Hairston returns to Reds

http://hotstove.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/01/hairston_returning_to_reds.html 

It's being reported in the hot stove blog that the Reds have re-signed Jerry Hairston Jr. And from the first news coming out about the contract it sounds like a very good deal as well, only $2 million guaranteed, with up to $4 million in incentives. From what I was hearing it sounded like he would take no less than $4 million guaranteed. The article mentioned that he is expected to be the starting shortstop since Alex Gonzalez is scheduled to be out for another year (chalk that one up to a bad contract; we paid him two years to do nothing).

     While I don't like the idea of Hairston starting at short, what else are we gonna do? If we end up trading for Xavier Nady sometime I don't think Derek Jeter would be included in that deal. There's really no other good shortstops on the market. If we do somehow miraculously pick up another shortstop then the deal is small enough that it wouldn't kill us for him to be a bench player either. Either way, this will provide us some good depth on the roster. One of the best possible moves that could have been made, I think.

    Now, on to that big bat we need in left field: as I mentioned above, there have been rumors about trades for Nady. Hairston and Rocco Baldelli have the same agent, I would be surprised if there wasn't talk about him when the talks for Hairston were getting completed. Jocketty did say in an interview that they were trying to send someone to watch Andruw Jones in winter ball. Who else might be out there?

   And one correction to my earlier post: it is now being reported that the Brewers and Trevor Hoffman have a "mutual interest" although we will see what may come of that. It looks like they may also be trying to sign back Ben Sheets, due to the slow market for him. We shall see: there's still 50 days until spring training games start.