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Report: Reds sign SS

By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted January 30, 2010 10:46 PM ET

The Reds have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent shortstop Orlando Cabrera for $3 million, and an option for a second year, also at $3 million, according to a report by Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports.

On Thursday, Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said thttp://cnati.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi?__mode=view&_type=entry&blog_id=1he team had talked to Cabrerra and were expecting the shortstop to make a decision soon. Cabrera had also been offered a contract by the Colorado Rockies, but to move to second base.

Cabrera hit .284/.316/.389 with 9 home runs and 77 RBIs for the A's and Twins in 2009. He won a Gold Glove with the Angels in 2007 and also won a Gold Glove in 2001 while a member of the Montreal Expos.

The Reds had said they expected to Paul Janish to start at shortstop. Janish hit .205/.290/.292 last season, but is an above average defensive player.

"know people are looking for holes and weaknesses, they're just looking to see how a young man did. Everyone wants the finished product right away and you usually don't get one," Reds manager Dusty Baker said on Thursday about Janish. "I think a lot of people forget Dave Concepcion hit under .200, Larry Bowa hit under .200, Ozzie Smith hit .200 for a long time and the fact that (Janish) still hit 22 doubles in parttime play, so you've got to give these young guys a chance sometime unless you come up with someone marketably better, we're going to try to cultivate, teach and nourish the guys we have here."

However, with Cabrera getting a good-sized contract, don't expect Janish to get that cultivation at the big legue level.

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