Joe Nuxhall is one of ten finalists for the Ford C. Frick Award. The award is given annually to recognize broadcasters who have made "major contributions" to baseball. Nuxhall received an incredible 82,304 votes from the approximately 122,000 online ballots that were cast. The 2008 winner will be announced February 19th. Keep your paws crossed for the 'Ol Lefthander.

UPDATE 2/19/08: Dave Niehaus has been named the winner of the 2008 award. As the Consigliere eloquently wrote yesterday, Nuxy doesn't need to be elected to the Hall of Fame to validate his career. The Hall of Fame will be a lesser place without him.

Reds pitchers and catchers will report to camp on Saturday, February 16th. According to the most recent edition of the Reds Hot Stove Notebook, Ryan Freel and Juan Castro have received permission to report with pitchers and catchers. Both Freel and Castro are also out of options. Although most of us expect Freel to make the team, I have a hard time seeing how the Reds could justify a spot for Castro without injuries to some of the other infielders.

Ken Rosenthal reports that the Reds could still be in the mix for Joe Blanton. Rosenthal reports that Blanton won't bring nearly the same bounty as Bedard because: 1) he's not as good; and 2) he's not nearly as affordable. Rosenthal indicates that Blanton will probably earn in the range $18M over the next three years due to his arbitration eligibility. Of course, $18M for 3 years is reasonable for good starting pitching. It will be interesting to see if anything comes from this rumor.

H/t to Doug Gray at Reds Minor Leagues.

Lisa Winston at MLB.com posted a nice article today on the potential impact this year of the Reds' big four prospects. Ms. Winston concludes that the Reds' prospects have the best chance of propelling their team to the playoffs in 2008 (a la Colorado, Arizona, and Cleveland the past couple of seasons).

For those interested, the most recent edition of the Reds' Hot Stove Notebook includes Winter League statistics. Daniel Guerrero, acquired in the Hamilton trade, pitched very well.

The Goodyear City Council will vote on an agreement on Monday night (January 28th) that would require both the City of Goodyear and the Reds to negotiate exclusively with each other regarding Goodyear's spring training facility and the Reds future spring training plans. Assuming the agreement is approved, and both sides sign the agreement, it makes it unlikely the Reds will remain in Sarasota. I think Sarasota County will regret its decision not to spend its tourism taxes (which it's required to spend on projects that promote tourism) on the Ed if the Reds end up in Arizona.

H/t to CTR.

1/28/08 UPDATE: The exclusivity agreement has been signed, sealed, and delivered.

Drake won at Creighton last night in overtime to move to 8-0 in the MVC. Per Jason McCallum of ESPN, this was no small feat:

Creighton's home venue, the Qwest Center Omaha, opened five seasons ago. Prior to Tuesday night, 18 visiting teams had entered that building with one or zero losses. Creighton handed every one of those teams a loss. Drake, which entered the building 16-1, became the first zero- or one-loss team to defeat the Bluejays as the Bulldogs moved to 17-1.

Although Drake's non-conference schedule was a bit soft due in part to the relative suckitude of Iowa and Iowa State this year (Drake beat Iowa State by 35 points), its RPI rating is now 8 (SOS 72). All hail the Bulldogs!

(You'll have to forgive my giddiness as this is the first time since the 1974-75 season that Drake has been ranked in the top 25.)