Gonzalez to miss at least 3 weeks

SS Alex Gonzalez has been diagnosed with a compression fracture of his left knee. He will be evaluated again in three weeks.

Here's the AP story.

Griffey, Dunn, Bailey to make spring debuts

Here's the lineup for this afternoon's game against Tampa Bay:

Hopper CF
Keppinger 3b
Griffey RF
Dunn LF
Votto 1b
Green 2b
Bako C
Janish SS
Valentin DH
Bailey P

Williams goes to Vikings

Several outlets are confirming the Vikings are giving Madieu $33 million for six years.

From ESPN.com:

An all-night negotiations session with the Minnesota Vikings produced a deal that has made Madieu Williams a formal Bengal and now one of the highest-paid safeties in the NFL.

Williams, 26, agreed to a six-year, $33 million contract Friday morning after his agent, Ken Zuckerman, and Minnesota officials worked through the night to get a deal done. As both sides spelled out the final language of the contract, Williams headed to the airport Friday morning for a flight to Minneapolis to sign the deal.

The contract tops Deon Grant's five-year, $31.8 million deal that was the highest of the free agent safety class of 2007. Williams was considered one of the top safeties in free agency this year.

Though his contract isn't as rich as the ones given Bob Sanders of the Colts or Troy Polamalu of the Steelers, it was fair and his presence fills a big need in the Vikings secondary.

Williams is known more for his coverage skills than his hitting, and the Vikings wanted to shore up some of their pass-coverage deficiencies.

Could Vikes take two?

Two of the biggest Bengal names that became free agents at midnight are Justin Smith and Madieu Williams. And rumor has it the Minnesota Vikings may be trying to lure both of them.

FoxSports.Com is reporting that the Vikings hope to visit with Smith and Bears receiver Bernard Berrian today.

Signing Berrian and Smith would address two Vikings needs. Minnesota is lacking a veteran wideout to pair with quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, while Smith would fill the void created when starting end Kenechi Udeze was recently diagnosed with leukemia.

ESPN.com reports ...

the Vikings and 49ers battled it out to convince Bengals defensive end Justin Smith, but Smith informed the 49ers he will make San Francisco his first stop.

SI.com, who lists Smith as one of the Top 15 Free Agents, says ...

the Niners, a team eternally in need of players in the defensive front seven, are hot on his heels. Tampa Bay, a team with $44 million in cap space, may also make a late charge.

Enquirer.Com and others are reporting the Vikings are after Madieu.

Minnesota has the inside track on trying to lure Williams. Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier held the same job in Cincinnati when the Bengals drafted Williams in the second round in 2004. Williams had no offer from the Bengals, who wanted his representation to check back with them before he would sign with another team.

Stay tuned.

Reds 6, Twins 1

Highlights and lowlights - mostly highlights:

11 hits by the Reds (but no one with multiple hits), including Freel, Encarnacion, Bruce, Castro, Keppinger and Votto

Jerry Gil (for what it's worth) three-run homer in the 5th

Jolbert Cabrera (for what it's worth) with a 2-RBI double

Another hit for the (Reds') star of yesterday's game, Adam Rosales

Belisle with two scoreless innings (although he did allow three hits)

Fogg: 2 IP, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts

Mercker, Cordero, Stanton and Lincoln with a scoreless inning each

No walks by Reds pitchers

Nice play by Bruce to rob Brendan Harris (who was a Red for a short time, acquired in the infamous Majewski trade, but who we gave up on) of a hit

Four errors (Keppinger, Gil, Weathers and Dickerson)

Reds highlights, lowlights

Mostly lowlights in an 8-1 loss to the Phillies:

Majewski: 1/3 IP, 6 hits, 6 earned runs. Ouch. Is this guy EVER going to turn it around?

Coutlangus gave up a 3-run bomb to Greg Dobbs in the 5th (with two of those runs charged to Majewski).

Affeldt wasn't terrible. 2 IP, 1 run, 3 hits, 1 K.

Adam Rosales (12th round pick in 2005) homered in the 7th off Clay Condrey. Rosales hit .286 with 41 doubles, 11 triples, 18 home runs and 79 RBI between Sarasota and Chattanooga last year.

Coffey worked a perfect sixth.

Intrasquad update

The Reds held their intrasquad scrimmage this afternoon at Ed Smith Stadium.

Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo were the starting pitchers; no one got more than 1 inning of work and the game lasted 5 1/2 innings. Other pitchers who appeared were Matt Maloney, Johnny Cueto, Richie Gardner, Alexander Smit, Josh Roenicke, Daryl Thompson, Tyler Pelland, Sergio Valenzuela and Ramon Ramirez.

Here's the lowdown from John Fay:

The home white team beat the visiting gray team 8-2 in the Reds intrasquad game. Drew Anderson was the star. He went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer. Paul Janish looked good. He had a hit and made three sterling plays at short.

"I saw good things," Dusty Baker said. "Jerry Gil looked good. Anderson looked great. (Chris) Dickerson looked good. Janish made the three nice plays. No missed signs. That's what I like."

Johnny Cueto looked very good in an inning of work. He struck out two.

Here's Jeff Brantley scouting report on Cueto: "He looked great. He was 92 to 96 on the gun I saw. But you can throw out all the things good and bad physically. I look for mound presence. I saw that big time."

As far as Alex Gonzalez, MLB.com reported he was slated to undergo an MRI on his left knee on Monday night. Fay says, "They're shutting SS Alex Gonzalez down for a couple of days because of the sore knee. He has a bone bruise. He'll see Dr. Tim Kremchek Friday."

Either way, makes me think that story from a couple of days about Gonzalez being the starting SS over Keppinger might be moot. But would getting Keppinger more ABs be a bad thing? Don't think so.

What stands out from Reds previews

Some interesting facts/things I didn't realize that pop out when reading through Reds previews that have surfaced in the past week:

SI.com NL Central preview: Hamilton for Volquez "smacks of one team having more information than the other" ... "it was a very quiet winter for a 72-90 team" ... Hatteberg vs. Votto looks like Karros vs. Choi, and "given Baker's history of preferring veterans, Hatteberg certainly has an inside track"

New Dusty Baker feature on CBSSportsline.com: "He's got his hands full right now," Ryan Freel says. "He asked us not to wear jackets onto the practice field so he can see our names on the back of our jerseys."

In Scott Miller's Five Things: A Reds' move to Arizona "could present a dilemma for teams in both the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues because, with the Dodgers and Indians moving to Arizona next spring, it could leave 15 major league clubs training in Florida and 15 in Arizona. Without even numbers, someone would have to play split-squad games in each state every day, which would not be a desired situation later in March after a few rounds of cuts and as the regular season nears." ... "Of the 63 players in camp during general manager Wayne Krivsky's first spring -- 2006 -- only 14 remain. And of 32 pitchers there that first spring, not counting Bailey (who was in camp then as a non-roster invitee), only four remain: Belisle, Todd Coffey, Harang and Weathers."

FoxSports.Com's new Reds '08 preview: "Interestingly, the Reds' streak of seven losing seasons coincides with the big trade to land Ken Griffey from Seattle in 2000."

Smith won't close door

Bengals.com says Justin Smith will definitely give Cincinnati a chance to re-sign him when free agency opens. He claims he didn't give it much thought when the Bengals chose to make Stacy Andrews their franchise free agent instead of him, and he understood the rationale behind it.

Who knows what he's really thinking, but it's always good when you don't irk a free agent by franchising someone else. So maybe they can hang onto him.

Still no love for Xavier

I don't get it. 24-4, 12-1 in the A-10. Ten straight wins. Beat up on Indiana and K-State and took Tennessee down to the wire. Here are some disses ...

On his blog, SI.com's Luke Winn doesn't include Xavier among his legit title contenders. He lists seven teams in that group and points out there's a dropoff from those seven to rulers of the Big East and Big Ten. No mention of Xavier.

FoxSports' Jeff Goodman points out that Tennessee's win at Xavier was among their most impressive on the road, but then he doesn't mention the Muskies as a team that could win the title. Although their bracket guy has X as a 2 seed, which is good.

Joe Lunardi has X and Stanford battling for a 2 seed, even though Xavier's strength of schedule ranking is 24 and Stanford's is 120. (Warning: Subscription content)

That's about it ... I guess they're not getting dissed THAT hard, there's just no one out there making the argument that if they win out (and win the A-10 tourney) they should be a No. 1 seed or anything.

Fogg, Reds agree

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) - Right-hander Josh Fogg agreed on Thursday to a one-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds, who are trying to fill out their rotation.

The 31-year-old pitcher will get a chance to win a spot in a rotation that is in flux after right-handers Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo. Matt Belisle, Homer Bailey and Edinson Volquez are competing for jobs.

Fogg went 10-9 with a 4.94 ERA in 29 starts and one relief appearance for Colorado last season. He pitched the third game of the World Series against Boston and failed to make it out of the third inning, giving up 10 hits and six runs in all.

Fogg also has pitched for the White Sox and the Pirates.

My take from earlier

Thurman return possible

Reports indicate that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell spoke with encouragement Wednesday of Bengals middle linebacker Odell Thurman and said he would decide whether to reinstate him by training camp (late July).

The NFL last month allowed Thurman, suspended for the past two years for repeated violations of the league substance abuse policy, to begin working out at Paul Brown Stadium with his teammates and meeting with coaches.

Reds signing Dragon Slayer?

The Rocky Mountain News is reporting that the Reds are getting ready to sign Josh Fogg. Their source says it'll be a one-year deal with a base salary of $1 million, which is very interesting considering the Rockies apparently offered him $5 million for 1 year. Guess he wanted to test the waters and see if he could land a big multi-year deal and it didn't happen for him.

Numbers-wise he's 60-60 over 7 big-league seasons. 10-9 last year with a 4.94 ERA. The best ERA he's posted in a complete season is 4.35, and that was his rookie year. Horrible WHIP guy (1.52 and 1.54 the past two seasons), doesn't get many strikeouts at all. Not a very good hitter either.

I do think it would be cool for the Reds to have a pitcher whose nickname is the "Dragon Slayer," even if it came as a result of something he achieved with another team. He earned the name, by the way, by defeating the likes of Mussina, Schilling and Brandon Webb during the 2007 season.

I don't know ... do we really need another guy who eats up innings? Because aside from the "getting up for big games" thing that's about all he does. I guess he'd be a serviceable fourth or fifth starter, if Volquez isn't ready for that. But Fogg really isn't even in the same class talent-wise as Blanton.

Report: Phillips gets long-term deal

The DDN's Hal McCoy is reporting that Brandon Phillips and the Reds have avoided arbitration and agreed in principle to a long-term deal, according to a source close to the negotiations.

Terms and length of the deal were not available, but an arbitration hearing has been canceled.

Phillips was asking for a one-year contract worth $4.5 million; the Reds were offering a one-year, $2.7 million deal.

I would guess everyone will be in agreement that this is a good thing and Phillips is very deserving of whatever money he's getting.

Marvin on Chad

How many times and how many different ways is Marvin Lewis going to explain that the Bengals aren't going to trade Chad? Let's take a look (dated are the articles in which the quotes appeared ... I can't be sure which day Marvin actually said them):

Feb. 14 from ESPN.com: "They can stop the presses, quit killing trees and move on to other things. ... There is, at no point, anyone in the Bengals organization who has ever uttered anything about trading Chad Johnson. Nor will he be traded."

Later in the same article: "We've had a great relationship. ... All I want to see is Chad continue to be a very, very productive NFL player and help us win a lot of football games. And that's not going to change."

Feb. 13 from bengals.com: "There is no such thing as behind-the-door deals in the NFL. ... That will not occur because the team in question is not willing to trade their player. Nor have they thought about trading their player. Nor have they discussed trading their player. Nor will they discuss trading their player."

Later in the same article: "It's unfortunate for Chad that he is being cast in this light. It's really not fair. So once again I will go on record in defense of him."

Jan. 17 from espn.com: "He's going to go back and be a pro and go forward and play. As I said then, there will be no trade of Chad Johnson. Repeat it again. ... He's a special player and he's a Cincinnati Bengal for quite a while."

Bonus Mike Brown quote: "He isn't going anywhere," Brown said of Johnson in a November interview. "Chad Johnson is a tremendous football player. We're glad he's here. He's an integral part of what we do."

Report: Redskins want Chad Johnson

The Washington Post is reporting that the Redskins are looking to acquire Chad Johnson from the Bengals.

(I'm providing the excerpt from the article because you have to register for washingtonpost.com content.)

Numerous league sources, including some with direct knowledge of conversations between owner Daniel Snyder, executive vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato and recent head coaching candidates, have affirmed that the Redskins have interest in trading for Cincinnati wide receiver Chad Johnson, with two league sources saying Johnson is eager to land a hefty new contract from Washington.

Acquiring an elite receiver is Snyder's top priority, league sources said. The Bengals have said they have no intention of trading Johnson, but his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is working quietly to broker a deal, the sources said.

Later in the article ...

If Johnson is traded, two general managers estimated it would take a low first-round and a third-round pick, or perhaps two second-round picks, to land him.

The Washington Post report is also mentioned on msnbc.com and a couple of other sites.

Not sure if you ever saw this last month on Deadspin.

Report: Reds interested in Lofton

FoxSports.Com's Ken Rosenthal, who last week reported that the Reds are considering trading for Oakland pitcher Joe Blanton, says a deal for Kenny Lofton may be in the works.

Rosenthal believes "the extent of their interest might hinge on which players - if any - they trade for a starting pitcher."

In other words, a deal for Blanton or another starter might happen first.

He points out that Lofton bats left-handed and could fit into a platoon with Ryan Freel and Norris Hopper, who both bat right-handed.

Lofton played for Dusty Baker with the Giants in 2002 and the Cubs in 2003. He is a free agent who turns 41 in May. He has played for 11 teams in his 17-year career, including three NL Central teams - the Astros, Pirates and Cubs.

Even more Blanton talk

Apparently the Reds are still interested in Joe Blanton. Check out my post on OMGReds.Com for more.