Reds Bring Back Hernandez

On Monday, the Reds announced they had come to terms on a one year $3 million deal with catcher Ramon Hernandez. Ramon caught a team high 85 games last year, and hit .297 with 7 homers and 48 RBIs. Combined, he and Ryan Hanigan created one of the most dynamic tandems at catcher in the league. They (along with Corky Miller) combined to lead all NL catchers with a .296 batting average and 168 hits. Hernandez doesn't have the arm behind the plate that Hanigan does, nor does he call as good a game as Hanigan, which is why I think Ryan will get the majority of the playing time next year, but it will still pretty much be a 50/50 split. Ramon was originally acquired from the Baltimore Orioles for Ryan Freel and a pair of minor leaguers. I'd say the deal has turned out pretty well, considering Freel is out of the league, and Hernandez has become a team leader on the Reds. This move also means that top catching prospect, Devin Mesoraco, will likely remain in Triple-A for the majority of 2011. Make no mistake, though, he is the catcher of the future in Cincinnati, along with 2010 first round draft pick, Yasmani Grandal.

The Reds also put in a waiver claim for Hisanori Takahashi, a left handed pitcher of the New York Mets. Takahashi declined the claim, and became a free agent. The Reds could still pursue him in free agency, but the move was curious to me. Why go after him? Yes, you can never have too many lefties on your team, and Takahashi was a solid 10-6 with a 3.61 ERA last year. However, he has expressed the desire to be a starter (which he obviously would not be on the Reds), even though the Mets used him as a starter, reliever, setup man, and occasional closer last year. The only thing I can make out of the Reds' attempted acquisition of him is that they, a) think they will have trouble signing Arthur Rhodes, or b) want someone to replace Bill Bray and/or Daniel Ray Herrera. The latter is the likely, which would indicate the Reds are going along with the plan to put Aroldis Chapman in the rotation. Overall, this attempted move doesn't make too much sense to me. I'm glad Takahashi declined the waiver claim, because it would have just given the Reds far too many options, and not enough spots.