I missed this the other day, but just saw it on Redleg Nation when catching up on Cincinnati Reds news (or the lack thereof) tonight. Joey Votto had an interview with CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman about the large contracts that Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder signed in the off-season.

“They did great, they did excellent,” Votto said. “Prince and Albert both stayed healthy and consistent. Albert obviously performed at an incredible level. And Prince performed in his own right, and he got a ton of years. To get nine or 10 years is what most (top) players look to. … Both guys are super talented, and I hope they live up to those contracts.”

Votto, as always, comes across as thoughtful and unafraid to say what he believes is true. He noted how clubs now shy away from signing players 35 and older to big contracts as. So the best thing is for players to maximize the number of years like Pujols and Fielder did.

Of course, Cincinnati is a small-market team, and talk of contracts like those might make him seem unwilling to stay. But he says that’s not the case.

“I’m very proud I’m with the Reds,” Votto said at one point.

When asked if he’d like to stay, he answered, “I definitely do.”

That’s good news. Hopefully, the Reds can work something out to keep Votto here for a bit longer than his current contract.

The Cincinnati Reds won a game today, with excellent performances from the pitching staff. Homer Bailey kept the ball down and shut out the Chicago White Sox over four innings. The offense managed only one run, but with Bailey and the bullpen’s scoreless performances, that was enough.

And I was bored by it.

Spring Training has been going on for a month now, and I want it to be over. I can’t even begin to imagine how the players feel.

The good news is that we’re just 17 days away from Opening Day. Two and a half weeks from the Findlay Market Parade. And two and a half weeks from the first official pitch of the 2012 season from Johnny Cueto’s hand.

It cannot get here soon enough.

It’s been a month since Spring Training started, and the Cincinnati Reds finally got around to making their first round of cuts. In all, 16 players had to pack their bags and leave big league camp. None of the decisions were surprising.

IF Kristopher Negron, IF Neftali Soto, RHP Josh Judy; IF Didi Gregorius, IF Henry Rodriguez, RHP Pedro Villarreal; IF/OF Donald Lutz and RHP Kyle Lotzkar were optioned.

C Tucker Barnhart, RHP Nick Christiani, RHP Daniel Corcino, C Brian Esposito, RHP Sean Gallagher, LHP Donnie Joseph, RHP Chad Reineke and RHP Brett Tomko were re-assigned to the minor league camp.

Some of those guys are very likely to be contributing in the Major Leagues sooner than later. But this is not their year. The hardest decisions likely won’t be made until the last minute.