Cincinnati Reds
MLB Winter Meetings: Day 4
By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted December 10, 2009 10:21 AM ET
INDIANAPOLIS -- Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said the team has had a couple of trade talks in the last hours of the MLB Winter Meetings, and if anything happens with those, it'll likely be sooner, rather than later."We had a couple of conversations with agents last night, had a few with different clubs, one this morning," Jocketty said shortly after the Rule V draft on Thursday morning. "Certainly nothing's going to happen before I leave today, but a couple of things may or may not develop by the weekend. They'll either develop by this weekend or go away, I think."
Jocketty said he'd also talked to agents about free agents, but those talks could go on much longer, it's the trade market that is time sensitive.
"At these meetings it seems to be a feeding frenzy, as long as they have you here, they try to attack and get things done," Jocketty said. "I don't see anything happening right away."
On Thursday, the Reds lost minor league left-hander Ben Jukich to the Cardinals in the Rule V draft and picked up minor-league right-hander Douglas Salinas in the Class AA portion of the Rule V draft. Other than that, it was an uneventful four days for the Reds in Indianapolis.
"As I've said before, we really like our club and I don't think we needed to rush out and do anything this week," Jocketty said. "I think the free agent market, we'll see how that plays out, later into January and maybe into February and March, who knows? On the trade front, we had a couple of little things we talked about and they didn't materialize and it just doesn't make sense to do something for the sake of doing it."
* One free agent the team has talked with is veteran free agent infielder Craig Counsell. Jocketty said the Reds are one of "two or three" teams Counsell is interested in. He played last season in Milwaukee, and the Brewers have expressed interest in bringing him back.
* The Reds have signed minor league free agent Chris Burke, a former first-round pick of the Astros, to a minor-league deal, Jocketty said.
Burke hit .239/.315/.359 in parts of six major league seasons and will turn 30 in March. His best season was 2006, when he played in 123 games for the Astros and hit .276/.347/.418 with 9 home runs and 40 RBIs. He has played every position but pitcher and catcher in his big league career. He played last season for San Diego, but finished the season in the Braves' system.
"I think we see him as a potential candidate for the utility role on the major league club and if nothing else, he'll play at Louisville, he's from Louisville, it's his hometown and he's very excited about the possibility to play for either club," Jocketty said. "He's an experienced guy that might be able to help us."
* Jocketty continues to talk to the agent of outfielder Jonny Gomes. The Reds have until Saturday to tender him a contract. Gomes is arbitration eligible.
"I don't expect anything to happen yet," Jocketty said.
He would not answer if the Reds would offer Gomes arbitration.
Categories: Cincinnati Reds, Featured Stories, News
Tags: Ben Jukich, Chris Burke, Cincinnati Reds, Craig Counsell, Douglas Salinas, MLB Winter Meetings, Reds, Walt Jocketty, Winter Meetings
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