O'brien says he's free to deal

[Wally Mo Pena]

Considering their position in baseball's economic hierarchy, it isn't terribly surprising that the Reds have yet to make a move this offseason.

The rising tide of trades and free-agent signings over the last few weeks has been driven mostly by heavy hitters such as the Mets and Red Sox - owners of two of the top three Opening Day payrolls in 2005 - with interlopers like the suddenly flush Blue Jays getting a hand in here and there.

There has been some question about how much Dan O'Brien and the Reds' baseball operations staff could do to shake things up, considering the impending change in ownership. As perhaps the most important week of the offseason approaches, though, the general manager was adamant Wednesday in saying he hadn't been told to hold off on moves until the transition had occurred.

"No," O'Brien said flatly. "Not at all."

So O'Brien has full autonomy to make moves heading into next week's winter meetings in Dallas?

"That's correct," he said.

According to Major League Baseball spokesman Rich Levin, there's no chance the new ownership group headed by CEO-in-waiting Robert Castellini will be in place by next week. The Reds have said all along they expect the handover to occur by the end of the year, but several steps remain.

"It has to go through the ownership committee, and ultimately a vote among the owners," Levin said. "I don't know when it'll get done, it's just too hard to tell. It's in the early stages."

Forcing the Reds' baseball operations staff to stand pat in the meantime would likely cripple the team's chances at any free-agent signing of even moderate significance, as most of those deals tend to be done by the end of December.

Adding even more of a sense of urgency is the way the market is trending this offseason, with early deals going longer and richer than most had anticipated. The shorter the supply of available players gets, the more leverage remaining free agents will have. That isn't good news for a smaller-market team like the Reds, who have already had to alter their approach with some of the unnamed players on their wish list.

"We are at least involved with several different prospective free-agent players - major league and minor league," O'Brien said. "Having said that, the reality of what has happened the last couple weeks, specifically in regards to the free-agent reliever market, is a little sobering. No question, it makes it more difficult to go about our business."

The deals handed out so far to relievers have shaken many of the bean counters around the game. The reaction to the five-year, $47 million deal Toronto gave to closer B.J. Ryan last weekend has been nothing short of astonishment, and it certainly helped Billy Wag- ner wrap up the four-year, $43 million contract he finalized with the Mets this week.

Even more disturbing to some is the trend that is playing out among setup men. Wednesday, the surprisingly quiet Yankees were reportedly on the verge of snagging Kyle Farnsworth in a setup role for three years and about $17 million. The Cubs previously signed Scott Eyre to a three-year, $11 million deal and added Bobby Howry for three years at $12 million on the heels of re-signing closer Ryan Dempster for three years and $15.5 million earlier this offseason.

O'Brien said the Reds would like to add bullpen help, presumably someone capable of closing. Though the Reds could go with some combination of David Weathers, Kent Mercker and Todd Coffey to finish games, O'Brien said the Reds "owe it to ourselves to explore every avenue."

"Going into it, there are different tiers, and we understand the elite tier of closers," O'Brien said. "We sort of have targeted a particular group of individuals that we think could do a job for us in combination with Mercker and Weathers, and that's the angle we're pursuing."

As usual, O'Brien wouldn't disclose any of the potential candidates, but the name of former Reds right-hander Todd Jones has been mentioned. Other available closers who could end up in Cincinnati's price range include Bob Wickman, Octavio Dotel and Jose Mesa.

When it comes to addressing more pressing needs on the roster, namely finding a starting pitcher, the Reds probably will have to go the trade route. The Reds will have plenty of suitors, especially among teams looking for outfield help. The club likely will move at least one of its four top-level players at the position - Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, Austin Kearns and Wily Mo Pena.

"I would not limit it to the outfield," O'Brien said. "I would say that we're viewed as having a lot of good position players and clubs have expressed interest."

With something of a thin market for catchers, it wouldn't be a surprise if the Reds get a few offers for Jason LaRue and Javier Valentin. Either way, O'Brien said he would have a hard time dismissing any potential deal out of hand.

"There are some individuals that quite frankly we're really not interested in talking about," he said. "But for the most part I think we at least have to keep an open mind, and that's been our approach."

[CincyRedsFan30]

Lord, hear our prayer.

[redsrbetter]

Lots of stuff in this article guys. One, I am very excited that DanO can at least be allowed to make a move without having to wait for Castellini to get his job. I feel this way because it would only hurt us more if we did not even have the chance to make a good trade because the guys we wanted have all been traded already while we wait. Too much is going by too quickly as DanO has said they have had to change their plans a bit.
The Todd Jones, Wickman, Dotel, and Mesa mentions are also intriguing. I would take anyone of those guys if we could. But the problem is going to be the price. I don't think it will be worth it to sign these guys if they are going to be overpriced. And looking at the market so far, this is likely. I would rather try our hand with Coffey or Wagner.
This article also made me feel like DanO really does not want to trade Dunn. This is comforting because we know he still will, but he will be asking for the world. Which I think is appropriate. I look for him to definitely trade an outfielder and a catcher by these phrases as well. My hopes are for Pena and Valentin. I just can't stand the thought of having Valentin as an everyday catcher next season.

[missionhockey21]

If we're going to go after a reliever, let it be OD. There's a long rehab ahead of him but I would take the chance that he can pitch according to his stuff eventually versus someone like Mesa who is a dinosaur pitching at that level again.

[Wally Mo Pena]

i wondered who the individuals he's not interested in talking about are too. I would guess felipe, harang, and claussen. maybe dunn and EdE, but i have a feeling that he would deal either of those guys if the right deal came along.

i wonder what it would take for another team to get FeLo. Probably an ace and another ML player at least. I wonder what DanO would say if the twins offered santana for felo straight up. it's crazy but i think you have to turn it down.

[missionhockey21]

If he's free to make moves how about we starting to talk to Dunn? The more he makes with arbitration, it's only going to get worse in regards to a contract.

[CincyRedsFan30]

I hope he doesn't make any moves unless they're smart. With him, I wouldn't count on that, so I just hope the new owners get approved within the next couple of weeks or so and that they(if O'Brien stays around for now) force him into only signing players that they approve of. In other words, O'Brien isn't "really" the GM anymore.

[Wally Mo Pena]

that would leave us out in the cold at the winter meetings, and that would be a disaster. CRF, as much as you hate DanO, he is the GM, and will be for at leats the first part of this year. We have to hope he's learned something from this past year and makes good moves, but we have to make moves, or this season will be a repeat of last season, which i personally will not watch.

I'll go on record even. If the reds don't trade offense for pitching this offseason (as they should have done last year) i won't be an active fan in '06.

[redsrbetter]

All the more reason to want this to happen for me. I couldn't stand not having you around bro..OK, enough kissing up to you. I agree fully though. DanO has to make the move in order to give this team a chance to at least look different than last season. I don't want to have to hold out for Milton and Wilson to turn things around and have that be the only thing to look forward to.

[CincyRedsFan30]

I'd rather we make no moves than to have O'Brien make poor moves.

The FA market isn't very deep. If we force O'Brien out fast enough, we would still have time to make trades before the season. That is our most likely avenue of adding talent this offseason.

If O'Brien is overwhelmed by something during Winter Meetings and it's a good deal, then I wouldn't mind him making it. I just want to be sure it is good, so I don't want him to be able to make that determination on his own.

[redsrbetter]

I feel your sentiments too CRF, but I think we all realize that DanO will be in office over the next few weeks. Which puts him in command for the winter meetings. As far as FA signings go, he has shared that the Reds will not be spending big money in that capacity. That they are looking for help through trades. I am willing to bet that this is the only route that DanO takes this offseason.

[Wally Mo Pena]

to me no moves is a bad move. I'd rather gamble on something than stand pat, because at least then i'd be excited to see if the gamble pays off next season, rather than knowing where we are going to finish before the first game is played.

Obviously i don't want danO throwing our offense away, but he's made good moves in the past, he can do it again. weathers, shakelford, standridge, randa, and even aurilia were all good moves. I'm not saying he's a good GM because of that, i think he's a terrible GM over all. But he's our GM now, and he's going to be for the whole off-season. Why you think he's going to get "forced out" is a mystery to me.

He has to deal offense for pitching, like he should have last year, and he has to do it soon before clubs are just lookng for little pieces to fill gaps, rather than major additions. Deals do go away, and the worst situation for us would be one where we have to beg someone to take our OF.

[CincyRedsFan30]

I think O'Brien will likely be gone before the season begins. I don't understand how you can talk about ridiculous rumors from Bob Nightengale as if they matter and then act like there's no way O'Brien could be out before the season begins as I have good reason to think will be the case.

And I don't agree about no moves being a bad move with him. That certainly might not be the case. Since we are likely going to be trading an outfielder, it's crucial that we get a good return. I would rather hang onto all of the outfielders and let the new owners/GM, etc. trade one of them than to have him trade on on his way out the door and get us an awful return, leaving us with no trading chips and remaining poor talent.

[missionhockey21]

Call me crazy (you would not be the first or the last) but wouldn't it be unlikely that any significant moves of talent leaving be unlikely til the ownership switches hands? The owner isn't getting what they initially thought they would, right? Eh, I am no expert in regards to that so tell me otherwise.

But, Dan O is not the guy to trade Dunn. Do you really want to risk trading the best thing our farm has produced and won't likely develop a player of that ceiling for quite some time with the genius of Dan O'Brien? He has made a few small signings that were nice but honestly, what players has he traded for or signed that look to make a significant impact on this team for the next three or four years? And jesus, just this offseason he came to the conclusion that groundball pitchers and strikeout pitchers are the way to go in this park. There should not be as many fans as there are who are more intelligent than the man in charge.

[Wally Mo Pena]

I don't understand how you can talk about ridiculous rumors from Bob Nightengale as if they matter and then act like there's no way O'Brien could be out before the season begins as I have good reason to think will be the case.

i can talk about those rumors because they are rumors and that's what's fun to do in the off-season. Jeez, lighten up. You know none of this actually "matters" right? It's fun. And i certainly never said that any of the potential trades i've talked about this off-season were going to happen. It's idle speculation.

You on the other hand act like you know somehting will happen with Obrien, that's the difference. It's not idle speculation to you. You're not saying, if obrien is going to be fired then this, if not then this. That's your perogative i suppose, but it seems shortsighted unless you have industry sources.

I guess what this comes down to is whether you think DanO is on the way out (you and mission) or whether you think DanO is this year's GM. I personally think that he will stay on, and that the new owners are going to let him do his thing, and that being the case, that we should be shopping more aggressively while there are lots of options still available.