Yasmani Grandal Signs With Reds

The Reds reached agreement with top draft pick Yasmani Grandal before the Monday midnight deadline.

Grandal, a catcher from the University of Miami and the 12th overall pick, was given a four-year major league contract through the 2013 season. Reports had the deal worth $3 million. Pitcher Mike Leake, the eighth pick overall in 2009, signed for $2.9 million.

The Reds would rather not have put Grandal on the 40-man roster, but he forced their hand, general manager Walt Jocketty said. The Reds will clear a spot on the roster for Grandal later today.

“You’d rather not do that," Jocketty said.

The Reds have given three drafted players big league contracts: Yonder Alonso, David Espinosa and Dane Sardinha. Espinosa and Sardinha were busts.

Grandal has the same agent as Alonso. Alonso got a big-league deal worth $4.55 million two years ago. The difference between now and then is space on the 40-man roster is much tighter.

Could the Reds have gotten the deal done without offering a big league deal?

“I don’t know,” Jocketty said. “It was a tough situation. We decided to do it.”

Grandal will report to Goodyear in the next couple of days.

“He’ll spend a short time at Goodyear, then move onto Billings, then to the Instructional League. We think he’ll move fast,” Jocketty said.

Grandal was in Cincinnati last weekend and passed his physical.

He led the Atlantic Coast Conference in hitting (.412), on-base percentage (.537) and slugging percentage (.730) as a junior. He was named the ACC player of the year. He ranked first on the team with 87 hits and 22 doubles while finishing second in home runs (14) and RBI (56).

The Reds also signed sixth-round pick Drew Cisco, a high school right-hander, to a deal worth $975,000. Cisco is the grandson of former major leaguer Galen Cisco.

Left-handed pitcher Joel Bender, a 27th-round pick from Oak Hills High School, and 28th-round selection Chad Rogers, a right-handed pitcher, were also signed by the Reds organization.



(news.cincinnati.com)