Last week, Scott Rolen announced that he would not be returning to the Cincinnati Reds for the start of the 2013 season.

“Right now I’m simply not ready to make a commitment. I would like to leave my options open, without closing any doors. I am looking forward to all of the challenges, both personally and professionally, I will face in the future.”

The statement is the definition of non-committal. Rolen was unable to commit to another full season and also unable to commit to never playing professional baseball again. Aging in baseball is not an easy thing for the player, and no one demonstrates that more than Rolen.

After multiple shoulder injuries and surgeries, he arrived in Cincinnati a shell of his former self. But he managed a great season in 2010 and pushed the Reds to their first winning record in a decade and their first playoff appearance in 15 years. Unfortunately, he was never able to recapture that and performed poorly in both 2011 and 2012. The decision has to be hard.

Cincinnati Enquirer reporter John Fay had a nice article about Rolen, reflecting on his legacy. Fay in his career has covered Hall of Famer Barry Larkin and future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr. He compares them to Rolen in the injury related trials they faced towards the ends of their careers and then reflects on Rolen’s legacy.

Rolen will be missed. He was a great leader and a great teammate. But, in a way, his work with the Reds was done. His legacy is in his lessons he taught.

“I got everything I needed from him playing beside him,” Joey Votto said. “I learned a tremendous amount. You can always learn, but the two or three years I had with him were not wasted. I tell you what: He changed my path as a player. He was a shining example of the kind of player I want to be. Simply because of how quiet he was and how respected he was throughout baseball.”

Votto definitely carries that air of quiet confidence that Rolen had. There’s no doubt that Rolen taught Votto and other Reds players a lot and will be missed. Although Rolen has expressed no interest in coaching, I do hope he has the opportunity to teach and lead. And heck, if he can manage to be the Rolen of old for a month, it sure would be nice to see him back in action one more time.

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In today’s first live batting practice session, Joey Votto hit a home run off Carlos Contreras.

Now that might not seem all that special. It’s only batting practice and it’s only Spring Training, but this is a guy coming off a bad knee injury last season. It was an injury that kept him from hitting a home run since June. And he hit a home run today.

Votto took Contreras’ first pitch.

“Too low,” he said.

The next one was a strike. Votto crushed it, sending over the fence in center.

“Tweet that, John,” Jay Bruce said. “He’s back.”

Consider it done, Jay.

The Cincinnati Reds and Homer Bailey have avoided arbitration. The two have reached agreement on a one-year contract. The amount isn’t available yet, but Bailey asked for $5.8 million, while the Reds offered $4.75 million. It’s likely somewhere between there.

Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said it was toughest year he’s ever had as far as arbitration.

“Absolutely,” he said. “With the numbers of cases and quality of players. We came very close to going to the hearing with (Mat) Latos. We’re all very happy to have it behind us.”

That ends the Reds dealings with arbitration for the year. They managed to sign all of their players before a hearing was required. That’s good, because no employee responds well to hearing their employer tell people how much they suck.

Even though Bailey’s deal was for one year, the Reds will be pursuing a multi-year contract at some point in the future.