Did You Know: Edinson Volquez...

[Blitz Dorsey]

... makes $5.75 million this year?

http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/san-diego...inson-volquez/

I knew he wasn't coming cheap, but I thought he was more in the $4 million range for some reason. Wow, almost $6 million for Volquez? That's rough. So glad we managed to get rid of him.

BTW, he'll be an unrestricted free agent after this season. I hope Walt makes a serious run at him. (Not at all.)

[kpresidente]

Well, at least I can finally look at Josh Hamilton's stats this year without cringing.

[Blitz Dorsey]

Well, at least I can finally look at Josh Hamilton's stats this year without cringing.

Ahh, so true. He got his big money and just said "forget about it." He looks a lot skinnier to me this year too. Strange how that works, eh?

But yes, I used to see Hamilton put up crazy numbers and it would drive me crazy. Especially knowing all we got for him was a horrible pitcher IMO in Volquez (who had one good, steroid-aided year ... and I think he got quite lucky that year).

[REDREAD]

looks like SD is putting all that new TV money to good use

Actually, I can see their dilemma.. The Reds used to have to bring in the Jimmy Andersons and Josh Foggs to round out their rotation. At some point, you just have to grab warm bodies ..

[mikdavrut]

I will say this concerning Volquez being included in the Latos deal...a part of me seriously thought that there was a legit chance that he could go out and pitch in Petco and put up some pretty good numbers. Not just the whole "bigger park" aspect, but the "change of scenery" aspect as well. However, it doesn't seem to have really worked out for either the Padres or Volquez himself. At any rate, I was beyond ready by that point in time to be rid of him.

[oneupper]

I hope he invests it well. It will be his last big paycheck, IMO.

[cumberlandreds]

Didn't the Reds offer Volquez an extention on his contract with a nice raise? If so, I'm glad he didn't take it.

[texasdave]

...invented the light bulb.

[mikdavrut]

Didn't the Reds offer Volquez an extention on his contract with a nice raise? If so, I'm glad he didn't take it.

Now that you mention it, I think they actually did Sorta brings to mind the SF Giants and that really sweet offer they laid out for Lincecum. Wonder how happy they are that he turned it down (and on the flip-side, I wonder how many sleepless nights he has spent tossing & turning since turning it down)?

Another recent deal that ain't looking too good (at least as of late...and along with several other contracts that franchise is going to have to deal with for some time to come) is the deal the Phillies gave Cole Hamels. Ouch.

[oneupper]

IIRC it was a 4/24 or 4/27 or something like that to buy out his arb years and maybe a year or two of FA.
Not sure if it was 2009 or 2010, but I think the latter.
There has to be a thread about it here somewhere.

[dunner13]

Remember the article by Bowden right after the trade that basically said Volquez and Boxberger were going to go on and win multiple Cy Youngs, Grandal was going to be the next Johnny Bench and Alonso was going to be an MVP.........................yeh none of that came true, good job evaluating talent jimbo.

[Blitz Dorsey]

Yep, Volquez and his agent turned down a LTC from the Reds. Now that is good advice right there from the agent! (Unless it was Volquez who demanded the deal be turned down, who knows. Either way, the height of stupidity.)

Also, speaking of "inventing the light bulb" I always suspected that Volquez's parents meant to name him after Thomas Edison ... and misspelled his name. Is "Edinson" a popular name in the Dominican or something? If not, I bet they were trying to name him after the famous inventor and misspelled his name. Hilarious.

[mikdavrut]

Remember the article by Bowden right after the trade that basically said Volquez and Boxberger were going to go on and win multiple Cy Youngs, Grandal was going to be the next Johnny Bench and Alonso was going to be an MVP.........................yeh none of that came true, good job evaluating talent jimbo.

All I can say as far as Volquez is concerned is good riddance.

As for Boxberger, jury is still largely out, but for who we got, I think we'll be able to live without him.

Alonso is who Alonso is. And I think that's pretty much what/all that he is going to be. Hitting in Petco is not going to do him any favors either. Regardless of whether or not he, at some point, begins to hit for more power, he was blocked by Votto and our little LF experiment with him did not necessarily go all that great. By and large a moot point with Alonso, as far as the Reds were/are concerned.

Grandal OTOH, was the piece I hated giving up by far the most. And when he began playing a considerable amount late last season for SD, boy did he look pretty darn good at the dish. Of course we all know now that he was receiving a little help along the way. It remains to be seen how well he will hit if he remains PED free. But I will def. be keeping an eye on him, if nothing else but for my curiosity's sake alone. Having said that, I certainly feel as though the Reds made the right choice as far as keeping Mesoraco is concerned. I mean, don't get me wrong, Grandal very well may end up becoming a great player and all, but that PED stain is one that is going to follow him for a good bit of time to come. Plus, I think the kid has a ways to go defensively. Appeared to have a rather weak arm for one thing. But despite the negatives, a part of me still hates the fact that we had to let him go in the deal for Latos.

But (and this has been discussed ad nauseum), I still make that deal every day and twice on Sundays.

[oneupper]

Also, speaking of "inventing the light bulb" I always suspected that Volquez's parents meant to name him after Thomas Edison ... and misspelled his name. Is "Edinson" a popular name in the Dominican or something? If not, I bet they were trying to name him after the famous inventor and misspelled his name. Hilarious.

There's a lot of that in Latin America, not only misspellings, but sometimes the parents just like it better with the variation.

Jhonny. You would not believe how many Jhonnys there are in Venezuela.
Williams or Willian instead of William.

Edinson is not that uncommon. There's an Edinson Cavani who is on the Uruguayan national soccer team and plays with Napoli in Italy.

Of course, they were probably looking for Edison, not for Thomas, the inventor, but Edison Arantes do Nacimento, an obscure soccer player from Brazil, sometimes referred to as Pelé.

[BCubb2003]

Edinson's parents were schoolteachers, so they probably knew what they were doing.