I Don't Follow Spring Training

I like to read most of the scarce articles about baseball during the winter although now it is much easier to follow your team with the Internet then when I was a kid. But I just don't like to read about all the spring training stories and injuries. Well if it was a major injury to a known player then I probably would have a hard time not hearing about it.

Spring training seems to be baseballs way of hyping up the new season. But most of the regular players don't play that much at first and many younger and minor league players are working their tails off to make the team.

I like to wait until I know the roster is close to being finalized before I get attached to a player who might not even make the team.

I did read a story about Cueto, it was about his work ethic, and now that he has a three year contract, is he going to maintain the work ethic that got him there, or is he going to resort back to the younger Cueto who didn't work as hard.

I'm a little worried about this myself. I know players will never admit to not working as hard, but you can't help but notice that some players stats will drop a little bit after they sign that big contract.

Reds Sign Renteria

I'm not sure I understand why the Reds signed Edgar Renteria. He is a very older player, but he does have great playoff experience and is probably a strong voice in the clubhouse. Those are really the only reasons I can see.

The Reds already have Miguel Cairo for backup and he can play pretty much every infield position. It says on their website that the Reds still expect Paul Janish to start at shortstop, but I'm not sure if that is what they are really thinking.

I think they are still worried that Janish isn't an everyday player, and I agree they should be worried since he hasn't really played that much consistently until late last season when Orlando Cabrera was injured for a couple weeks with a strained oblique. If I was Janish I wouldn't be too happy about this signing.

The Giants offered Renteria a one year deal with a base pay of one million dollars. Renteria said it wasn't enough money to persuade him to leave his family for another year. The Reds will be paying Renteria 2.1 million for one year and up to $900,000 in bonuses. They didn't mention what the bonuses were for but I'm assuming its if he plays a certain number of games.

This just sounds like the Reds are wasting their money. I would have liked to have seen that two million spent somewhere else.

Goodbye Harang

Well this was probably Aaron Harang's last start as a Cincinnati Red and it didn't end well. He only pitched two innings and started pitching the top of third and gave up a single to the pitcher and a single to the next batter.

Then Harang was taken out of the game because of a blister on his middle finger. And so ends his season and probably career with the Reds. He does have an option on his contract for 2011 but at 12.75 million I doubt the Reds will go that route.

Aaron Harang had a pretty bad year this year and has struggled every season for the last three years. When the Reds acquired him he was a pretty good pitcher and had some good years despite getting very low run support.

So it seems kind of unfair that he was with the Reds all those losing seasons, and when they finally have a chance to go to the playoffs and win he will be sitting out. I wish Harang well, I don't know if he will sign with another team next year or not.

I think he could be a decent middle to long relief pitcher, but I don't know if he is willing to go that way. He might be signed by a team that is desperate for starters but I'm not sure he is that reliable anymore with all of his nagging ailments.