CINCINNATI -- The Reds have agreed to terms on a 10-year, $225 million contract extension with first baseman Joey Votto, according to a report Monday evening by USA Today.
The blockbuster deal would keep Votto with the Reds through the 2023 season, and reportedly includes a no-trade clause. It would be the richest contract in franchise history.
Votto, 28, still has two years remaining on the three-year, $38 million contract he signed in January 2011. He is due to make $9.5 million this season and $17 million in '13.
The extension also keeps Votto, the 2010 National League Most Valuable Player, from exploring the free-agent market in two years when he would have first been eligible.
"I told him there's no way he's gonna get an extension anyway because I don't think [Reds CEO and produce magnet] Bob Castellini sells enough salad to pay for that," joked Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo.
There has been no announcement about Votto made by the Reds. A message for comment was left for general manager Walt Jocketty. Votto indicated to the Cincinnati Enquirer that something was close to being done.
"I can't comment till it's done," Votto told the newspaper. "You'll have to ask Walt. It's a gray area. I'll be much more forthcoming later."
With the team still in Goodyear, Ariz., for the final day of Spring Training, Votto started as the Reds played the Indians.
Votto getting a new deal could further complicate extension negotiations with second baseman Brandon Phillips, who can be a free agent after the 2012 season. Jocketty and Phillips' agent have not been close to hammering out a deal since negotiations commenced in late September.
Last season, Votto batted .309 with 29 home runs and 103 RBIs in 161 games for Cincinnati. He also received his first NL Gold Glove Award.
If the report is accurate, Votto would be the third first baseman since the end of last season to receive a contract worth more than $200 million. But the two others -- Albert Pujols with the Angels and Prince Fielder with the Tigers -- were with new clubs. Pujols and Votto share the same agent, Dan Lozano.
You tryin to be a hero fool? You wanna see badass mother fucker?! I'll show ya a badass!!!
.By David Brown | Big League Stew – 25 minutes ago.. . .
... . .
(AP)Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter termed the event a "controlled scrimmage." The opponent used pitchers (including left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada) and a catcher from the Orioles roster. Major league stars such as J.J. Hardy, Adam Jones and Matt Wieters took only a couple of turns apiece at the plate and played about five innings. And the adversaries played for eight innings total, not a full regulation game.
With that context — perhaps you call it "spin" — understood, there's no other way to put this: A community college team beat the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.
State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota chapter, edged the O's 2-1 in a charity game at Ed Smith Stadium. The O's look like a charity case, all right. If this were European soccer, or if baseball did relegation, Nick Markakis might be carrying a book bag and a class schedule around Camden Yards this spring. And he didn't even play!
Orioles pitcher Jason Hammel, who has logged 734 career innings in the majors, allowed two runs and three hits over five innings to the Manatees. Those sweet, lovable manatees. SCF freshman Orlando Rivera — a freshman! — went 2 for 3 with a stolen base, scoring the eventual winning run on a wild pitch in the fifth inning. Hammel said very little about the experience to MLB.com:
"I got my work in, so let's leave it at that," said Hammel.
I'd just back away from him. Slowly.
And if that college's name is familiar, you might remember their team beating the Pittsburgh Pirates three years ago. But that was against rookies and minor leaguers, mostly. This game had real Orioles in it. Not that the Manatees are going to gloat, with the O's taking over for the Pirates this season to keep the charity game going. (It's still going, right?)
FCS assistant coach Tim Hill II told the Brandenton Herald his team was grateful that "Showalter played all of his guys," including the battery for the Manatees.
"I would not claim it as a 'W,'" he said. "For us, we're so down on pitching right now with four conference games this week. Fortunately for us, they were very understanding. ... The game is all about pitching and defense. So for them to be able to provide the pitching was nice. But at the same time, I thought our guys handled the baseball."
The Orioles finished last in the AL East a season ago, and have fallen on hard times the past decade or so after being a model franchise throughout the '60s, '70s and early '80s. While one game lost to a community college does not a season make, this loss doesn't bode well for escaping the basement.
Ah, the heck with all that, Rivera says:
"A 'W' is a 'W'," he said. "Even though we didn't have our own pitchers, a 'W' is a 'W' ... You gotta take the 'W'."
Take it. Enjoy it. Cherish it. But next season, just expect a check in the mail from the O's to cover the charity proceeds.
Comments
The blockbuster deal would keep Votto with the Reds through the 2023 season, and reportedly includes a no-trade clause. It would be the richest contract in franchise history.
Votto, 28, still has two years remaining on the three-year, $38 million contract he signed in January 2011. He is due to make $9.5 million this season and $17 million in '13.
The extension also keeps Votto, the 2010 National League Most Valuable Player, from exploring the free-agent market in two years when he would have first been eligible.
"I told him there's no way he's gonna get an extension anyway because I don't think [Reds CEO and produce magnet] Bob Castellini sells enough salad to pay for that," joked Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo.
There has been no announcement about Votto made by the Reds. A message for comment was left for general manager Walt Jocketty. Votto indicated to the Cincinnati Enquirer that something was close to being done.
"I can't comment till it's done," Votto told the newspaper. "You'll have to ask Walt. It's a gray area. I'll be much more forthcoming later."
With the team still in Goodyear, Ariz., for the final day of Spring Training, Votto started as the Reds played the Indians.
Votto getting a new deal could further complicate extension negotiations with second baseman Brandon Phillips, who can be a free agent after the 2012 season. Jocketty and Phillips' agent have not been close to hammering out a deal since negotiations commenced in late September.
Last season, Votto batted .309 with 29 home runs and 103 RBIs in 161 games for Cincinnati. He also received his first NL Gold Glove Award.
If the report is accurate, Votto would be the third first baseman since the end of last season to receive a contract worth more than $200 million. But the two others -- Albert Pujols with the Angels and Prince Fielder with the Tigers -- were with new clubs. Pujols and Votto share the same agent, Dan Lozano.
#-o
Luckily I was finally chosen for a traveling all star team so that I didn't have to wear that horrible Cubs uniform anymore.
Baltimore Orioles lose to community college team
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.By David Brown | Big League Stew – 25 minutes ago.. .
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... .
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(AP)Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter termed the event a "controlled scrimmage." The opponent used pitchers (including left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada) and a catcher from the Orioles roster. Major league stars such as J.J. Hardy, Adam Jones and Matt Wieters took only a couple of turns apiece at the plate and played about five innings. And the adversaries played for eight innings total, not a full regulation game.
With that context — perhaps you call it "spin" — understood, there's no other way to put this: A community college team beat the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.
State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota chapter, edged the O's 2-1 in a charity game at Ed Smith Stadium. The O's look like a charity case, all right. If this were European soccer, or if baseball did relegation, Nick Markakis might be carrying a book bag and a class schedule around Camden Yards this spring. And he didn't even play!
Orioles pitcher Jason Hammel, who has logged 734 career innings in the majors, allowed two runs and three hits over five innings to the Manatees. Those sweet, lovable manatees. SCF freshman Orlando Rivera — a freshman! — went 2 for 3 with a stolen base, scoring the eventual winning run on a wild pitch in the fifth inning. Hammel said very little about the experience to MLB.com:
"I got my work in, so let's leave it at that," said Hammel.
I'd just back away from him. Slowly.
And if that college's name is familiar, you might remember their team beating the Pittsburgh Pirates three years ago. But that was against rookies and minor leaguers, mostly. This game had real Orioles in it. Not that the Manatees are going to gloat, with the O's taking over for the Pirates this season to keep the charity game going. (It's still going, right?)
FCS assistant coach Tim Hill II told the Brandenton Herald his team was grateful that "Showalter played all of his guys," including the battery for the Manatees.
"I would not claim it as a 'W,'" he said. "For us, we're so down on pitching right now with four conference games this week. Fortunately for us, they were very understanding. ... The game is all about pitching and defense. So for them to be able to provide the pitching was nice. But at the same time, I thought our guys handled the baseball."
The Orioles finished last in the AL East a season ago, and have fallen on hard times the past decade or so after being a model franchise throughout the '60s, '70s and early '80s. While one game lost to a community college does not a season make, this loss doesn't bode well for escaping the basement.
Ah, the heck with all that, Rivera says:
"A 'W' is a 'W'," he said. "Even though we didn't have our own pitchers, a 'W' is a 'W' ... You gotta take the 'W'."
Take it. Enjoy it. Cherish it. But next season, just expect a check in the mail from the O's to cover the charity proceeds.