Foxsports.com and CBSSports.com have reported that the Cincinnati Reds have reached an agreement with free-agent outfielder Ryan Ludwick.

The Reds have not yet made announce for the outfielder who has been on a steady decline from his 2008 all-star season, and like Heisey, he does not hit left-handed pitchers well. The chart below shows Ludwick's decline and that Heisey clearly has the better bat.

Ryan Ludwick

Year    ave.  HR  RBI  slg %

2009   .265  22     97  .447

2010   .251  17     59  .418

2011   .237  13    75   .363

Chris Heisey

2010   .254    8     21   .433

2011   .254  18     50   .487

With this deal, left field is sure to be an interesting battle this spring. However, I would think that going into spring training the everyday position should be Heisey's to lose. The only advantage Ludwick has over Heisey is that he hits left handed pitchers a little better (.237 vs. .180).

So, all in all, this was a nice move by Reds general manager Walt Jocketty, but Reds fans should not get too excited, as Ludwick likely will be just a bat off the bench, or platoon player at best.