Mark Reynolds signs with Cleveland

[Jordan Tuwiner]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/i ... nolds.html

The Indians have signed Mark Reynolds to a one-year contract worth $6MM, says Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com (via Twitter) after Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com first reported that a deal was imminent (on Twitter). With Reynolds manning first base, the Indians will turn to Lonnie Chisenhall, which eliminates any possibility of Kevin Youkilis heading to Cleveland, writes Heyman (Twitter link).

The 29-year-old Reynolds batted .221/.335/.429 with 23 long balls for the Orioles this year in a roller coaster season. Reynolds had just a .681 OPS on Aug. 5 before exploding to bat .284/.399/.610 with 13 of his 23 homers over the next 40 games. He then slumped to finish the season, collecting just six hits in his final 48 trips to the plate.

[ofahn]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/indians-sign-mark-reynolds.html

He must have been mad that we didn't pick up his option or offer him arbitration. I can't believe WE wouldn't have offered him the same contract.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

He must have been mad that we didn't pick up his option or offer him arbitration. I can't believe WE wouldn't have offered him the same contract.

The $6 million shows how little he is valued.

[ofahn]

The $6 million shows how little he is valued.

Do you believe WE would have been willing to pay him the same amount?

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Do you believe WE would have been willing to pay him the same amount?

I just don't think the Orioles felt the need to spend on Reynolds when they already had Davis, Betemit, and Valencia.

[dan72]

They Can have his .220 avg and his 200 strikeouts and his 25 errors at 3b........ those are not numbers that a sound baseball player are proud of.

[ofahn]

They Can have his .220 avg and his 200 strikeouts and his 25 errors at 3b........ those are not numbers that a sound baseball player are proud of.

My guess is that he'll play 1B because they have Chisenhall at 3B.

This may have been the best thing that could happened to Mark Reynolds. He clearly over valued his all or nothing approach to the game and the fact that he had to sign for about half of what he might have earned in arbitration MIGHT cause him to rethink his game. In effect, what I have been hoping he would since he arrived in Baltimore.

[Old Sneakers]

I know it's not a grand contract but $6 million is still pretty good money. I wish him all the best. As for the Orioles at least this part of the issue is resolved.

[LA Detective]

What concerned me the most was that it looked like he made the adjustments the 2nd half of the year but after his hot streak he ended up batting .165 with only 2 homers the rest of the way. This was from Sept 9 on. 89ABs/28ks...In the playoffs he then went 3 for 22, zero HRs, 1 walk and 10 Ks...

If these numbers above were a rare slump I understand but we have seen this before.. I just think that the tighter the scounting reports get on him the harder it is...I waited to decide until the end of the year but I believe we can get better at his spot in the line-up. He looks like he plays his butt off in everyway and is a great team mate but his adjustments would have to be pretty severe to be a consistent .250/ 32+HR guy and maintain that in the playoffs..AND we are now a playoff caliber team and need players capable of such..

[Matt P]

Well, either Angelos is petrified of the arbitration raises or Duquette had absolutely no interest at all. Hardy said that he thought Reynolds would have signed here at a discount.

[ofahn]

Well, either Angelos is petrified of the arbitration raises or Duquette had absolutely no interest at all. Hardy said that he thought Reynolds would have signed here at a discount.

Yeah, I was scratching my head on this one, too. I accept that you're a bigger Reynolds fan than I am but I would have brought him back for 6M, and certainly a discount from that amount.

[Matt P]

Yeah, I was scratching my head on this one, too. I accept that you're a bigger Reynolds fan than I am but I would have brought him back for 6M, and certainly a discount from that amount.

I don't mind that they didn't bring him back if Duquette and/or Buck didn't want him. It's just the comments that Duquette made about the budget that is alarming to me.

[osforlife]

Strikeouts and inconsistency will likely hamper him his whole career, but there is definitely value to him. I am not so hot at determining value for money, but he will be productive now that he has moved off of third base. Mark Reynolds will probably put up something along the lines of 'above-average defense with an .800 OPS' annually. That being said, its okay that we let him walk. Davis can most likely become an average defensive first basemen and provide better offense.

[birdwatcher55]

I will NOT miss the strikeouts

[ofahn]

It's just the comments that Duquette made about the budget that is alarming to me.

I remember seeing a different quote from him that said the budget would be as much as 100M. It seems like this issue is a moving target.

While I could still see them trading for a bat this winter, I can also see them waiting until July to make sure the pitching doesn't regress and then pulling off a trade for a bad contract or something like that.