Bobby Abreu might have to sign for about $3 million

[missionhockey21]

I will be OUTRAGED if the Reds do not offer to him if he signs for anything close to this. Of course Cincy isn't the most desirable place to sign and if he is taking discounts at this rate, I could easily see him signing to a more desirable location instead, however the Reds better have talks with his agent. For us to be playing our joke of a centerfielder the kind of cash he is getting and let a major bat slip by without any effort would really piss me off.

3. Bobby Abreu, OF, free agent: The feeling is that he may have to sign for about $3 million on a one-year or two-year deal. At that price, the Angels, Mets, Braves, and Dodgers would have big-time interest. Another team hot after him is Seattle.

Boston Red Sox - A tough pitch to let go by - The Boston Globe

[cjkalt]

For that price my Red Sox better be right at his agents door

[Foster]

At this price I think you will find there should be a lot of people sitting on the doorstep.

[Kiluckzle]

Wow, and Burrell signed for $8 million and Bradley is making $10 million next year. Abreu is getting screwwwed.

[Slyder]

We solved our outfield problem with Willy Tavares, Jonny Gomes, Jacque Jones, and the rest of the drek... Why would we actually want someone who could be productive?

Makes me want to bang my head against the wall to sign Tavares to begin with again, because Im sure the Budget will be #1 reason we didnt add someone like Bobby Abreu (who I really would like with the wishbone C on his head).

[love_that_reefer]

I will only say this once. There is not a ****ing chance in hell Abreu could be had for $3 measly million. Abreu is better than Milton Bradley and Raul Ibanez. Giambi would make more than Abreu and Abreu is a lot better than Giambi. No ****ing way!

[missionhockey21]

A credible source is reporting it, I am relaying it. I don't believe he will sign for that small of a deal either, but that is the latest Abreu update.

I don't think anyone could have anticipated how much the free agent market bottomed out. Jason Giambi likely wouldn't have gotten the contract he did if he waited much longer and certainly a low quality player like Willy Taveras wouldn't have gotten the contract he did either.

I imagine guys like Abreu and Dunn will take respectable 1 year offers and test the waters next year hoping that baseball free agency returns to normal.

[love_that_reefer]

The credible source is relaying a "feeling" he has. Not mad at you Mission I wish the Giants didn't have such a logjam in the OF or else I would want the Giants to dish out $11 million for one year.

[missionhockey21]

Clearly from how it is written is that the feeling is not his but what is being bandied about in baseball circles. There has to be a kernel of truth to that, especially given the paper it is from. Again, I am not suggesting in anyway he'll sign for that low, but it is interesting that baseball insiders are connecting him to that price as he clearly is not a $3 million dollar player. If this was 1995 and Abreu (same age as he is now) was mentioned in the Boston Globe with a possible price tag like that it would have been shocking, let alone in 2009.

[love_that_reefer]

I have heard Pudge Rodriguez tagged to that number and Griffey close to it but not Abreu. The Mariners are trying to move salary so they can get Abreu and I doubt its to make room for $3 million.

[missionhockey21]

Reportedly it is a bit more than $5 million plus incentives, absolutely pathetic that the Reds couldn't have topped that to bring him to Cincinnati.

[Providence A's]

from what I've read, the Reds don't have any money left after signing their arby guys.

[missionhockey21]

They supposedly don't, but that's not the point. Not giving a lame contract to Willy Taveras or resigning David Weathers to 4 million dollars would have allowed the Reds to offer a bigger deal than the Angels. Of course he might have not accepted it, but the effort would have been there.

The Reds opened the offseason, in October IIRC, stating that the payroll would go up and that a run producing bat was the goal. Then the economy was used as an excuse. But it's okay, we got Ramon Hernandez, Willy Taveras, Jonny Gomes and Laynce Nix. Sadly, outside of the catcher upgrade, I am most excited about Nix.

[missionhockey21]

Paul Daugherty said on air that the Reds were apparently a contender for Abreu. Too bad we wasted our little available cash and missed out on a true impact bat for the lineup.

Oh well. Here is what was posted on another forum that Daugherty said:

"He claims that a source with the team told him that last week Abreu's agent called and asked the Reds if they would be interested in Abreu at 8mil on a one year deal, the Reds said no. The agent called back Sunday and said how about Six million? The Reds said they would think about it. The Reds called back Monday and said they wanted to get something done. The agent said a second team had gotten involved (Angels) and were offering 5mil plus incentives. The Reds couldn't match. Supposedly the Reds were going to have to scare up the money from somewhere else where it was budgeted."