More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Browse more photos »

Ah Twitter, where rumors can be thrown out into the ether with few details or context.  For instance, Paul Daugherty just dropped this nugget on us:

dusty baker just told me he's meeting tomorrow w/gary sheffield

Sixty-three characters that could stir up what has been a rather quiet spring for the Reds.  I have to wonder though, why not give us some more in the remaining 77 characters, Doc?  Like, where are they meeting?  Or does Dusty think he's a fit?  Or what the hell?

UPDATE: Fay has confirmed the Reds interest with Walt Jocketty.

“Perhaps, it’s something we’ve talked about,” Jocketty said. “We’re going to at least explore the possibility. He’s still a threat in the lineup … if the price is right.”

- snip -

When asked if the Reds are interested in Jenkins, Jocketty said, “I don’t know yet. I just saw that he was released. It’s something we’ll look into, but we’re really looking for a right-handed bat.”

As you probably know, the Detroit Tigers released Gary Sheffield earlier this week, eating the remaining $14 million left on his contract.  There's been a lot of chatter at various team sites about whether the 40-year old Sheffield could be a fit on their team.  Heck, it's even happened here a bit.  So the question is, do we want Sheffield?

Let's look at his projections for 2009 and compare them to Chris Dickerson and Jonny Gomes, the presumptive platoon in LF.  I'm going to look at PECOTA only because it shows splits.  Below you'll see projections for all three:

According to PECOTA, Sheffield is really no longer as good of a hitter as either Dickerson or Gomes, and while he'd be a nice platoon with Dickerson, he's definitely not an upgrade of Gomes, who is already in house.

Defensively, he's a dead average performer in the corner spots according to CHONE, which is an upgrade over Gomes, who projects to -14 runs defensively over 150 games in LF.  Dickerson projects to +3 runs and Jenkins -3 in LF.  Of course, these projections can be a little deceptive for Sheffield since he's played a grand total of 18 games in the outfield over the last 2 seasons.  I'd guess that projecting him as an average fielder in the outfield is generous, and is likely a guess by the CHONE projections.  Having spent the last couple of years watching an over-the-hill player in the outfield, I'm not sure we want to go through that again.

I think the best we could hope for from Sheffield is that he somehow regains his performance level from 2007 when he put up an OPS+ of 120 for the Tigers.  But that's asking a lot of a 40-year old, and I really can't see any reason why the Reds would go after someone like him to essentially replace Gomes who has already shown that he's got some skills left in his game.  Heck, Gomes even has the firey reputation to kick some butt in the clubhouse, so it's not like Sheffield would be needed for that.

Can anybody think of a good argument for bringing Sheffield on to the Reds?

According to Mike Berardino, the Reds might be a good match in a trade for Jeremy Hermida.  Would he be a good match for the Reds?

His last 3 seasons:

Those numbers don't look that great, but then again, he's only 25 next year and he put those numbers up in Florida.  That's why his projections look a lot better than you might expect:

I think this is definitely somebody worth pursuing.  He's a pretty good defender, though either he or Bruce would need to move out of RF.  He's still young.  And if he could possibly be acquired for Owings or Bailey like Berardino suggests, I'd be all for it.  This isn't acquiring a 35-year old poor defender who might decline.  This is a young player with some strong upside.  This is the kind of player the Reds should be acquiring.

UPDATE: I forgot that he hits left-handed, but that doesn't change my thinking.  I don't believe the Reds have to focus solely on RHB.  I think the need good hitters, regardless of what side of the plate they stand on.  I think Hermida will be a good hitter next year and in the future.

It looks like it's a done deal.  From Rosenthal:

The Reds have reached preliminary agreement with the Orioles on a trade that will send catcher Ramon Hernandez to Cincinnati for outfielder Ryan Freel and two prospects, according to a major-league source.

The deal is pending the approval of the commissioner's office, because it involves a cash transaction of more than $1 million.

On Monday, major-league sources said the deal would not be completed unless the Orioles picked up a significant portion of Hernandez's remaining salary.

Hernandez is owed $8 million in 2009 with a club option of $8.5 million or a $1 million buyout for 2010, meaning he is guaranteed $9 million.

The two questions are how much money and who are the prospects.  We'll wait judgment on those two items until we have more information.

Three years ago, Hernandez was one of the top catchers in the game.  The problem is that catchers don't tend to age well, and Hernandez is no exception.  Here's his last 3 years numbers:

His projections aren't all that appealing as a hitter:

Compare those to Ryan Hanigan

It's hard to project defense at catcher - mainly because it's hard to measure defense at catcher - but I'd say that there is a very good chance that Hanigan will be a better defensive catcher than Hernandez next season.

All of this is to say once again that I don't mind Hernandez as a backup catcher, but I fear that is not how he will be used.  There is this stigma that the higher paid player should start to justify the money, but I sure hope the Reds don't focus on that.  The main reason is because I think that there is a much better chance of Hanigan matching Hernandez's power than the reverse happening with on base ability, and frankly the Reds project to not be very good at getting on base next year.  Given his likely defensive superiority and the fact that he can actually get on base from time to time, there is no question in my mind that Hanigan should be the starter.  Anybody think Dusty sees it that way?

As for Freel, well, he projects to be a worse hitter than Hernandez and that's assuming that he could actually stay healthy enough to be in the lineup.  The trade does leave the Reds with a dearth of outfielders.  At the point the starting outfield will be Bruce, Dickerson, and Norris Hopper.  So, yeah, um, they need to fix that.

I don't think the addition of Hernandez is a large upgrade to the team, but it does help fill a hole.  It's an awful lot of money to pay for a backup catcher, but it's not my money.