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.)

Geoff Young recently wrote an article for the Hardball Times on ten of the worst individual pitching seasons. I had forgetten just how historically awful Eric Milton was in 2005. Here's an excerpt from the column:

#5: Eric Milton, 2005 Reds
IP ERA BA OBP SLG ERA+ OPS+
186.1 6.47 .302 .349 .543 66 136

Once upon a time, Milton was a hot young prospect in the Yankees organization who became part of the package that sent Chuck Knoblauch from Minnesota to the Bronx. In his 1998 Minor League Scouting Notebook John Sickels rated Milton as the 23rd best prospect in baseball and compared him favorably to Andy Pettitte. Milton teased for a few years, then got hurt, then lost effectiveness.

Always susceptible to the home run ball, Milton gave up 40 of
them in 2005 (half of which came in his first 11 starts). That's not quite Ken Dixon territory, but it's not good. Milton allowed six runs or more in 11 of his 34 starts.

Despite the fact that opponents were hitting .302 against him and he had 6.47 ERA, the Reds still allowed him to accumulate 186 innings. Of course, my recollection is that the Reds didn't have a lot of other options that year.

Per Ken Rosenthal, the Reds have signed Jeremy Affeldt to a one year deal for $3 million plus incentives. According to Rosenthal, the Reds intend to give the lefty Affeldt a shot at the starting rotation. In light of the money involved, I think this is good signing by Herr Krivsky. Affeldt was decent as a starter for the Royals in 2002 and 2003. The Consigliere reports that blisters were the primary reason Affeldt was converted to the bullpen. If Affeldt has resolved the problem that caused the blisters, he could be a decent starter for the Reds. However, even if starting doesn't work out for Affeldt, he still solidifies the bullpen. This was a low risk move by Krivsky.

Signing Affeldt still doesn't address the Reds' need for another top of the rotation starter. However, given the outrageous costs for good starting pitching, I'm fine with finding out if Bailey, or perhaps Volquez, can be that top three starter next year. There's also the possibility that Cueto or Maloney could fill that role by 2009.

The Drake Bulldogs (my alma mater, not their cousins from the SEC) are off to a start not seen since the days of Maury John. After last night's win over Bradley, Drake is now 6-0 in the Missouri Valley and 15-1 overall. Not bad for a team picked to finish ninth in the Missouri Valley. It's an unbelievable start for first year head coach Keno Davis, who took over from his father Dr. Tom Davis. There's a reason his name is Keno.

1/19/08 UPDATE: Sans leading scorer Josh Young, Drake rallied to overcome a twelve point second half deficit to beat Illinois State. Drake now has a fifteen game winning streak and is the only remaining undefeated team in the MVC.