Huff Placed on Disabled list

San Francisco has placed 1B Aubrey Huff on the 15-day disabled list with anxiety after he left the team to deal with family issues and announced that he expects to discuss those issues when he returns this weekend.  He is currently going through a divorce and has struggled both offensively and defensively this season, though the nature of his anxiety problems remain a mystery.  Several other Major Leaguers such as Cincinnati 1B Joey Votto, Milwaukee RHP Zach Greinke (then a member of Kansas City), and former Major League LHP Justin Duchscherer (then a member of Oakland) have been placed on the disabled list in recent seasons due to anxiety problems.

Votto Signs ten-year, $225 Million Extension

Arguably the biggest off-season splash in the history of the Cincinnati Reds organization came when they acquired CF Ken Griffey Jr. in a trade with Seattle shortly before the start of the 2000 season.  But that won't be the case for much longer.  1B Joey Votto has told reporters that he is close to signing a ten-year, $225 million extension with the team.

If true and the numbers are correct, this would be the fourth largest deal in MLB history, not adjusted for inflation.  And the 28-year-old Votto will be the third first baseman to sign a $200-million contract in the past four months, joining 1B Albert Pujols of the Angels and 1B Prince Fielder of Detroit.  Before this off-season, the only player to ever crack the $200 million mark was IF Alex Rodriguez, who did so twice, once as a shortstop with Texas in 2001 and a second time as a third baseman with the Yankees in 2007.

Just for reference, Votto was already set to make $9.5 million this season and $17 million in 2013.  Also, by opting to build around Votto, this probably means that 2B Brandon Phillips will not be retained by Cincinnati when he becomes a free agent at the end of this season.  The 30-year-old Phillips will more likely get a three-year contract in the off-season, most likely somewhere outside of Cincinnati.