Off-season transactions

[redsof72]

Released: Josh Judy, Dan Jensen, Spencer Dickinson, James Ewing, Chris Joyce, Brayan Arias.

20 players have become 6-year free agents who could still re-sign with the Reds. Most have been reported, but list includes Valaika, Fisher, Willie Harris, Reineke, Costanzo, Webb, Rojas, Corky, Brackman, De La Rosa, Gallagher, Griffin, Gustafson, Ohman, Peacock, P.J. Phillips, Texeira, Vasquez (suspended for first 50 games) and a couple who reportedly already signed elsewhere, Jordan Smith, Obispo.

[redsof72]

Note that any of those players are eligible to be re-signed by the Reds. Players may want to test the water. There is quite a bit of money out there for a six-year free agent that has value.

Some players on this list that are longtime Reds farmhands, kind of sorry to see them go, though spots are needed for younger guys in some cases. Chris Valaika, truly a class act on every team he has been a part of. Miguel Rojas, one of my favorite players in Dragons history and one of the best defensive players ever to come through Dayton. Carlos Fisher gave you everything he had. Griffin is a longtimer. Of course, Corky. Reineke would be a guy that will not struggle to find a job.

[JayBruceFan]

Wow, they gave up on Dickinson and Jensen rather quickly.

[Gallen5862]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/...ons-oct-24-31/

Cincinnati Reds
Released: LHP Alexander Smit
Assigned to Arizona Fall League: 3B Travis Mattair

[camisadelgolf]

Wow. Smit retired after the 2010 season. I didn't expect his name to be brought up.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by camisadelgolf

Wow. Smit retired after the 2010 season. I didn't expect his name to be brought up.

I wonder if he decided to give baseball another shot and since the Reds still retained his rights, they released him to give him a chance elsewhere?

[redsof72]

I believe there is a limit on how long you can hold a retired player's rights before you have to release him. I am sure the Reds still hold rights to players like Chase Ware, Shane Carlson, Blair Carson, Joseph Krebs, Justin Walker, etc. (all guys who retired).

I knew a player once who was demoted by his organization and asked for his release rather than report. The organization refused to grant the release so the player retired. The organization kept him on the appropriate list to hold his rights for as long as they were allowed.

[Gallen5862]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

Minor Moves: Bray, Valdez, Rondon, Hernandez
By Mark Polishuk [November 8 at 4:38pm CST]
Here are a few of the day's minor transactions...

Left-hander Bill Bray and infielder Wilson Valdez have elected to become free agents, according to MLB.com's transactions page. With Valdez entering his second year of arbitration-eligibility and Bray his third, both players were seen as non-tender candidates by MLBTR's Tim Dierkes following their disappointing seasons for the Reds. Valdez, 34, posted a .463 OPS in 208 plate appearances as a backup infielder. Bray was limited to just 14 games due to groin and back injuries, but he'll surely draw interest from teams looking for lefty relief help; Bray posted a 2.98 ERA and recorded 44 strikeouts over 48 1/3 innings for Cincinnati in 2011.

[MBZags]

I'm sad to see Jensen released. I went to school with him and played basketball with him; he's an awesome guy.

[redsof72]

Jensen is a great person and it was really nice to see him get to pitch in his hometown in 2012, the first Dayton-area player ever to play for the Dragons. His father, who is very close to Dan, rode his motorcycle to many of the road games in addition to being at the home games and it was a great experience for them.

The other two released players who played in Dayton are also super people. James Ewing had been out of the game for a couple years and got his Masters. He was working out with Jay Bruce in the offseason and got to come back and play for another year. He had some skills but his body wouldn't hold up and he slowed down over the season. Very intelligent, pleasant person, will do well.

Spencer Dickinson is a very interesting person. His late father once beat Jack Nicklaus in sudden death overtime to win a tournament and his mother was President of the LPGA. One of the more polite, respectful players you would ever meet, called everyone sir. He never really got a chance to show what he could do after signing as a dreaded undrafted free agent, which is like signing your own death certificate in most cases. Almost impossible for those guys getting 10 at-bats a week or less to put up good numbers. Many times, they are better players than the guys getting the playing time and everyone knows it, so it becomes that much more frustrating for them.

Many of the players that fans would enjoy the most as people are guys who did not make it as players, but they will do well in life.

[JayBruceFan]

I got to hang around with some of the guys in Dayton this season and Spencer was by far the coolest guy on the team. Sad to see him go but I hope he does well wherever he ends up.

[mth123]

Chris Valaika signs a minor league deal with the Marlins.

[Joseph]

Originally Posted by mth123

Chris Valaika signs a minor league deal with the Marlins.

Looking like a big league deal after the big trade.

[JaxRed]

You wonder if they might have said something to him. "Chris, here's our depth chart" and then hold up a blank sheet of paper

[JayBruceFan]

Originally Posted by JaxRed

You wonder if they might have said something to him. "Chris, here's our depth chart" and then hold up a blank sheet of paper

Ha!