Walt optimistic on Bailey extension

[herbdizzle]

I don't think signing Bailey to anything over a 5/75-80 deal is in their best interest. You still have Cueto/Latos/Leake for 2 more years. If Bailey cannot sign a fair deal for the Reds sign 1 of Cueto/Latos, resign Leake (who'll be cheaper anyways) and you've got Cingrani & Stephenson for multiple years. That's 4/5 of a really good rotation. You can fill out the 5th spot from a FA signing (Maholm/Capuono type), Holmberg, Rogers, Corcino or whoever emerges from the minors.

Bailey is a really good pitcher and I would love to have him long term but only at the right price. The sky will not fall if we take advantage of his walk year, shake his hand, and wish him well after the year.

[swaisuc]

I don't think signing Bailey to anything over a 5/75-80 deal is in their best interest. You still have Cueto/Latos/Leake for 2 more years. If Bailey cannot sign a fair deal for the Reds sign 1 of Cueto/Latos, resign Leake (who'll be cheaper anyways) and you've got Cingrani & Stephenson for multiple years. That's 4/5 of a really good rotation. You can fill out the 5th spot from a FA signing (Maholm/Capuono type), Holmberg, Rogers, Corcino or whoever emerges from the minors.

Bailey is a really good pitcher and I would love to have him long term but only at the right price. The sky will not fall if we take advantage of his walk year, shake his hand, and wish him well after the year.

You might be right. I think I like Plan A as keeping him for this year, making him the offer that makes sense for the Reds, and not being surprised when he walks. If 2014 looks bad by July, there is always plan B.

I look at it like this... if the Reds didn't have Homer Bailey at all right now, we'd be talking about needing to make at least a Choo-type deal to bring in an SP just to have a chance at winning this year. We've essentially done that by just holding onto Bailey even if the end result is the same as Choo.

[wheels]

The thing is, flipping a guy for prospects before he leaves as a FA doesn't always work either. The 4 guys we initially got for Neagle all flopped, although trading Henson for Wily Mo salvaged some value, the initial trade brought zero.

Plenty of other examples of trading vets for prospects that didn't work out.

I'd much rather ride Homer into 2014 than get any realistic group of prospects for him.

Fair point.

Thing is, the GM at that time was an insufferable buffoon, and Neagle wasn't really on par with Homer Bailey.

[dougdirt]

I haven't read everything from this thread, but I do have to wonder after all of the speak about trying to re-sign Choo and not coming close and then being optimistic on Bailey and not being in the same ballpark, if we are just getting lip service, which I absolutely understand if it is, or if Walt simply isn't judging what players are wanting (and getting) with all of the new TV money out there.

[Norm Chortleton]

I haven't read everything from this thread, but I do have to wonder after all of the speak about trying to re-sign Choo and not coming close and then being optimistic on Bailey and not being in the same ballpark, if we are just getting lip service, which I absolutely understand if it is, or if Walt simply isn't judging what players are wanting (and getting) with all of the new TV money out there.

I choose to believe it is the former. It would speak very poorly of him if it is the latter.

[Caveat Emperor]

There's absolutely no way of knowing anything.

Really, anyone is in the Reds budget if Castellini decides to open the wallet. There's literally nothing stopping Bob from deciding to increase the budget to make room for Homer (and/or Latos) if he decides to do so.

For all we know, this is just posturing that will eventually end with Bob at a presser gushing about how Homer was/is a core member of the team and will be a Red for life (draft day to retirement).

[traderumor]

There's absolutely no way of knowing anything.

Really, anyone is in the Reds budget if Castellini decides to open the wallet. There's literally nothing stopping Bob from deciding to increase the budget to make room for Homer (and/or Latos) if he decides to do so.

For all we know, this is just posturing that will eventually end with Bob at a presser gushing about how Homer was/is a core member of the team and will be a Red for life (draft day to retirement).

Exactly, and anytime they've decided to pull the trigger, the Bob C. MO has been restructure the current dollars to make the current budget work, or even give some relief, then amortize it in future budgets. He's been operating as if the long-term cash flow is more optimistic than the short-term. He's been around too long and made too much money to be simply leveraging the future. While he's passionate about winning, he has also shown a very good understanding of the business of baseball in his tenure.

[Kc61]

For all we know, this is just posturing that will eventually end with Bob at a presser gushing about how Homer was/is a core member of the team and will be a Red for life (draft day to retirement).

I'm less concerned about signing Bailey than I am in seeing that the team, generally, maximizes its personnel within a realistic (and hopefully generous) budget.

Best result is that Bailey signs a deal at a level the Reds can handle, leaving open the ability to improve the team over the next several years.

However, if a Bailey contract is going to break the team's budget and cause them to be unable to make improvements for some time, I'd rather not sign him.

I sense that it might have been more fruitful to bring the Bailey trade v. sign decision to a head earlier in the off-season, when big trades were perhaps more likely, but we are where we are. Maybe an earlier deadline wasn't possible. Should be interesting to see how it works out.

[PepperJack]

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/...nt_id=67707442

"We're still talking," Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said on Wednesday evening. "We had another conversation today. We'll continue to keep talking. We'll talk again in another day or so and get something resolved one way or the other. There has not been a lot of progress, but good conversations anyhow."

Jocketty has not given up on trying to get Bailey signed long term.

"We're still talking about a multiyear," Jocketty said.

[PepperJack]

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/reds/201...eal-with-reds/

Homer Bailey says he’s open to long-term deal with Reds

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Although Homer Bailey’s arbitration hearing is scheduled for next week, the right-hander and the Reds are still talking about a multi-year extension.

“Honestly, we haven’t really talked one-year that much, it’s been primarily multi-year,” Bailey said on Friday.

Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said the two sides are still negotiating. Since the Winter Meetings in December, Jocketty has said a long-term extension with Bailey has been his top off-season goal.

“We’re still talking, negotiating,” Jocketty said. on Friday “Hopefully — we’ve got a week. … He and I are still talking, so that’s a good sign.”

[wheels]

The fact that they've based their discussions solely on a multi year deal is very encouraging.

[PepperJack]

https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN

Source: Homer Bailey's contract talks with the Reds could carry over into the regular season.

[mattfeet]

I woke up this morning after having a dream that the Reds re-signed Bailey to a 5-yr $100MM deal. I hope I'm wrong.

[edabbs44]

I woke up this morning after having a dream that the Reds re-signed Bailey to a 5-yr $100MM deal. I hope I'm wrong.

@hoynsie: Heard Reds getting close to 6-year deal in $100 million range with Homer Bailey. Bound to influence Indians talks with Justin Masterson.

[mattfeet]

Holy cow. Hopefully more of my dreams come true......helloooooooo Kate Upton! (Dont tell my wife!)