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Two weeks ago Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported that Edgar Renteria planned to play this season, but that is apparently no longer the case.

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com spoke to Renteria’s agent and writes that the 35-year-old “does not plan to play this season and is leaning toward retirement.”

His lack of job options no doubt played a part, as Renteria is no longer a capable shortstop defensively and hit just .251 with a .306 on-base percentage and .348 slugging percentage in 96 games for the Reds last season. According to his agent two NL teams offered a minor-league deal, but Renteria passed and will instead wait a while to see if he changes his mind.

He once looked like a darkhorse candidate for 3,000 career hits, but Renteria ceased being an effective everyday player at age 30. That season, 2007, he batted .332 for the Braves and already had 1,934 hits, but since then he’s played 430 games spread over four seasons while batting just .261 with a .672 OPS.

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Initially the Reds planned to have Aroldis Chapman build up his arm strength as a starter in the Arizona Fall League and winter ball, but shoulder problems put that on hold and now the left-hander’s role for 2012 is somewhat unclear.

Dusty Baker said today that they’ll give Chapman an opportunity to start this spring and “if there’s not time and there’s not quality, you can always back off a guy.”

In other words, if he’s struggling to pitch multiple innings at a time–or if his shoulder starts barking again–the Reds can always shift him back to the bullpen. Baker also hinted that sending Chapman to the minors to continue working as a starter is a possibility that “depends on our needs.”

Chapman shifted to the bullpen full time in mid-2010 and has thrown 63 innings for the Reds with a 3.27 ERA and 90/46 K/BB ratio. His overpowering fastball velocity would be very intriguing if he can maintain it multiple times through the lineup, but Chapman’s shaky control would seemingly be an even bigger obstacle as a starter and the Reds already have a full rotation with Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Bronson Arroyo, Mike Leake, and Homer Bailey.

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Initially the Reds planned to have Aroldis Chapman build up his arm strength as a starter in the Arizona Fall League and winter ball, but shoulder problems put that on hold and now the left-hander’s role for 2012 is somewhat unclear.

Dusty Baker said today that they’ll give Chapman an opportunity to start this spring and “if there’s not time and there’s not quality, you can always back off a guy.”

In other words, if he’s struggling to pitch multiple innings at a time–or if his shoulder starts barking again–the Reds can always shift him back to the bullpen. Baker also hinted that sending Chapman to the minors to continue working as a starter is a possibility that “depends on our needs.”

Chapman shifted to the bullpen full time in mid-2010 and has thrown 63 innings for the Reds with a 3.27 ERA and 90/46 K/BB ratio. His overpowering fastball velocity would be very intriguing if he can maintain it multiple times through the lineup, but Chapman’s shaky control would seemingly be an even bigger obstacle as a starter and the Reds already have a full rotation with Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Bronson Arroyo, Mike Leake, and Homer Bailey.

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Dusty Baker’s two-year contract expires after this season, but the Reds manager told reporters yesterday that he won’t be discussing his status in the future, saying:

What kind of factor can it be? Like I’ve said before, how many people have a one-year contract, period? You know how many times I’ve been in this situation? I’ve been in it four, five or six times, whatever it is. You just have to keep proving yourself I guess. Some people do and some people don’t. I’m one of the guys that seems like he has to, to keep proving myself. At this point, very little bothers me. I’m secure in myself, secure in my ability, secure in my family, secure in my life.

Mark Sheldon of MLB.com notes that this is the second time in three years that Baker has entered the season as a “lame duck” manager uncertain of his future. Last time that happened was 2010, when the Reds won 91 games and the division title, so it didn’t exactly hurt his performance then.

In fact, 2010 was Baker’s first winning season as a manager since 2004 and having a losing record in five of the past six seasons is no doubt part of the reason why Baker has to keep proving himself. Baker had a .540 winning percentage in 10 seasons managing Barry Bonds and the Giants, but has a .497 winning percentage in eight seasons since then.

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It’s not clear who will get the most reps at short in Boston this year. But yesterday Reds Sox’ manager Bobby Valentine said that Mike Aviles has the “DNA” of an everyday shortstop.

Fact: Mike Aviles was born in New York City in the spring of 1981.  Fact: the “everyday shortstop” of the Yankees at the time of Aviles’ conception was Bucky Dent.

Theory: If Aviles has the DNA of an everyday shortstop, that must mean* that Bucky Dent is his real father, and Aviles has now been delivered to Boston as part of a generations-spanning plot by Bucky Dent to punish the Red Sox even further than he already has.

Unless of course he plays really well, in which case it is Bucky Dent making amends with Red Sox fans for that home run he hit in 1978.

Or it’s possible that Aviles is actually the son of Frank Taveras, who started 141 games at short for the Mets in 1980.  But such speculation would be silly.

*Note: it must not mean any of this actually.

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AP

Mike Cameron signed a minor league contract with the Nationals in mid-December. But he won’t ever take the field wearing the curly W.

According to the Nationals official Twitter account, Cameron informed the team on Sunday morning that he is officially retiring from baseball.

The 39-year-old outfielder was a .249/.338/.444 career hitter over parts of 17 major league seasons. He amassed 1,700 hits, 278 home runs and three Gold Gloves while playing for the White Sox, Reds, Mariners, Mets, Padres, Brewers, Red Sox and Marlins.

Cameron likely would have made the Nats’ Opening Day roster as a part-time center fielder. His absence will mean more playing time for Rick Ankiel and Roger Bernadina. Or Washington could put Jayson Werth in center to make room for top prospect Bryce Harper.

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Brett Tomko’s career is about to come full circle.

According to Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLB Trade Rumors, the Reds have agreed to sign Tomko to a minor league contract.

Tomko, who turns 39 in April, was originally drafted by the Reds in the second round of the 1995 draft and spent his first three major league seasons with the club before being traded to the Mariners in February of 2000 along with Mike Cameron, Antonio Perez and Jake Meyer in the deal that brought Ken Griffey, Jr. to Cincinnati.

The veteran right-hander made eight relief appearances with the Rangers early last year, but spent most of the season at the team’s Triple-A affiliate, posting an ugly 6.15 ERA and 82/42 K/BB ratio over 108 1/3 innings. He’s unlikely to crack Cincinnati’s Opening Day roster.

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AP

Last week Walt Jocketty said he was “sick and tired” of rumors about the Reds negotiating with Roy Oswalt and today the general manager told John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he doesn’t anticipate making any more significant moves.

“We’ll meet again Wednesday and review it, but I think we’re pretty well set,” Jocketty said, adding that he thinks Oswalt “is waiting for Texas to clear money.”

That’s the second time Jocketty has made it clear that he expects Oswalt to wind up with the Rangers. Of course, Jocketty has also said that the Reds haven’t talked to Oswalt’s agent for more than a week, so how much insight into the situation the GM actually has is unclear.

Less than 48 hours ago Jayson Stark of ESPN.com wrote that Oswalt to the Rangers “is not gonna happen.”

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The A’s finally pulled off their big international signing.

Oakland wanted Aroldis Chapman two years ago, but came up short when the Reds bid $30 million for six years. Last winter, they were willing to commit $36 million to bring Hisashi Iwakuma over from Japan, but since $19.1 million of that was in the form of a posting fee, it wasn’t enough to land the right-hander.

Now that $36 million has been spent, given to Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes as part of a four-year deal. It was a surprising contract, in that it provides the 26-year-old Cespedes with the right to become a free agent after four years. Still, it’s a worthy gamble for a team with very little to lose.

This was really the only way the A’s were going to hit a home run. Elite free agents were out of their price range, and while the A’s haven’t been any good in years, they also haven’t been so bad as to land a top-five draft pick (maybe that will finally change next year). So, they took a chance.

I think best-case scenario has Cespedes performing like a $15 million-per-year player for the next four years. Oakland is a tough place to hit, but Cespedes could prove to be a .290, 25-homer guy anyway. The worst-case scenario is that he has big problems adjusting to life in the U.S. and proves completely worthless. That’s a possibility. Strictly from a talent standpoint, I don’t expect Cespedes to wash out. Maybe he turns out to be nothing more than a .260 hitter with 15-20 homer power, but it would come with plus defense in left or right field, making him something close to an average regular.

The big negative here is that even is that the A’s have limited their upside by allowing Cespedes to become a free agent after four years. Cespedes will likely open 2012 in the minors and he’ll probably need some time to get accustomed after he does arrive, so I wouldn’t expect him to be much of an asset until 2013. He’ll then be able to walk away after 2015.

The A’s, though, needed to do something like this. As much payroll as they had shed, they actually might have gotten themselves in trouble with the MLBPA if they didn’t (remember that the union had a hand in forcing the Marlins to increase their payroll two years ago). Ideally, they’ll open a new stadium in San Jose in 2015 with Cespedes as their showcase player. And if it doesn’t work out, well, it’s $9 million that Billy Beane won’t be able to spend on Marlon Byrd and Matt Capps next winter.

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Marlins’ president David Samson told Jayson Stark of ESPN.com on Tuesday night that the club was considering making an offer to Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes during their meeting in Miami this week and apparently that’s exactly what happened.

Eric Reynoso of Cafe Fuerte (link in Spanish) was told by a source “close to the negotiations” that the Marlins have offered Cespedes a six-year deal worth $40 million. This contract would surpass the $30.25 million deal Cuban left-hander Aroldis Chapman signed with the Reds in January of 2010.

Cespedes, 26, only met with the Marlins before returning to the Dominican Republic on Thursday night and Reynoso was told that he has no immediate plans to meet with other major league clubs. The Cubs, White Sox, Tigers and Orioles are among some of the other teams who have expressed strong interest. Cespedes is allowed to negotiate with MLB teams, but he can’t officially sign a contract until he is unblocked by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

(Hat-tip to MLB Trade Rumors for the link)

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