January 16, 2007
Lohse gets $4.2 million, 1 year
By
BubbaFan
Posted at 11:52 pm
The Reds have have a deal with Lohse. That leaves only Harang.
The article also reports that Griffey had his cast removed, and should be ready for spring training. Says Janice Hough of Seattle:
Good news for the Cincinnati Reds. Ken Griffey Jr.'s agent announced that the outfielder's broken hand should be healed in time for him to be injured again in spring training.
And speaking of Griffery…he may be the new right fielder.
Brian Shackleford is delivering relief supplies to his hometown. Oklahoma has been socked by that ice storm, and his small town is pretty far down on the relief list. So he's driving a truck with generators, food, gas, etc., down himself.
Griffey in RF? That could be interesting.
And “somebody better to play center field”? I don’t suppose you have anyone in mind, “BubbaFan”? 😉
Um, well, now that you mention it…. 🙂
Bubba is great in all three outfield positions, but his natural position is probably center.
Someone posted a comment to my blog about overhearing a retired scout at one of Bubba’s college games. He was a fan of the other team, but he was very impressed with Bubba. Pointed him out to his friend and said, “That #8 is best natural center fielder I’ve ever seen in college ball.” The way he reads the ball off the bat, gets himself into position, etc. The kind of instinct you can’t teach.
Extra points if you can name Crosby’s 1998 teammate at Rice who also played in the majors. Hint: Lefthanded pitcher.
HMZ
Mario Ramos?
Lance Berkman is Bubba’s most famous teammate at Rice, but I think he was a pro by 1998.
Yup, Ramos is it.
Lost in all the hullabaloo about Reds Caravan, the Saarloos trade, the spectre of KGJ moving to RF, and the speculation concerning Homer Bailey is the fact that Lohse was already the fourth highest paid player on the Reds, with ESPN showing the following 2006 salaries:
1. Eric Milton, $9,833,333
2. Ken Griffey, $9,044,182
3. Adam Dunn, $7,500,000
4. Kyle Lohse, $3,950,000
Now bump Lohse up to $4,200,000. That for a guy who went 3-5, 4.57 for the Reds after coming over from the Twins last year.
Aaron Harang was eighth on the Reds’ salary list in 2006, earning $2,350,000 according to ESPN. All Harang did was lead the league in complete games and strikeouts, tie for the league lead in wins, and finish a close second (just six innings) to teammate Bronson Arroyo, who led the league in innings pitched.
My point here is that if Lohse is worth $4.2 million, then Harang, who has been offered $4.25 million by the club and is asking for $5.5 million, is easily worth double what he’s been offered, and then some – and that’s without even taking into account what teams would be offering Aaron if he were on the free agent market.
It says here that the Reds would do well to quit fooling around and get Harang signed to a multi-year contract now. Lock him up for three or four years with a club option for another year, and do it now before he becomes eligible for free agency and we get to watch him walk as a free agent when other teams start tossing Barry Zito dollars at him. The guy’s only asked for $5.5 million. He could walk into an arbitration hearing, point to what the Reds are paying Milton, and in this year’s market, I could easily see an arbitration panel awarding him $10 million a year.
Come on, Kriv-Dawg, get this guy’s signature on a long-term deal, before somebody like Scott Boras calls him on the phone and talks some sense into him.
HMZ
I agree. They’re idiots if they don’t sign Harang to a multi-year deal now.