Our trip out to Arizona to catch a few Cincinnati Reds Spring Training games ended yesterday. And while the flight home left us too tired today, it was worth it. The most painful part is always the leaving, no matter what my back was telling me after being cramped inside a turbulent airplane for more than 3 hours.

Here’s a podcast from the final game we attended, when the Reds traveled to the new Spring Training digs of the Colorado Rockies.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

While we were in Goodyear, Arizona, the Cincinnati Reds decided that all those off-season, multi-year contracts they’d given away weren’t quite enough, so they saw catcher Ryan Hanigan standing around without one and remedied that.

Hanigan hasn’t done badly for a guy who wasn’t drafted, who didn’t catch much in college and who didn’t reach the big leagues until he was 27. Monday, the Reds officially announced a three-year deal with Hanigan that will pay him $4 million for this year, 2012 and 2013.

His trip to the majors was a long one, and, as John Fay writes, he was in the minors a long time. “He spent three seasons in Single-A and most of three more at Double-A.”

“I had a good opportunity to sign based on the year I had,” he said. “I made a little bit of money coming out of that summer, so I went ahead and signed. The Reds made a good offer.”

I’m happy to have him. He’s a good catcher and should be a good bargain for the Reds over the three years of the contract. I know the Reds have some good young catchers in the minor leagues, but they’re still a ways away. And it does take more than one catcher to get through a major league season.