35-year old switch hitting outfielder Gary Matthews has opted out of his minor league deal with the Reds. Matthews played in 23 games in AAA-ball for the Reds and he was 32 of 101 (.317 avg, .856 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 3 homers, 6 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Reds didn’t have room in their outfield for Matthews but manager Dusty Baker wanted to keep him for later when rosters expand in September. Matthews will be on the hunt for a new gig now.

The Reds have signed 37-year old righty reliever Jason Isringhausen to a minor league deal. Isringhausen pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Rays last season and he was 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP before his injury. He has now pitched in 621 games (52 starts) in his 14 years in the majors and he is 45-50 with 293 saves, a 3.60 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. The Reds will send Isringhausen to the minors to knock some rust off before calling him up. This is a nice low risk/high reward signing for the Reds as Isringhausen has always been solid when healthy.

The Reds have signed 41-year old righty reliever Russ Springer to a 1-year, $850,000 dollar deal. He pitched in 74 games (0 starts) for the A’s and Rays last season and he was 1-4 with 1 save, a 4.11 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. Springer has now pitched in 738 games (27 starts) in his 17 years in the majors and he is 36-45 with 9 saves, a 4.52 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. This was a nice low risk signing for the Reds who really need help in the pen from the right side.

The Reds have released 30-year old Chris Burke. Burke played in 66 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 59 of 248 (.238 avg, .674 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 5 homers, 26 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Burke was kind of upset and he’s thinking about quitting baseball. He has played in 477 games in the majors in his career and he is 303 of 1,267 (.239 avg, .674 OPS) with 176 runs scored, 23 homers, 111 RBIs and 40 stolen bases.

The Reds have signed 35-year old switch hitting outfielder Gary Matthews to a minor league deal. Matthews played in 36 games for the Mets earlier this season and he was 11 of 58 (.190 avg, .507 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 RBI and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 1,281 games in his 12 years in the majors and he is 1,056 of 4,103 (.257 avg, .737 OPS) with 612 runs scored, 108 homers, 484 RBIs and 95 stolen bases. If Matthews has anything left this was a good move for the Reds….and if not they can just cut him loose.