The Reds officially signed Gary Matthews Jr. to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple A Louisville. The team confirmed the deal (via Twitter) three days after Yahoo's Tim Brown first reported it (via Twitter). The agreement comes less than a week after Matthews was released by the Mets.
The 35-year-old had over a year and a half left on a five-year, $50MM contract at the time of his release, but most of that money will be paid by the Angels and Mets. The Reds will only owe Matthews the pro-rated portion of the major league minimum if he reaches the big leagues this year.
After the Angels dealt him to the Mets this winter, Matthews struggled in 65 plate appearances with the club, hitting .190/.266/.241. The Reds must see something in the outfielder they like though. They reportedly had interest in Matthews this spring, when he was still a Met.
and will/should stay in the minors until they release him.
Who didn’t see this coming? Following in the footsteps of Corey Patterson and Willy Taveras, Toothpick Baker can’t get enough of these over the hill, scrap heap players who are fast but are NOT good players.
I guess there are a lot of disappointed summer softball leagues right about now.
but yet we don’t sign David Weathers?
Oh well can’t complain about a minor league deal, we are good at resurrecting some careers here.
I am another one on board for signing stormy weathers , alot of fans dont want him but with Herrera struggling with being inconsisent just like Masset, i think weathers would be a very good option
I am another one on board for signing stormy weathers , alot of fans dont want him but with Herrera struggling with being inconsisent just like Masset, i think weathers would be a very good option
What?! Why?!
He is another Red who “won’t clog up the basepaths”
Dusty
He will be clogging up the lineup, though, in that he won’t be getting on base.
This move is hopefully for depth only, but it sure is scary considering he was a big name for a year or two. I have a hard time believing that he is just going to play AAA ball for us and be fine with that with his attitude. Maybe this is a sign that the reds are going to give up Stubbs or Heisey to get Oswalt?
Maybe and hopefully this is just a depth move for our minor league system, but I have a hard time believing that he is going to be ok with playing for our AAA squad because of his attitude and big name status that he had a few years back. Hope I am wrong though, maybe this is a sign that the reds may deal Heisey or Stubbs to get Oswalt???
You better hope you don’t give up stubbs.
This one has Dusty’s finger prints all over it. His type player. Sarge’s boy, and Sarge is a friend. They’ll all have jobs as long as Dusty has some say-so over personnel. If you can put up with the stupid lineups, horrible pitching decisions, laissez-faire managing style, idiotic media sessions and silly player acquisitions then Dusty is your guy! Go Reds Go! Do your best Dusty, that can only help out the rest of the division.
uh. THEY DON”T LIKE DREW STUBBS THAT MUCH ANYMORE?
No, I think Matthews is coming in to replace Jay Bruce, not Stubbs.
Completely wrong Bruce is batting .282 with stellar defense in RF. Stubbs is hitting maybe .240. Both guys will remain in the lineup. GMJ is for depth only in case of injury. He won’t sniff Cincy unless someone goes on the DL or gets traded.
Do you even follow the Reds…. Geez Bruce is doing pretty well actually. Like the other guy said this is just insurance. Someone said that dusty probably is giving the guy a place to land so he has a job at least. Since they are old pales
You and Brian may want to carpool to the sarcasm-detector repair shop.
It’s funny how guys get so worked up over meaningless signings, though I guess if I were a Reds fan, I’d probalby worry that Dusty will use him too frequently.
Too many rumors flying around during the offseason about GMJ and the Reds this year to realize you were kidding. Plus a couple Cfs named Patterson and Tavares still give me nightmares. Apologies
Ha don’t blame you there. You mean you didn’t like Taveras and his .300ish OBP leading off?
LOLZ
Read a stat website once in a while and then debate with us.
You’re a funny guy “bro”. Good to know I can mix in some humor and have people actually believe it.
P.S. I also think the Reds should sign Mike Jacobs to platoon with Votto and move Micah Owings to shortstop and bat him leadoff.
You’re a funny guy “bro”. Good to know I can mix in some humor and have people actually believe it.
P.S. I also think the Reds should sign Mike Jacobs to platoon with Votto and move Micah Owings to shortstop and bat him leadoff.
LOLZ
Read a stat website once in a while and then debate with us.
uh. THEY DON”T LIKE DREW STUBBS THAT MUCH ANYMORE?
This is just Dusty giving his boy a soft place to land after being cut. So long as it ends in the minors, I don’t have a huge problem – Dayton up through L’ville need a little major league experience to help with their records. For so much farm talent, the teams sure don’t post wins reflective of that assertion.
The silver lining to finishing 2nd and missing the wild card (no one from the Central gets in unless the win the division), a greater chance of saying adios to Dusty!
This is just Dusty giving his boy a soft place to land after being cut. So long as it ends in the minors, I don’t have a huge problem – Dayton up through L’ville need a little major league experience to help with their records. For so much farm talent, the teams sure don’t post wins reflective of that assertion.
The silver lining to finishing 2nd and missing the wild card (no one from the Central gets in unless the win the division), a greater chance of saying adios to Dusty!
The talent is there but they are flipping players around a lot to find their best possible fit with the MLB club. They aren’t playing these guys in their best personal positions because what good does that do for a major league club? Perfect example is Alonso playing LF, Frazier being moved between 3B and LF when he has been a shortstop, Valaika moving to 2B after being a shortstop. Soto trying out catching to give more depth there when he originally was listed as 3B
It’s not like he’s going to come in and start in CF tomorrow. What is there to lose? Sign the guy to a minor league deal. If he doesn’t perform, give him the boot. A guy with playoff experience isn’t bad to have around, for a team that hopes to be hanging around late in the year.
Uhh, that’s what Cub fans thought in 2006 when they signed Tony Womack. Sure enough, when Derrek Lee got hurt who was eventually brought up to fill his place? Womack. Todd Walker moved to first and Womack took over second, weakening the team at two positions. Just wait, as soon as there is an opening Dusty will do something stupid in order to bring up GMj and justify it by saying what a good player GMj is. In 2006 Dusty said Womack was playing so well in the minors he was forced to bring him up. We all know how that turned out, heck we knew how it was going to turn out before it happened. Apparently Dusty was the only one who didn’t. It’ll happen with GMj, just wait. He’ll be up, wrecking your offense, probably from the leadoff spot no doubt, soon enough.
2006 was three years after the Bartman episoide, and that was when the Cubs all of a sudden were the coolest baseball team around, and people that never watched a baseball game in there life bought all new and nice chubbo gear. You’re using some big lingo there for only watching baseball for about 7 years. Do us all a favor and start playing Dungens and Dragons, or whatever you did before the Cubs had there 2003 run and you wanted to be cool and bought your self a nice Chubbo hat.
It’s not like he’s going to come in and start in CF tomorrow. What is there to lose? Sign the guy to a minor league deal. If he doesn’t perform, give him the boot. A guy with playoff experience isn’t bad to have around, for a team that hopes to be hanging around late in the year.
And he’ll probably hit .335 for the remainder of the season with the Reds. Doesn’t it seem to go that way, sometimes? Probably a little wishful thinking, but…
And he’ll probably hit .335 for the remainder of the season with the Reds. Doesn’t it seem to go that way, sometimes? Probably a little wishful thinking, but…
Reds sign GMJr, Marlins sign Armando Benitez. What is this, sign Mets castoffs week?
Reds sign GMJr, Marlins sign Armando Benitez. What is this, sign Mets castoffs week?
I think it’s a great move…The Reds believe that Matthews is a great player when he gets enough at bats, which is proven throughout his career. So get him the ABs in AAA, once he starts producing, move him up for a few games and see how he does. Also, he’s another Cabrera and Rolen, veterans with great experience for the mostly younger team.