Rich Aurilia turned down his $2 million option with the Reds and he’ll now test the market.  This isn’t earth shattering or anything.  Aurilia was solid but we have other guys who could easily replace him.  In any event, I expect him to come back into the fold and resign with the Reds.  You can’t blame him for wanting to see who else might want him at a better price.

Aurilia joins David Weathers, Royce Clayton and Jason Johnson as free agents.  Outside of Aurilia, none of these guys are worth putting too much effort into.  Weathers was solid but replaceable.  Clayton was a throw in with the Kearns/Lopez trade and he won’t be back.  Jason Johnson played for three teams in 2006 but he had a couple of fair seasons for the Tigers in 2004 and 2005.  I don’t see him having a spot on the team next year though.

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