According to a story on the official site, the Reds signed another old guy, Quinton McCracken, to a minor league contract yesterday.

McCracken, who will turn 36 years old next month, batted .237 in 134 games with Diamondbacks last season. A lifetime .276 hitter over his 11 seasons in the Major Leagues, he has also played for the Rockies, Devil Rays, Twins and Mariners.

If McCracken earns a spot on the Reds 25-man roster out of camp, he will earn $600,000.

This is, like, move #19 out of 22 for general manager Wayne Krivsky since he started last week. I'm worried that he's not getting the rest he needs. You know what they say: a healthy general manager is a good general manager.

The Reds designated for assignment pitcher Jung Keun Bong yesterday to make room for the newly signed Scott Hatteberg.

Bong and Bubba Nelson were the booty the Reds received from Atlanta in exchange for the beloved righty Chris Reitsma in March 2004. Nelson was also designated for assignment, cleared waivers, and was outrighted to Louisville on February 3 of this year. Bong is sure to clear waivers, too. There aren't a lot of teams gobbling up Reds cast-offs these days.

Well, the Nationals. And the Pirates. OK, maybe it's not a sure thing.

Now that Dunn is signed and the Hatteberg corresponding roster move has been announced, it's looking significantly less likely that general manager Wayne Krivsky had a secret trade for Dunn in the works all along. Darn it all. I was really looking forward to gloating that I'd called it.

It's not the Weaver some people want, but in a story on DallasNews.com, Evan Grant hypothesizes that Jered Weaver could land with Cincinnati:

Jayson in Arlington: Do the Rangers go after Jared Weaver if they fail to lure the Rocket to Arlington? Or do they really need to take a risk on him? I think Rupe or Dominguez would be just as good, if not better bets. Thanks Evan. Great work.

Evan Grant: I don't think so. It sounds to me like Weaver will end up with the Los Angeles Angels or Cincinnati. The Rangers would be willing to make a pitch for Clemens because, well, he's Clemens and he'd basically pay for himself in increased revenue. Weaver would not. It would not be quite the no-risk situation of Clemens.

If he hadn't just been drafted in 2004 and with the flurry of activity we've seen out of our team the last few days, they almost could have already gotten young Weaver and snuck him through between Quinton McCracken and Tuffy Rhodes while everyone was making more Bong jokes.

Happy almost Valentine's Day: Dunn is signed. As usual, Marc has the details:

Adam Dunn has agreed to a two-year deal with a club option for 2008. Dunn will get $7.5 million this year, $10.5 million in 2007 and $13 million if the option is picked up. The buyout of that year is $500,000.

Thank goodness. He'll be able to afford that splint now.

According to an article on the official site, the Reds have signed free agent Scott Hatteburg to a 1-year contract:

Krivsky's latest move was adding veteran first baseman Scott Hatteberg, who agreed to terms with Cincinnati on a one-year contract on Sunday. Terms were not immediately revealed.

Hatteberg, an 11-year Major League veteran, batted .256 with seven home runs and 59 RBIs in 134 games last season with the Athletics. A lifetime .268 hitter, the 36-year-old spent the last four years in Oakland, and was with Boston from 1995 to 2001.

The article says that Hatteberg will back up Dunn at first base, but I think that has to be crap. Valentín, LaRue, Cruz--Hell, even Griffey--could back up at first occasionally. I think the Reds only sign a major league first baseman if they're going to need a starting first baseman.

That would make sense if the corresponding roster move that's to be announced tomorrow will be a trade. According to Joel Sherman in the New York Post, Kearns is ripe to be traded for young arms this spring, but I'm not sold. Outfielders we have, and trading Kearns wouldn't mean Dunn would have to move back to left field.

I'm also highly suspicious that Dunn isn't signed yet and that Krivsky's answers to questions about his contract in the Q&A in the Enquirer today are almost O'Brien-ian in their avoidance of actual information.

Then again, after the way Kullman made it sound like the team would bend over (backward) to avoid an arbitration case, maybe Krivsky is just trying to take back a little of team's advantage.

I guess time will tell. In the mean time, I'm perfectly happy to have Hatteburg on board. He's sure to be in the running for the Hottest Red Award in 2006.