Aurilia and Guardado among others file for FA

[redsrbetter]

per Marc Lancaster's Blog:

Rich Aurilia has decided to decline his $2 million mutual option for 2007.

The veteran infielder is now a free agent and still would be able to re-sign with the Reds. You'll recall he went through the same process last winter.

In addition, Eddie Guardado, Scott Schoeneweis, Todd Hollandsworth and Ryan Franklin have officially filed for free agency. Mercker is the only Red eligible who has yet to file.

Yeah Rich did this last year. But it is a different feeling for me this time around. I want this guy back. He was a very good bat and would be sorely missed without a legitimate replacement at 2B.

Guardado is another big miss IMO. I am not sure if he was just a Krivsky pickup for this year or not, but he pitched verywell for us down the stretch until he got hurt.

But these are your FAs. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mercker file either if he gets any offer whatsoever.

Either a lot of replacements are coming in, or this shouldn't be a big deal and Aurilia will sign another contract with the Reds.

[missionhockey21]

The only difference between this and last year is likely Rich will have a good deal more suitors given his numbers, especially in the clutch. And the question is, do we really want to get into a bidding war over Aurilia who obviously could regress from last year's number (in fact, it's likely he would do so.)

[redsrbetter]

True, he likely will regress and we do have sufficient means in the infield still with Freel's availability to play 2B. I would take a table setter like Freel over a regressing Aurilia any day. So that does change the mind set a bit.

I guess if we can't get him at 2 mill, then we just say heck with it. Krivsky's mind should really be on bigger things right now. Good point mission.

[missionhockey21]

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the idea of bringing Aurilia back, even as a starter (I don't think many realize how poorly this offense could be next year if we don't add more). But if we are on a shoestring budget and plan to drop the majority of it on Aurilia, I would hope we could find another alternative.

[Kingdom]

Drop all of your money on Jeff Bagwell, and ride him to a happy place in 2007.

[NFLman2033]

what we got this year out of him is more than we expected, lets not over- pay this guy

[redsrbetter]

Yankees may have interest in Aurilia:

Rich Aurilia: The Yankees could seek an upgrade at first base and chase a player like Aurilia, who has limited experience at first base but is certainly athletic enough to handle the job. The Brooklyn native hit .300 with 70 RBI for the Reds.

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/p.../1108/SPORTS01