lopez, who hit .291 with 23 homers and 85 RBIs and was the Reds' only All-Star last season, is scheduled to meet with a three-person arbitration board Feb. 8 at the Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Lopez is asking for $3 million, and the Reds are offering $2.15 million.
Dunn, who hit .247 with 40 homers and 101 RBIs while playing 160 of the team's 162 games, is scheduled at the Vinoy for Feb.17. Dunn is asking for $8.95 million, and the team is offering $7.1 million.
Lopez, Dunn and the team can come to compromise figures between now and the hearings. But once the hearings are held, arbitrators must declare a winner, with no compromises on the numbers.
The Reds' arbitration team consists of interim general manager Brad Kullman, assistant general manager Dean Taylor, special assistant Dick Williams, coordinator of major league scouting Nick Krall and club attorneys Mark Rosenthal and Alex Tamin.
No new candidates

On the general manager front, there are no additional candidates to be interviewed on the immediate horizon. The team is concentrating this week on interviewing seven candidates: Minnesota's Wayne Krivsky, Philadelphia's Mike Arbuckle, St. Louis' John Mozeliak and in-house candidates Brad Kullman, Johnny Almaraz, Leland Maddox and Jim Beattie.
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Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

I like the suit, brings a classiness to the team.

Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

:( I got slammed pretty good a few months back when I expressed my belief that the Reds bullpen in 2006 would be in the top 1/3 of NL bullpens. I want to retract that statement today if Rick White takes the slot of a young arm.

While you need veteran presence in the bullpen, you also need pitchers who have live arms and at least a minimal ability to make balls avoid bats. The thought of a Weathers/Mercker/Hammond veteran core, and young guns such as Coffey, Wagner, Shackelford, and Belisle looked to be a good mix. 4 RH, 3 LH, and 4 of the seven with their best days ahead of them. The fallback plan in the event that Ryan Wagner has a rough spring, or that Paul Wilson is not ready in the rotation would have been to insert either Jason Standridge, Mike Burns, or Elizardo Ramirez....not another veteran who has lost the ability to pitch to non-contact.

The back end of your bullpen should not be 35+ year old pitchers who have lost their stuff. It should be stocked with guys like Belisle, Shackelford, and in my opinion Ramirez who can learn on the job and work their way into a more vital role. If White bumps Belisle, Wagner, or Shackelford, I will be very concerned.

Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

Mea Culpa! I forgot to include Hammond in my bullpen list. With Hammond, the bullpen is even more crowded. The addition of White is guaranteed to steal time from youth.

Re: White signs 1-year deal
 

The law of averages sure hasn't book working too well...at least with the starters. ;)