Hernandez's deal

The Reds declined the option for Ramon Hernandez for $8.5 mil. Instead, they re-signed him to a one-year deal, presumably saving themselves the buy out. They paid $3 mil. for this year, which seems okay, but more importantly indicates that the Reds may have at least as much payroll money as they had last year, and may not have to trade everyone over the minimum.

But, as previously discussed, the Reds have very few 2011 commitments. So the fact that Hernandez got a vesting option (if he plays 120 games, he gets a second year on his deal) for 2011 is disturbing and counter productive, but here is a different opinion. The money's not bad, but I really like the idea of a near clean slate for 2011. If the Reds aren't in it at this year's trade deadline, they can totally unload and rebuild with a lot of money available.