Jeremy Hermida

Let me preface this article by saying that Jonny Gomes is one of my favorite players on the Reds.

I am wondering if being 'unofficially' awarded the left-field job prior to the start of camp hasn't sapped the slugger of his hunger.

The former No. 4 prospect in baseball Jeremy Hermida signed a Minor League deal with the Oakland Athletics on Friday.

Hermida, 26, has been inconsistent in his major league career so far, as his best season was back in 2007 with the Florida Marlins, where he hit 18 home runs and drove in 63 runs while hitting .296 for the year.

After that season, he hit .259 in 2008 and .249 in 2007: clearly becoming worse as each new season started.

The Boston Red Sox have released journeyman outfielder Jeremy Hermida, according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. As much as Hermida expressed surprise when he was designated for assignment at the end of July, surely his outright release yesterday could be considered a shock.

Hermida's release was confirmed late last night via an online announcement on RedSox.com.

The Red Sox are team still struggling to find their identity as they near the midpoint of May. 

After a dismal start to the 2010 MLB season, fortunes are starting to turn for the boys of summer in Beantown. With a come-from-behind win over the bottom-dwelling Orioles, the Red Sox have been able to rattle off four wins in their last five outings, quickly approaching the .500 mark for the young season.

So far, nothing has been easy for the Red Sox. Starting the season against the defending world champion New York Yankees, along with the difficult Tampa Bay Rays and a much improved Minnesota Twins, things have not gone the way Sox fans have come to expect.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona currently faces two questions that are in essence one and the same; how much longer can he, in good conscience, continue to write David Ortiz's name into the lineup each day, and how much longer can he not write Jeremy Hermida's name into that lineup?