Cordero quotes

Dusty Baker made a couple of phone calls to Francisco Cordero during the free agent recruiting process. Those calls and $46 million over four years were huge.

“That showed me they’re not going to rebuild the team, they’re going to try to put together a winning team," Cordero said. "They’re going to put together a team that compete, that not only can to playoffs but the World Series.”

“Knowing Dusty Baker like I know him, watching with the Cubs and Giants, he’s a great manager. I talked to a lot of people who played with him. They tell me I’m going to love to be part of team that Dusty Baker is the manager of. He played a big role.”

The Reds also pressed hard from the start.

“They’ve been calling me since Nov. 13," Cordero said. "They called me, my agent. I got a phone call from Dusty Baker. That said they really want me to be here, they really want me to be a Cincinnati Red. They showed a lot of interest. This is team I wanted to be with.”

But without the money behind the talk, the Reds would have had no chance.

"Obviously, this can't done without the commitment of ownership," Wayne Krivsky said. "I can't say enough about the support I've received from the time I've been here. A signing such as this by Bob Castellini and the ownership group is a tremendous statement to our fans. He's to be commended for this."

Krivsky said the Reds targeted Cordero coming out of the organizational meetings and went after him aggressively.

"This is a huge acquisition, a huge signing," Krivsky siad. "This makes us a tremendous team going into next year and really solidifies the bullpen."

Dusty Baker says he isn't sure who will work the eighth -- David Weathers or Jared Burton.

"I haven't seen Burton," Baker said. "Stormy will be somewhere at the end of the game. He's a team guy. I talked to him (before the signing). He wants to win."