When trade fails, Santos brought back
Pitcher is added to the 25-man Reds roster and may start Sunday against the Pirates.
By Hal McCoy
Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
CINCINNATI — There was a reason the Cincinnati Reds turned in a 24-man roster to Major League Baseball on Sunday, leaving off pitcher Victor Santos.
General Manager Wayne Krivsky thought he was close to a trade and reserved that roster spot for the newcomer.
"We were in the middle of some other conversations that didn't work out," said Krivsky. "We knew our 25th player would be Santos if it didn't work out."
Santos, 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA with three walks and 11 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings during spring training, was added to the roster Monday.
"We'll use him in long relief because he is one guy in the bullpen who can give us some length," said manager Jerry Narron. "He might spot start for us, I don't know."
Narron did say Santos could start Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates if Eric Milton (back spasms) is unable to make that start.
"Santos is a major-league pitcher," said Krivsky. "He pitched 15-plus scoreless innings and showed us the same stuff we saw before we signed him. He throws a good changeup and has a good splitter. I don't get caught up in spring-training numbers, but his were impressive."
Krivsky said just because the deals he talked about over the weekend didn't materialize doesn't mean something else isn't possible on the trade front. Asked if he is looking for a closer after the team released Dustin Hermanson on Sunday, Krivsky said, "Frontline closers just don't fall out of trees."
Of Hermanson's release, Krivsky said, "He took it hard, and it was a difficult decision because he worked so hard and did so well early in camp. Unfortunately, his last two or three times, we did not see the same stuff we saw earlier. We saw some hard-hit balls, and some doubts crept in. We all wanted him to succeed."
