I really like what we are getting out of Bubba Crosby and Josh Hamilton in the pre-season. Either one of them OR Freel are superior to Griffey defensively in the all important CF position. We've all heard the cliche that it is imperative to be strong defensively up the middle, and all that is lacking right now is superb defense in CF. Griffey isn't bad, mind you, but he is a step slower and any acrobatic catch has a significant chance of resulting in injury. He does us no good nursing an injury.

Griffey's best moments last year, if you recall, were in dramatic game-changing at-bats. He hit a game winning home run, a game winning double, game tying homeruns, etc. He would be the best LF pinch hitter in the league and you pick his spot when he can change a game's outcome, i.e. runners on late in the game. I would certainly give him some spot starts, especially when favorable pitching match ups arise and we feel we can slug it out rather than scratch it out with small ball.

So I prefer the strategy of utilizing Junior as a PH and spot starter. He may not like it, but his body has betrayed him time and time again and at his age and with his history this is the only way to make sure he is around for a stretch drive and into the post season. He's already off to a slow start, and in my opinion the writing is on the wall. If Hamilton and Crosby both struggle we can re-think the strategy, but in my mind this is the best approach.

My lineup would look something like this:

CF Freel
2B Phillips
LF Dunn
3B Encarnacion
RF Hamilton
1B Hatteberg
SS AGON
C Ross
Pitcher

Crosby would replace Freel when Ryan needs a break or when he needs to play infield.

In an earlier diary (“Good Enough To Dream”), I wrote the following hopefully self-fulfilling prophecy: “…or maybe they get Dustin Hermanson and he has a year like he did with Chicago in 2005.”

Well, the first part happened today. According to the official release on the club website, which also quotes his glowing stats from his 2005 season with the White Sox, the Reds signed Hermanson, who's 34, to a one-year minor league contract, along with the obligatory invitation to help himself to the various amenities in Sarasota for spring training. He apparently was scheduled to take his physical in Cinci today, and is expected to report in Sarasota tomorrow.

I think it's a good deal. This is a guy who was arguably among the game's best closers as recently as 2005 (the last time he was healthy), and has pitched in the NLCS twice and in the World Series. If he makes the 25-man roster, he'll make $500,000 according to Trent's blog. If not, there will be one more arm for Rick Sweet to wave in from the bullpen in Louisville.

And if he returns to his 2005 form with the White Sox, the Reds will become the most recent team to pull their closer off of baseball's scrap heap, surpassing last year's Marlins (Joe Borowski) and Mariners (J.J. Putz), Kriv-Dawg will look like a genius, and all it will cost them is half a million recycled lithographs of George Washington.

In Sunday's Reds' Notebook in The Enquirer, the first sentence concerns Jeff Conine.

Jeff Conine is Jerry Narron's kind of ballplayer. He plays hard. He plays the right way.

Now I'm all for baseball players that play hard, smart, and to the fullest of their abilities. But why does this statement scare me so much?

Are we doomed to another year of Encarnación being blocked because of an older player who knew how to play the game right?

…it's how you dangle the bait. And Ryan Freel is apparently pretty good. 🙂

I grew up fishing almost every day, though I haven't done it in years. So I got a kick out of these photos from the Enquirer. Ryan Freel went fishing after practice, and apparently took Bubba Crosby with him:

LOL! Bubba looks faintly horrified. I guess Freel must have been using live bait?

Freel was successful:

Where was he fishing, I wonder? In the Ohio River? Are the fish safe to eat?

In other news, the Reds are considering going with only 11 pitchers - so they can carry Josh Hamilton. Which would be good news for Bubba, I guess. Especially if going with less than three catchers is out of the question…