The Reds signed a bunch of players to minor league contracts today, including former Yankee first baseman Andy Phillips.

I love a man with a big bat:

Also signed by the Reds to minor deals with spring training invites: righthander Jim Brower, infielders Jolbert Cabrera and Andy Green, and lefthander Adam Pettyjohn. And outfielder Jeff Fiorentino was claimed off waivers from Baltimore.

Fans of Cincinnati Reds prospect Jay Bruce will be interested in seeing his bona fide blog on yardbarker:

http://www.yardbarker.com/users/JayBruce

To give you a little taste, here’s what he says on the trade of Josh Hamilton:

So I’m sure everyone on here has heard about Josh Hamilton getting traded to the Texas Rangers, and next the question around the baseball world arises: WIll Jay Bruce start in Cinci? Well I’m here to say nothing changes from this trade. No matter what, nothing in this world is given to anyone. Sure, I’m excited it happened, its one less outfielder.

Hey, the guy puts together a decent sentence and seems to know his way around punctuation; if this baseball thing doesn’t work out, he may have the chops for a bright future in the lucrative field of baseball blogging. He’s promising video posts in the near future.

Thanks to xjjeep90 for the tip.

The St. Louis Cardinals have signed RHP Matt Clement to a one-year contract with a club option for 2009. ESPN has a pretty good breakdown of the terms for the incentive-laden contract here. Bear in mind when reading those contract terms that this is for a guy who hasn’t pitched since 2006.

ESPN quoted Cardinals’ GM John Mozeliak as saying that Clement is physically ready to pitch and “can be a solid addition to our starting rotation.” Which, to me, sounds like what the Cubs have been saying about Wood and Prior since the National League was founded in 1876.

JK

Welcome to round 1 of the Jason Romano Commemorative NLC’s hottest blogger contest. 15 of the best-looking players on NLC (plus one fella in limbo) face off in a single-elimination tournament.

Special thanks to the literally one of your who nominated players. Don’t see your favorite on the list? Well, I hope you’ve learned the benefits of nominating someone. The rest of the players were selected via a complex scientific process of looking at their profile photos on their teams’ MLB pages and, in some cases, me just adding them. They were then quasi-randomized and bracketed for this exciting, once-in-a-lifetime contest opportunity!

You’ll have 1 week to place your vote in each contest. New contests will be available as I get around to them. Feel free to pimp for your favorite in the comments. Results are final and cheating is OK as the contest doesn’t really mean anything.

Our first pairing pits a longtime Red Hot Mama favorite, the Cardinals’ Jason LaRue, against an unknown in the Brewers’ Manny Parra.

Jason LaRue
ht: 5-11 wt: 205 dob: 03/19/1974

LaRue boasts the square jaw, rugged features, and constant damp skin of the hometown boy all the country girls swoon over.

Manny Parra
ht: 6-3 wt: 200 dob: 10/30/1982

Parra brings a subtle sweet smile and boyish charm. And though you’ve never heard of him, that’s only because he just debuted in July. In his 26.1 innings pitched, though, he brought a 3.76 ERA and 26 Ks.

[poll=8]

As I sit down to write the very short report on NLC player transactions since my last update on the subject, I feel the need to acknowledge the demise of The Cincinnati Post. Best wishes to Lonnie Wheeler, Trent Rosecrans, and the rest of the gang at The Post. I enjoyed your work (or at least that portion of it that made it onto the Internet where I could read it…since I live near Buffalo, I couldn’t exactly run down to the corner store and buy The Post off the newsstand). I sincerely hope you guys land on your feet.

This week’s update is short because only two transactions were reported since 12/26. The Houston Astros were the only team that apparently didn’t get the memo about it being a holiday week,  and GM Ed Wade made the following moves:

• On Thursday (12/27) they signed OF/1B Darin Erstad to a one-year contract worth $1 million plus incentive, thus adding outfield depth and a left-handed bat off the bench. I suppose I should note for you trivia fans out there that Erstad is the only player in baseball history to win a gold glove as an infielder and outfielder.
• On Friday (12/28) they signed RHP Oscar Villarreal to a two-year, $2.85 million contract with a club option for 2010. Villarreal, a reliever, was obtained by the Astros from Atlanta for outfielder Josh Anderson last month.

So there you have it, and thanks a lot, Ed, I could have taken the week off. 🙄

Happy New Year to all!