The Cincinnati Reds' Hot Stove Finally Heats Up

It's the end of January and that means the Reds can start their Christmas shopping.

The majority of players left are at least 50 percent off. Everything must go!

Agents are beginning to sweat as they look at their list of jobless clients with less than a month to go before pitchers and catchers report.

The Reds are finally making noise—albeit a very hard to hear sound. This is what a team with a payroll in the bottom third of baseball has to do. A-Rod and Manny would never even give the Reds the time of day.

But a washed-up Willy Taveras will. Buy low, don't expect much, that's the Reds way.

The Dusty Baker era has provided two last minute signings gone horribly wrong. Corey Patterson signed for $3MM to be the Reds '08 lead-off hitter. After putting up a gaudy .205 average with only 14 steals, he was toast.

Last year, Taveras was the $4MM bust. The Reds are on the hook for another exhilarating year of Taveras grounding out to short 200 times.

This year the Reds already made a splash by signing rocket-armed left hander Aroldis Chapman to a fat contract. But his salary will only be $1MM this year. He isn't gobbling up a Scott Rolen size chunk of the payroll, so the Reds do have a little bit of cash to work with.

Many fans are calling for a 35 year-old Orlando Cabrera to take over at shortstop. Paul Janish and his .214 average is currently slotted in as the starter. He covers a lot of ground on the field, but has a minuscule 22 RBIs in 381 major league at bats.

He is a great back up, but certainly not a starter for a play-off caliber team. It remains to be seen how much Cabrera is asking for at this point.

The outfield's only certainty is Jay Bruce in right field. Chris Dickerson and Drew Stubbs are projected to fill left and center.

That threesome doesn't exactly scare any teams.

Dickerson is constantly battling injuries, and Stubbs only played in the majors when the Reds were miles away from first and winning wasn't too important.

What player could bring leadership, plate discipline and excitement to Cincinnati?

Jerry Crasnick at ESPN.com reports that Scott Boras is targeting the Reds as a possible location for free agent Johnny Damon.

If they can sign Damon for under $5MM, it would be an excellent move. But considering the Yankees claim he was asking for too much money, this might all just be smoke and mirrors.

Is Boras just creating fake rumors to scare big market teams? Would Damon ever want to play in Cincinnati after being in New York and Boston?

He would be a great fit for the Reds. If a salary cap was involved, Damon might play for a small market team like the Reds. Instead, fans of financially starved teams are left dreaming.

Walt Jocketty also announced the signing of RHP Jose Arredondo to a minor league deal.

Arredondo, 25, went 10-2 with a 1.62 ERA in 52 games in 2008 with the Angels. That year, he led both leagues’ relievers in victories, and opponents batted only .190 against him. He was considered a lights out future closer.

So how did the Reds sign him to a minor league deal?

In 2009 he went 2-3 with 6.00 ERA in 43 games. That's not going to get it done for the Nationals.

He battled elbow problems all season and had surgery to fix it. Problem is, the surgery will require him to miss the entire 2010 season. The Reds are hoping that '09 was a anomaly, and when healthy, Arredondo can boost the Reds bullpen in 2011.

And yes, already talking and thinking about the 2011 season is not a good omen for your 2010 chances.

Johnny Gomes is still out there. So is Jermaine Dye. There are 93 unsigned free agents looking for jobs. As a frosty January comes to an end, the Reds, and the hot stoves of other small market teams are just beginning to heat up.