According to John Fay:
The Reds and Scott Hatteberg on Wednesday agreed to an contract extension for next season that will pay the first baseman $1.5 million.
There’s a club option for 2008.
This is a great move.
Signing a guy having a career year to a one year extension for $1.5M? Super.
And it means there is no rush on Votto being ready next year. If he is, great, if not…ok, there’s a fallback position.
second best hitter on the team for 1.5 mil, i’ll take it. and i wouldn’t be surprised if he’s dealt when votto comes up, so it could be a way to buy some depth in our farm system for pretty cheap.
Solid move, low risk. Hatteberg has on-base skills, which deteriorate with age more slowly than other skills. Good move.
Don’t forget the potentially best aspect of this signing: does this mean that we can safely assume that Sean Casey will never wear a Reds uniform again? Didn’t The Amazing Krivsky mouth off sometime this season about what a great player he was and how much he meant to this organization?
I like the club option, too. Even if Votto is ready (and as good as advertised), Hatteberg would be nice to have off the bench.
Of course, he’s a veteran, so you better hope Narron isn’t here, because Votto will be on the bench.
And thanks for sending that, DA. I’ll post it ASAP.