Reds Sign Balfour, Menechino, Torrealba and Hanigan

[harangatang]

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/NASAp...=.jsp&c_id=cin

General manager Dan O'Brien has said countless times before that his small-market team must be willing to roll the dice on players coming off injuries.

Enter Grant Balfour.

The Reds signed the right-handed Balfour, who missed all of 2005 after having Tommy John surgery performed on his throwing elbow, to a one-year contract Thursday with the hope he'll rejuvenate his career in Cincinnati.

A corresponding move to clear up room for Balfour on the 40-man roster will be announced when terms of Balfour's contract are confirmed.

In other news, the club signed infielder Frank Menechino and catchers Steve Torrealba and Ryan Hanigan to Minor League contracts with invites to Spring Training camp and named Gene Kerns a professional scout.

At the end of last season, doctors predicted Balfour won't be at full strength until this May, because he suffered setbacks during his rehabilitation. This past fall, Balfour had another surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and torn labrum.

In his career, which began with Minnesota in 2001, Balfour has typically been used as a middle reliever. He's compiled a career record of 5-1 with a 4.63 ERA in 55 appearances, including one start, over the course of the '01, '03 and '04 seasons.

The Twins did not tender a contract to Balfour last month, and the Reds swooped him up.

Balfour, who recently turned 28, showed signs of strong command at times during the 2004 season, during which he went 4-1 with a 4.35 ERA in 36 relief appearances.

[Ranjo17]

And the hits just keep on coming.

[RedsManRick]

Catcher Steve Torrealba? Did Yorvit change his name?

[captainmorgan07]

menechin subs in at first for dunn and times and balfour hopefully ressurects his career

[Hondo]

We should have brought Trevor Hoffman back for an Encore...

[marcshoe]

I like Balfour, at least.

[deltachi8]

loook out 70 wins, here we come!

[KoryMac5]

DFA'd Hancock as a result. I know he didn't have starter potential but he did look good in relief last year. Had a 1.93 ERA and held opponents to a .208 batting average. Why risk a major league contract on a guy coming back from major surgery, torn labrum and rotator cuff.

[wheels]

Originally Posted by captainmorgan07

menechin subs in at first for dunn and times and balfour hopefully ressurects his career

What?

Menechino's something like 5'6" or something.

The guy's David Ecksteinian in stature.

He's an itsy bitsy little fella. He ain't playin' no first base.

Ever.

[marcshoe]

Can he stand on a chair?

[StillFunkyB]

Grant Balfour probably will never pitch again. To DFA a guy that actually can throw a ball is absolutely asinine.

Frank Menechino? How many friggin 2B are we gonna collect? I wonder if Freel is pretty much gone?

[Jpup]

I know there were a lot of people on the board that wanted to pick up Balfour, but I thought that a torn labrum was pretty much a death sentence for a pitcher?

I can't comment on the rest as I am not familiar with any of them except Menechino. I don't know why DanO signed him, the Reds sure don't need another middle infielder. Unless there is some kind of trade in the works, I don't see the point in any of this. DanO must of thought that he needed to pick up an ex-Blue Jay since Toronto signed Ben Weber the other day.

Frank Menechino 35 years old 5'8"(wtf?)

He has played 2nd, Short, and 3rd in his career. He has pitched in two games as well.

309 Games at 2nd
45 Games at 3rd
33 Games at SS


Career (6 years, 1257 AB) .240/.358/.383/.741 36 HR 149 RBI 200 BB 3 Steals 207 Runs Scored

2005 (148 AB) .216/.352/.345/.697 4 HR 13 RBI 25 BB 22 Runs Scored

2004 (236 AB) .301/.400/.504/.904 9 HR 25 RBI 36 BB 40 Runs Scored (Wow, let's hope he repeats 2004.)

I don't even think that you could consider him scrappy, he has a 3 for 13 stolen base record for his career.

[RANDY IN INDY]

As usual, O'Brien casts his line, directly to the bottom with a big hunk of smelly cheese on the hook. Bottom feeding at it's finest.

[MrCinatit]

Originally Posted by deltachi8

loook out 70 wins, here we come!

optimist :

[Unassisted]

Marc Lancaster's take:
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs....30317/1035/SPT

Reds take chance on reliever
By Marc Lancaster
Post staff reporter

Dan O'Brien referred to Thursday's signing of reliever Grant Balfour as a "calculated risk" for the Reds, but in baseball terms it was a relatively low-risk move.

The Reds will pay the 28-year-old right-hander $340,000 this year, knowing he won't be available to pitch in the majors until sometime this summer at the earliest. But if Balfour recovers from injuries that kept him on Minnesota's disabled list all of last season, he could prove a worthwhile investment.

"It's a combination of flashes of past performance, the power arm, his age and the fact that if he does return to his previous form, we would potentially control the player for several years to come," O'Brien explained.

Because Balfour has less than three years of major league service time, he still hasn't entered the salary arbitration phase, so the Reds could retain the rights to him for at least three more seasons after this one if they so desire. Whether they do depends on how well Balfour bounces back from Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery that ended his 2005 campaign before it even started and a subsequent procedure last September to repair a torn rotator cuff and torn labrum.

One factor in the Reds' decision to take a chance on Balfour's healthy return is that both surgeries were performed by their team medical director, Dr. Tim Kremchek. Balfour will be able to continue his recovery with firsthand guidance from Kremchek, and O'Brien said the prognosis is encouraging.

"He'll report to major league camp, he'll continue to rehab," said O'Brien. "If things go according to plan, the doctor projects that he might be able to return to pitching in the big leagues at some point in midseason."

Before the injuries, Balfour posted the kind of numbers that are rare among Reds prospects. Pitching in Class AAA in 2002 and most of 2003, Balfour recorded 175 strikeouts in 142 1/3 innings while walking just 46. Those ratios didn't quite hold in the majors with the Twins in 2004, but Balfour still struck out 42 and walked 21 in 39 1/3 innings.

To make room on their 40-man roster for Balfour, the Reds designated right-hander Josh Hancock for assignment. That, too, is something of a risk, as the Reds could lose Hancock through waivers, but they're expecting and hoping he'll make it through and accept a minor league assignment.

Assuming Hancock clears waivers, O'Brien said the pitcher will be in the mix for a swing role on the pitching staff as was originally planned. Hancock, 27, had a frustrating 2005. He appeared in only 11 big-league games after a nagging groin strain and elbow soreness kept him from the majors until September. He pitched well in his limited duty with the Reds, allowing three earned runs and walking one batter in 14 innings of relief.

Also Thursday, the Reds signed three more players to minor league deals with invitations to major league spring training. The additions of infielder Frank Menechino and catchers Ryan Hanigan and Steve Torrealba give the Reds 17 non-roster invitees.

Menechino is the most intriguing newcomer. He was a 45th-round draft pick of the White Sox in 1993 and spent nine years in the minors before making it to the big leagues with Oakland in 1999. He has been in the majors ever since, mostly as a backup infielder. The vast majority of his major league appearances have come at second base, which is becoming quite a logjam for the Reds.

Not counting Felipe Lopez, who will start at shortstop, the Reds will have eight players in big-league camp with experience playing second base in the majors: Rich Aurilia, William Bergolla, Ryan Freel, Aaron Holbert, Anderson Machado, Menechino, Ray Olmedo and Tony Womack.

"It's about depth and it's about maneuverability and it's about creating competition," O'Brien said of the infield glut, adding that Menechino was well aware of the situation before he signed.

Neither Hanigan nor Torrealba has much of a chance to break camp with the big-league club, but every team tries to take several catchers to spring training.