The Reds signed backstop Jason LaRue to a one year contract. He’ll be raking in the princely sum of $3 million.

LaRue had a nice season last year. And although his batting average isn’t anything special, he’s been solid the last four. On top of that, his OPS has incrementally increased in these last four years. And this is where not seeing a lot of the Red’s games doesn’t help, but at least according to his Fielding Runs Above Average over at Baseball Prospectus, he’s a mediocre fielder.

In fact, he’s pretty average overall (.267 EQA last year, 253 for his career), which isn’t bad. It’s better then being below average. And $3 million is close to the average wage. so I think I like this deal. It’s better then going out and overspending for a Jason Varitek.

So the Reds first move is hardly big news, but they took care of one of their holes.

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