The Reds have signed 31-year old lefty starter Jeff Francis to a minor league deal. Francis pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Royals last year and he was 6-16 with a 4.82 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He has now pitched in 181 games (180 starts) in his first seven years in the majors and he is 61-66 with a 4.78 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. The Reds will give Francis a shot this spring to win a job at the back end of the starting rotation. This was a nice low risk/decent reward signing for the Reds.

The Reds have acquired 33-year old righty swinging SS/3B/2B Wilson Valdez from the Phillies for 26-year old lefty reliever Jeremy Horst. Valdez played in 99 games for the Phillies last year and he was 68 for 273 (.249 avg, .634 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 1 homer, 30 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has now played in 362 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 230 for 948 (.243 avg, .621 OPS) with 116 runs scored, 6 homers, 92 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Valdez will be a super utility man for the Reds as he can play all over the field, with shortstop being his top position defensively. Jeremy Horst got his first taste of the majors with the Reds last year. He pitched in 12 games (0 starts) for the Reds last year and he was 0-0 with a 2.93 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP.

The Reds have signed 33-year old lefty swinging OF/2B Willie Harris to a minor league deal. Harris played in 126 games for the Mets last year and he was 59 for 240 (.246 avg, .668 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 2 homers, 23 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,021 games in his first 11 years in the majors and he is 575 for 2,397 (.240 avg, .678 OPS) with 360 runs scored, 39 homers, 210 RBIs and 106 stolen bases. This was a good signing for the Reds’ bench in 2012.

The Reds have released 26-year old righty reliever/starter Kyle McCulloch. McCulloch pitched in 32 games (14 starts) in AA+AAA-ball last year and he was 6-8 with a 5.25 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. He has now pitched in 165 games (116 starts) in his first six years in the minors and he is 39-48 with 1 save, a 4.64 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. This isn’t much of a loss for the Reds going forward.

The Reds have signed 27-year old righty swinging 1B/3B Joel Guzman to a minor league deal. Guzman played in 73 games for Chunichi in Japan last year and he was 43 for 238 (.181 avg, .517 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 7 homers and 15 RBIs. He last played in the majors back in 2007 with the Rays. He has played in 24 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 13 for 56 (.232 avg, .628 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 0 homers and 7 RBIs. The Reds will likely have Guzman start the 2012 season in AAA-ball.