According to Rotoworld, the Reds have signed RHP Kerry Ligtenberg to a minor league deal with an invite to Sarasota:

Reds signed RHP Kerry Ligtenberg to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Ligtenberg had a 3.57 ERA and 18 saves for Triple-A Iowa last season. The 35-year-old last pitched in the majors with the Diamondbacks in 2005 and had a 13.97 ERA in 9 2/3 innings. He shouldn't make the Reds.

Only 35 years old? Seems a little young for Krivsky's tastes in pitchers.

I'm pleased as punch to find out that the Reds have extended the contract of #2 pitcher Bronson Arroyo today all the way through 2010 with an option for 2011. From Reds.com:

On Thursday, Cincinnati gave All-Star starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo a two-year contract extension through 2010 plus a club option for the 2011 season. Arroyo, who was entering the second year of a three-year, $11.25 million contract he signed with the Red Sox on January 19, 2006, will get $25 million more in new money for a total of $33.07 million when including his option buyout.

And a little bit more about the specifics of the money from C. Trent:

His entire contract -- including the extension -- will pay him at least $33,075,000. He will get $25 million more under the extension than he would have gotten under the two-year deal.
His base salary for this year is $4.125 million. He has a base of $3.95 million for 2008. As part of the extension, he gets a $2.5 million signing bonus that will be paid in 2008. He also has base salaries of $9.5 million in 2009 and $11 million in 2010.
There is a club option for 2011 at $11 million, with a $2 million buyout. The option can escalate to $13 million if he pitches a certain number of innings.
Arroyo agreed to eliminate two escalators in his old deal that could have raised his base pay by $650,000 for pitching so many innings

I'm not saying that this was the best financial move in the world. If the going rate for pitching continues along the trend we're seeing this off-season, it may work out, but after all, we've seen only one year of Mr. Arroyo's stuff and we're already investing Milton-type money in him.

But I'm not the one paying for it, so I say bring on the slightly-above-average covers of crappy 90s grunge!

Yippee! The Reds avoided arbitration with their only remaining arbitration-eligible player when they signed Aaron Harang to a four-year, $36.5 million contract through the 2010 season with a club option for 2011. Here's some stuff from the story on Reds.com:

Coming off his best season, Harang went 16-11 with a 3.76 ERA in 36 games, including 35 starts, in 2006.

Part of a solid 1-2 rotation combo with Bronson Arroyo, the 28-year-old Harang offered the club consistency by pitching 234 1/3 innings and led the National League with 216 strikeouts and six complete games and was also tied for the league lead in victories.

Before Harang, the last Reds pitcher to lead the NL in strikeouts was Jose Rijo in 1993. No Reds pitcher had led the league in complete games since Danny Jackson in 1988.

Let's get something from C. Trent in here too:

The deal, including the fifth-year buyout, is worth $36.5 million, which when Gil Meche is getting five years for $55 million is a bargain. The press conference will be live on WLW and Reds.com

Tune in to the press conference and let me know what they say. I'm in a meeting at 2, and besides, WLW couldn't make it all the way here through this blizzard anyway.

The Reds have re-signed injured pitcher Eddie Guardado. From Reds.com:

The club signed injured closer Eddie Guardado to a Minor League contract on Sunday and invited him to big-league camp at Spring Training.
…
Guardado will earn a $500,000 base salary if retained on the Major League roster. The lefty can earn a $1.4 million roster bonus if he's healthy and is the Reds' closer before the All-Star break. An additional $1.2 million bonus can be earned if he finishes 30 games in 2007.

There is also a $3 million club option for 2008 with no buyout clause included. Bonuses Guardado earns in 2007 can be added to the figure of his 2008 base salary, which could increase the total to $7 million.

Typically I'm not a fan of signing injured players (what's the status on the Majewski grievance again?), but I'm not hating bringing Guardado back aboard. He was awesome for the ten minutes the Reds had him before he got injured. I'd love for the Reds to be in a position to pay him $7 million in 2008.

C. Trent has some quotes from General Manager Wayne Krivsky:

“I’m not into the prediction business, but he’ll be ready at some point in the year,” Krivsky said. “Hopefully when he comes back, he’s healthy.”

And hopefully when he's healthy, he's good. We've got enough bad injured pitchers already, thanks.

According to C. Trent:

The Reds signed RHP Brian Meadows to a minor league contract and he will be invited to major league camp.

To clarify for those of you who might get mixed up, this is Brian Meadows:

Not to be confused with Brian Fellow:

I hope that clears things up.