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CCiinncciinnnnaattii RReeddss MMeeddiiaa CClliippss JJaannuuaarryy 55tthh,, 22001177 Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings January 5, 2017 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 1989-Major League Baseball signs a $400 million contract with ESPN, which will put 175 games per year on cable television, beginning in 1990. Today, there are over 4,000 games on television each season MLB.COM Will Reds make more moves after signing Storen? Cincinnati could add veteran starting pitcher, catcher By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | January 4th, 2017 + 148 COMMENTS CINCINNATI -- Throughout the offseason, Reds general manager Dick Williams has made it no secret that he is seeking value signings -- also known as bargains -- as a way to make improvements and bolster weaknesses. The first domino finally fell in that pursuit on Tuesday when Cincinnati signed former closer Drew Storen to a one-year, $3 million contract with incentive bonuses. Storen's signing addressed the Reds' biggest weakness -- the bullpen. Now the question is, what's next? The club could certainly use more relievers, but Williams sidestepped whether he would add more. "We will continue to try to make the club better," Williams said. "We've got some time left this offseason, and we're still going to stay busy." The Reds have other areas to address besides the bullpen. They would like to add a veteran starting pitcher to compete for the lone rotation opening against a fleet of promising but inexperienced young pitchers. Catching depth is wanted behind Devin Mesoraco and Tucker Barnhart as Mesoraco tries to come back from two lost seasons and three surgeries that limited him to catching 19 games (18 starts) from 2015-16. There could be open spots to fill out the bench as well, perhaps with an extra outfielder. Usually, the second half of the Hot Stove season is filled with bargains as free agents lower their prices and demands with Spring Training just around the corner. No capable player wants to be unemployed while their peers report to a camp in Arizona or Florida. Then there are the reclamation projects -- players coming off of injury-filled seasons who want a chance to prove they are healthy again and able to produce. For clubs like the Reds, it all adds up to a chance to take a less risky investment on someone they hope pays off big. If Storen succeeds, the Reds would certainly have gotten a bargain on the deal. Last year, their lone big league signing during the winter was reliever Blake Wood on a one-year, $600,000 contract, and he was often a bright spot in a bullpen that performed poorly. In 2009, outfielder Jonny Gomes came in on a Minor League contract and wound up resurrecting his career with 20 homers while earning $600,000. Not all bargain signings pan out, so it is buyer beware. In January 2012, everyone thought the Reds got the steal of the offseason when closer Ryan Madson signed a one-year deal at $8.5 million. Madson blew out his elbow in Spring Training and never threw a pitch for Cincinnati. In '15, veteran reliever Kevin Gregg signed a Minor League deal and received $1.5 million after earning a spot on the team in camp. Gregg struggled mightily and was released in early May of that season. Storen might represent the only Major League contract the Reds sign with a free agent this offseason. The rest could be Minor League deals. "It's possible if we don't find the right value out there," Williams said. "There are other targets we have our eye on. We do have a criteria in mind for the type of player we want to acquire and the amount we're willing to spend. We just have to find the right match, and if we don't, we like the group we're putting together." CINCINNATI ENQUIRER Nick Senzel gets advice from Pete, excited to hit at GABP C. Trent Rosecrans , [email protected] Published 10:09 a.m. ET Jan. 4, 2017 The Reds’ future and past sat together at a table last month during Redsfest. There, the man with the most hits in the history of Major League Baseball told the team’s top prospect something that sounded counterintuitive. “I was talking to Pete Rose -- it's easy for him to say, but he said the easiest level to hit in is the big leagues,” said Nick Senzel, named Wednesday as the Reds’ top prospect by Baseball America. “It's easy for him to say because he got over a billion hits, but he just said the lights are better, pitchers are better. It's comforting to hear that from him.” If that’s the case for Senzel, the No. 2 pick of last year’s draft, has quite the future ahead of him, because his pro debut couldn’t have looked easier. Senzel played 10 games at Rookie-level Billings as a sort of truncated spring training before moving to low-Class A Dayton, where he had hits in nine of his first 11 games. He finished his 58-game stint in the Midwest League hitting .329/.415/.567 with seven home runs and 36 RBI (as well as 15 steals). “The season was kind of a complete approach. We saw the offense we wanted to see, the defense that we hoped to see. We saw the off-the-field, the leadership and hard work and effort. We saw good baserunning,” Reds general manager Dick Williams said. “We saw a good player, that was a very encouraging first year. It's a long season coming out of college ball and going through the grind and playing for two different affiliates. There was a lot of movement and you're getting to know a lot of people. We were asking a lot of a player and it was an impressive rookie campaign.” Baseball America agreed, naming Senzel the team’s top prospect on Wednesday. He replaced right-hander Robert Stephenson, who had been the team’s top prospect according to the magazine entering the last three seasons. Stephenson, who made his big-league debut in April, fell to No. 4 in the team’s rankings, in part because of his struggles at both the big-league and Triple-A levels. Stephenson was leapfrogged by lefties Cody Reed (No. 2) and Amir Garrett (No. 3). After Stephenson in the rankings were outfielders Taylor Trammell, Jesse Winker and Aristides Aquino. The trio of outfielders were followed by right-handers Sal Romano at No. 8 and Vladimir Gutierrez at No. 9. Catcher Tyler Stephenson, the team’s first-round pick in 2015, was ranked No. 10. While Senzel was considered the best college hitter in June’s draft, what surprised many once he hit the minors was his power. Senzel hit eight home runs as a junior at Tennessee and just five in his first two years. That made his power potential something of a sticking point for predraft evaluators and observers looking at him as a top draft pick. When he got to Dayton, Senzel showed his power, first with four doubles in his first three games with the Dragons and later with a total of seven home runs, including a three-game stretch with homers in each game. If power is the knock against Senzel, he’s not especially worried. “I don't even think about it,” he said. “I was in an interview with (Jesse) Winker and they were talking to him about his power production, too, it wasn't as high as they'd like it to be. Who cares? If you're getting on base, that's all that matters. That's how you score runs. Home runs are cool and everything, I know that's what fans come out to see. I don't think it matters, as long as you're getting on base and scoring runs.” Senzel said he didn’t think he had any real uptick in power - just he didn’t miss mistakes. The power wasn’t a product of his physical strength, but of the strength of his game, namely an advanced approach at the plate. “I was just trying to have good at-bats,” he said. “Some balls I hit went over the fence, others didn't. Either way, my goal is just trying to have a good at-bat. If a couple of balls jumped out of the park, I was good with that. I was just trying to take good at-bats.” That sounds surprisingly similar to anyone who has watched the Reds over recent years — it’s an approach that Joey Votto has embraced and preached. “I think the older and more mature and physically stronger I get, the more balls will go out of the park,” Senzel said. “I heard it flies at Great American Ball Park to the gaps, I heard it flies. That's a great thing to hear.” Williams said he doesn’t like to put timetables on players, but with recent high draft picks out of college making the big leagues the year after they were drafted (like Kyle Schwarber, Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson and Andrew Benintendi), it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Senzel in the big leagues as soon as this season. “It's a real encouraging start. I don't like put timetables on guys. The minor leagues are all about learning how to succeed and how to deal with your failure. He'll definitely push his way up the ladder as fast as his talent will take him. People shouldn't be surprised if he encounters some challenges along the way, that's part of the process.” That wouldn’t be a surprise, no matter what Rose told Senzel, because after all, there’s only one Rose.