These are all no-brainers, as far as I’m concerned:
The Reds on Thursday tendered 2011 contract offers to all of their unsigned players under club control.
That included all six of their arbitration-eligible players — first baseman Joey Votto, right fielder Jay Bruce, starting pitchers Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto and relievers Bill Bray and Jared Burton.
Teams must tender all of their unsigned players their 2011 contracts by 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, which has become known as the “non-tender deadline.” If a player isn’t offered a contract, he immediately could become a free agent. This usually mostly affects players eligible for large raises in arbitration.
There was some speculation that the Reds might non-tender Jared Burton, but I’m glad to see that didn’t happen. Burton was very good for a couple of years, and still has a live arm (as evidenced by his performance in AAA and the majors after returning from injury) and one of the best cutters in the league.
I’ve wondered whether there’s some sort of personality conflict involving Burton within the organization. Burton was publicly unhappy after being sent down to AAA a couple of times, and the Reds kept recalling people like Carlos Fisher over Burton last year. I like Fisher, but he’s not as talented as Burton. As usual, there must be something we don’t know about that situation.
Either way, I’m glad Burton is going to be back in the fold. You can’t have too many good arms.