The big news before yesterday’s Cincinnati Reds game was the third baseman Scott Rolen was experiencing pain in his shoulder again.

“[Rolen] called me today and said it was barking,” [trainer Paul] Lessard said. ”That’s why we called Doc (Tim Kremchek) to come in and take a look at him. We took a quick look at him, and there’s nothing really specific right now. It’s kind of sore all over.”

After that examination, Rolen was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

“I’m hurting,” Rolen said. “I’m in pain. I’m not healthy right now. As much as I want to help the team, I’m hurting the team.”

I feel for Rolen. In his time with the Reds, when he’s been healthy, he’s been an invaluable addition to the roster. Unfortunately, age and injury are catching up with the 37-year-old athlete.

After 4 surgical procedures on that shoulder–the most recent one in August of 2011–it’s not crazy to wonder if this is the end of Rolen’s career. That’s possible, but only time will tell. For now, Rolen’s going to rest his shoulder for 2+ weeks. If the pain subsides and the inflammation dies down, hopefully he can come back and swing a productive bat again. He was hitting well as recently as Spring Training.

Until then, manager Dusty Baker’s conundrum of how to treat an under-performing veteran in the face of an over-performing rookie has been solved. Todd Frazier is likely to get a lot of starts at 3rd in Rolen’s absence. He’s well-positioned to make the most of it.

486QV5C2JSK2The Cincinnati Reds primary shortstop from 2011 Paul Janish, often referred to as “Soft J” around the RHM household, has broken his left wrist while playing for the Louisville Bats.

Janish was hitting very well with the AAA affiliate of the Reds, with a batting average of .315 and an on-base percentage of .390. He’s expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks.

Of course, the worst part of this is what will happen to him when he comes back. It’ll take a year before he recovers his power.

The Cincinnati Reds today officially announced what they’d been working on for most of the off-season: a contract extension for Brandon Phillips.

Phillips, who was in the final year of his contract, renegotiated that into a new, 6-year contract worth $72.5 million.

“We originally had a certain number of years in mind that we were going to do the deal,” Jocketty said. “Then we realized that we’d probably have to extend another year, and that’s what we did. We went another year on the contract. We were able to get the deal done rather quick after that.”

The new deal adds salaries of $10 million for next year, $11 million in 2014, $12 million in 2015, $13 million in 2016 and $14 million in 2017.

Phillips is now signed with the team through 2017. Joey Votto is signed through 2023. Jay Bruce is signed through 2016. And Johnny Cueto, Aroldis Chapman, and Sean Marshall all have multi-year deals. The team has decided on a core group of players to build some winning teams around, but that’s not the most important thing. How does this compare to Yadier Molina’s off-season contract?

The good news is that Phillips and Molina are both signed with their respective teams through 2017. Moline added 5 years to his current contract and will be getting $75 million during that time. His annual average is $15 million. During those same 5 years, Phillips annual average is $12 million. Clearly, Yadi has a more lucrative contract, but there’s no doubt that Phillips’ will take up a higher percentage of his team’s payroll than Yadi.

I’m hoping we get more fireworks between the two.

There’s been a loud buzz emanating from Cincinnati since the rumor of a contract extension for Cincinnati Reds’ slugger Joey Votto broke at the beginning of the week. And now the Reds have made it official with a press release and a press conference.

CINCINNATI – Cincinnati Reds President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Walt Jocketty today announced the signing of All-Star 1B Joey Votto to a 10-year contract extension through the 2023 season with a club option for 2024. Votto had been signed through 2013 as part of a 3-year contract he received in January 2011, when he avoided arbitration.

“We recognize the historical significance of this signing. Ownership has committed to Joey, and we anticipate that he will continue to be one of the best players in baseball for the next decade or so,” Jocketty said. “He wants to stay here, and we want him here. We have shown we are committed to building a solid foundation from within the organization.”

Added team President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Castellini, “Joey not only is one of the game’s best players, but on the field and in the community he represents himself, the organization and our city with extraordinary professionalism and dignity. We certainly are proud to be able to keep him in Cincinnati for 12 more years.”

Selected by the Reds in the second round of the June 2002 first-year player draft, since his 2007 debut the National League’s 2010 Most Valuable Player ranks among Major League Baseball’s offensive leaders in almost every statistical category. Votto, 28, is a 2-time NL All-Star (2010, 2011), a Sporting News NL All-Star (2010) and the only Reds first baseman ever to win a Rawlings Gold Glove Award (2011). In the Sporting News’ 2011 poll of baseball executives was rated the fourth-best player in baseball behind Albert Pujols, Troy Tulowitzki and Felix Hernandez.

Three times in the last 4 seasons Votto was voted by the local chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America the Ernie Lombardi Award as the Reds’ Most Valuable Player (2008, 2010, 2011).

Lost in the exciting news of the contract extension for one Joey Votto was the announcement of the Cincinnati Reds’ opening day roster.

The rotation: Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Bronson Arroyo, Mike Leake and Homer Bailey.

The bullpen: Chapman, Sean Marshall, Sam LeCure, Bill Bray, Logan Ondrusek, Jose Arredondo.

The catchers: Devin Mesoraco, Ryan Hanigan.

The infielders: Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Zack Cozart, Scott Rolen, Miguel Cairo, Wilson Valdez, Todd Frazier, Willie Harris.

The outfielders: Jay Bruce, Drew Stubbs, Ryan Ludwick, Chris Heisey.

The surprise, I think, is that the team will be starting the season with just 11 pitchers instead of the expected 12. This is due to an early off day, after which the team has said they’ll make another decision.

But there you have it, your 2012 Cincinnati Reds. I look forward to seeing them in person for my first Opening Day on Thursday.