winninguglyin83

The man was pretty damn reliable for the first 4 months of 2005. Bailed us out of the Shingo Disaster.

The Reds search for a closer has now turned to a former Sox closer, the guy who got the Sox into position to make the 2005 post-season -- Dustin Hermanson. CINCINNATI - Cincinnati Reds executive vice president and general manager Wayne Krivsky today announced that RHP Dustin Hermanson has agreed to terms on a 1-year minor league contract and has been invited to Major League spring training camp. Hermanson, 34, was limited to 6 relief appearances last season with the Chicago White Sox because of lower back inflammation. He is expected to report to Sarasota tomorrow. In 2005, Hermanson was one of the American League’s top relievers and finished ninth in the American League Rolaids Relief Man standings. He was also one of 10 finalists for the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Year Award after establishing career highs in appearances (57), saves (34) and ERA (2.04). That year, Hermanson ranked among all AL relievers in ERA (5th), save percentage (7th, 87.2) and saves (9th) and made 1 appearance in the World Series for the World Series champion White Sox. The Springfield, Ohio native has pitched in parts of 12 Major League seasons with San Diego, Montreal, St. Louis, Boston, San Francisco and Chicago (AL). All the best to Hermie. He did good work for the Sox.

jenks gets in shape and this happens. put the weight back on, kid

Hawk in the announcer's wing. other than that, nada

sources say excellent guy in the clubhouse, too. doesn't grouse if he doesn't play. knows the value of being a part-time player and pinch hitting. i like it.

agree with rex. the guy is from Iowa, which means he lagged in developmental time against kids from everywhere else. the sox fast tracked him immediately. now they're talking about bringing him to the bigs and playing him in CF. that's asking a lot of the kid. better to let him repeat AAA, learn to play CF there and then come to the bigs in July or august. With Erstad around, no reason to damage the kid's confidence.

I voted for Charlie. I think he's the best and most intriguing prospect in the group. His biggest problem will be trying to impress people by throwing a knuckleball in the thin air of Tucson. Knuckler won't dance so well there. But Floyd bores me. He throwns harder -- but straighter. People keep saying KW was impressed by the way he threw in the Arizona Fall League. His numbers there were brutal. Give me charlie.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 02:13 PM) ? Pods gets a pass with me for that he did in Game Two Oct. 2005. ditto for Jermaine (who obviously doesn't need one -- yet) for Game Four.

Collaro is no prospect. Just don't see any position players to get excited about on that roster.

backup to Darrin Erstad and ryan Sweeney. late inning pinch runner. .269, 9 SB one season long pass for what he did against Brad Lidge Pods, Geoff Blum and Jermaine always get passes.

the infield and outfield group might be the worst I have ever seen by the Sox. our farm system is going into the toilet at express speed.

Word out of Cincinnati today is that Dustin Hermanson has a workout scheduled in the Phoenix area this week. He has invited interested teams to come check him out. Cincinnati GM Wayne Krivsky told the Cincinnati Enquirer that the Reds are interested. Hermanson is a Chicago native. Considering how Hermie saved our butts in 05, I wish him the best.

Danks is first and massett eighth on the rangers list. and Josh Rupe is 10th. we like to trade with texas

God Bless Ray. the Sox had great pitching staffs under him and the Senor. Wynn, Pierce, Shaw, Gary Peters, Joe Horlen, he did wonderful work.

tracey, terrero gonzalez reynoso. plenty of candidates

I'm surprised Tracey is on the list at all. He has little if any potential in my opinion. Terrible command, bizarre mechanics and the manager doesn't like him. doesn't sound like much of a future to me. I AM surprised Rogowski got NOTHING. I realize the guy doesn't have enough power to play first base every day in the big leagues, but he's a decent fielder who can also run. The sox will eventually have to turn him loose and he'll get to the big leagues somewhere. Also thought Chris Getz would make the list.

Picked up the Baseball America Prospect Handbook today. They have the Sox top 30 -- although the Texas guys are not included because the trade came after the list was finalized. Overall, they're not high on our prospects. Sox are ranked 26th overall, ahead of only Oakland, Texas, San Diego and Washington. Here is the top 30. 1. Ryan Sweeney 2. Josh Fields 3. Gio Gonzalez 4. Lance Broadway 5. Kyle McCulloch 6.Charlie Haegar 7. Aaron Cunningham 8. Adam Russell 9. Lucas Harrell 10. Matt Long 11. Chris Carter 12. Heath Phillips 13. Jerry Owens 14. Ray Liotta 15. Oneli Perez 16. Jack Egbert 17. Justin Edwards 18. Boone Logan 19. Robert Valido 20. Pedro Lopez 21. John Shelby 22. Dewon Day 23. Chris Stewart 24. Anderson Gomes 25. Francisco Hernandez 26.Sean Tracey 27. Brian Omogrosso 28. Paulo Orlando 29. Wes Whisler 30. Ricardo Nanita.

I agree with fearing the Tribe. Hafner and Sizemore are studs. Peralta will be better. Marte should also be better. I like the additions of Nixon and Delluci -- plus the veteran arms in the pen. Sowers, Sabathia and Lee give them three solid lefties. Cleveland fell out of it last year because of a horrendous bullpen. I try not to forget how formidable they looked in 2005. They'll be the most improved team in our division.

Our team is better. Perfect. No But nobody has a perfect team. It's going to come down to Buehrle, Vaz, Contreras, Garland and the fifth starter. The lineup is good enough to win. We saw that in the first half of last season. But if the starters struggle again, especially Buehrle and Jose, like the did the second half of last season, we'll struggle, too. I think the bullpen will be better -- although I think Sisco could be a bust and I'm not convinced Thornton can have another good year like last year. But Jenks, MacDougal and the young guys from the right side have possibilities. Starting pitching will tell the story.

he's no razor shines or RAFFY santana

if we're not keeping our own expensive pitchers, why would you think we're going to sign more expensive guys from other teams? think Gio, Danks, Floyd, Massett, Broadway and McCullough not johan

Santana will be in new york, Boston or LA. 20 million for 7 years, if Zito is the measuring stick.

Another year for Fields at AAA is fine with me. He's never repeated any level. He could use more developmental time because of all the football. And he could improve his play at 3b and gain confidence with the stick. same for Sweeney. In fact, he needs more AAA time than Fields.

Only waY i can see this changing is if they fear Pods is going to be out for a long time -- like until July. Maybe Stewart will take a cheap deal with incentives because he wants to win.

but probably not by the Twinkies