EastValleyTribune.com is reporting that the Reds have expressed interest in Luis Gonzalez:

GONZALEZ'S SUITORS GROW

Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro had a lunch meeting with Luis Gonzalez and Clifton here Friday, the Indians joining a list of nine teams that have inquired about Gonzalez.

“It was nice to have a team that values his veteran status,” Clifton said. “They are looking to add a veteran presence to their young players.”

Baltimore and Cincinnati have joined San Francisco and Texas as teams known to have inquired about Gonzalez, and St. Louis also is believed to be interested although no formal contact has been made.

St. Louis tried to trade for Gonzalez each of the last two seasons.

Luis Gonzalez, age 39, was a guest announcer for FOX during some of the postseason games this season. I think it's clear that the guy who wrote the story is misinformed. The Reds don't need Gonzalez; they already hired an old player, Jeff Brantley, to be their color guy.

Yanks won't break bank on free-agent class in The Journal News.

It's no surprise by now to see Rich Aurilia's name bandied about New York rumors, this time for the Yankees at first base:

Rich Aurilia: The Yankees could seek an upgrade at first base and chase a player like Aurilia, who has limited experience at first base but is certainly athletic enough to handle the job. The Brooklyn native hit .300 with 70 RBI for the Reds.

It's somewhat more surprising to see Eddie Guardado's name thrown in there:

Eddie Guardado: A veteran lefty is needed for the bullpen. The Yankees could retain Ron Villone, although he broke down after being abused in July and August. Guardado or a guy like Steve Kline will be attractive.

Isn't Guardado injured? I guess that would make him cheap.

Many thanks to HMZ for being on top of this for me. XOXO

The Reds shook things up today when they didn't hire a hitting coach from Wayne Krivsky's previous employers. Instead, they hired someone from Jerry Narron's previous employer.

(That's not fair, of course. You can do Five Degrees of Jerry Narron with everyone in the league. It's just the first thought that popped into my head, and I'm betting I wasn't the only one.)

The Reds have hired a hitting coach in Brook Jacoby. Marc has some ideas from Jacoby on one Adam Dunn:

“I consider 194 of them a little bit of an issue,” said Jacoby. “If he were to put the ball in play a little more, I’m sure it would mean some more RBIs and possibly some more hits. It might be an approach thing with him with two strikes; it might be a mechanical thing. I’ll have to sit down and talk to him and we’ll figure it out. I’d like to think something could be improved there.”

Worth a try, I guess, assuming Dunn's around that long.

I've been so caught up in an argument over the ethical implications of a database design, that I haven't had a chance at work to really catch up on my Reds' news. However, this thread on Strike 3 Forums caught my attention:

Money to Burn?
Apparently Will Carroll said this morning on Baseball Prospectus radio that the word is the Reds will have up to $25 million to spend during the off-season.

The thread gives a link to the program, which I have every intention of listening to eventually. In the meantime, let me know if he mentions how much of that $25 million is going to bringing back Richie.

Everyone's saying it by now, but I'll quote Marc, since it gets me a neat link in his “Links to this Post” section:

Rich Aurilia has decided to decline his $2 million mutual option for 2007.

The veteran infielder is now a free agent and still would be able to re-sign with the Reds. You'll recall he went through the same process last winter.

Of course, last season he couldn't get anyone to even accept his resume, let alone give him an interview. This year, the folks in New York mention him about every day.

You can imagine that the news of Aurilia's free agency hasn't escaped the New York Post, Kevin Kernan for whom made sure to mention it. Yesterday it was Mark Hale who dropped Aurilia's name. Both are talking about the possibility of him taking over second base for the Mets.