The Cincinnati Reds have signed speedy center fielder Willy Taveras to a two-year contract the team is reporting. Taveras has played the last two years with the Colorado Rockies and led the majors with 207 infield hits and as also stolen atleast 33 bases in each of his four seasons in the big leagues.

He will play pretty good defense in centerfield and has the speed to catch those balls that would normally get through the gaps and roll all the way to the wall. We can probably expect Taveras to be the new lead off hitter for the Reds as well.

Tavaras choose the Reds because he has heard good things about manager Dusty Baker and that he is a players manager. He wanted to give it a shot since the team is young and he feels like he could blend in and help this team in the Central Division.

Reds Blog

Finally something to blog about here on the blog! On Tuesday, the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles worked out a four player trade. Ryan Freel and two minor league infieldrs will be going to the Orioles and the Reds will be getting catcher Ramon Hernandez.

The two minor league players are Justin Turner and Brandon Waring.

As part of the deal, Baltimore will give Cincinnati cash to offset part of Hernandez’s contract. He is owed $8.5 million next year.

I personally do not like this deal for the Reds. Freel is a nice player to have in the outfield and he gives it his all on every play. The risk of injury is always there, and I expect that played into the decision a little bit.

What are your thoughts?

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