The Reds have agreed to sign right-hander Brett Tomko to a minor league deal, MLBTR has learned. The 14-year veteran split the 2011 season between the Rangers and their Triple-A affiliate.
Tomko appeared in eight games for the Rangers last year, posting a 4.58 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9 in 17 2/3 innings. The 38-year-old Paragon Sports International client also pitched 108 1/3 innings for Texas' top affiliate, starting 18 games. Tomko broke in with the Reds in 1997, spending three seasons in Cincinnati before being traded to Seattle in the Ken Griffey Jr. deal.
Just AAA depth
One person the recession has never hurt, Brett Tomko. He always finds work.Â
 He is the solution. He is immune to recessions. Quick! Somebody get some Brett Tomko hair strands and take them to the nearest scientists.
Why would teams rather sign Brett Tomko than Branden Webb? Might as well take chance on someone who used to be great rather than someone who used to be mediocre
 Because Webb throws as hard as my grandma and hasn’t played baseball in years. At least Tomko is a warm body, and he’s better than some of the crap other teams are signing like Carlos Silva.
OH thanks! You really pulled out the scouting reports for that comment huh
 Last I heard he was throwing his fastball (if you want to call it that) around 78 mph. It doesn’t take an advanced scout to realize he’d get beaten to a pulp in the majors. If his arm strength comes back to a respectable level, he has a chance, but it’s long odds for a lot of these guys to ever make an impact again after missing multiple seasons.
He sure does doesn’t he? always seems to get some IP/starts in at the MLB level also and it’s just flabbergasting, as he never was very good (IMO) when he was young and 1st came up.
It’s not like he hasn’t had the benefit of not having pitcher friendly parks either.. The Grand Canyon (LA), Seattle, SF, SD, KC.. His career has been littered with appearances at places where hits go to die, but he has been pretty brutal forever.
He manages to find jobs, more than brandon Duckworth and “The Duck” hardly ever gets a gig on The Show…
Good luck to him, maybe he can get a few more emergency starts in 2012.. They say perseverance usually pays off in the long run 🙂
 The thing with Tomko is the lack of an out pitch. Last year, he would get ahead in the count more often than not, only to have the hitter smash a 1-2 pitch for a double. He’s still a better bet than Brandon Webb. If Webb is unable to throw another pitch in a real game, then he might just retire next year.
Damn, you’re grandma must throw hard.
Cheaper
Guys like Brett Tomko are a lesson to kids pursuing a baseball career: You don’t have to be great, just be…okay, and you too can survive for 14 years.Â
 He’s made more than $21 mill in his career.
Reward for being average to mediocre = $21.3 million
Plus he has maybe the hottest wife in baseball!
 Are you a scout for Billy Beane? who cares?
Confidence… confidence…
Now, they just need to get Mike Cameron and the Griffey trade will have come full circle.
Goodness! I know some Reds fans like having Tomko back but this reminds me of the Mariners. They sign older players every season who end up in the minors the whole year or getting cut. Maybe he can help the bullpen though. You never know.
Maybe this will work out as well as the last time you signed Tomko, Jocketty, and torpedoed the 2003 Cardinals