Clevelinks, February 5: Jeremy Hermida and Historical Lists

Welcome to Clevelinks, a new feature recapping the previous day’s Indians news and Wahoo’s on First commentary, as well as the best Tribe analysis from other sites.

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Indians News

• The Tribe agreed to a minor-league deal with free agent outfielder Jeremy Hermida. Hermida, 29, placed fourth on Baseball America‘s 2006 top prospects list but has had enjoyed only one successful MLB season in his eight-year MLB career. He owns a .257/.334/.415 career line (96 OPS+) with an average of 17 homers and 64 RBI per 162 games.

Wahoo’s on First Highlights

• Brian kicked off the month with his February Cleveland Indians Power Rankings.
• Jeff thinks Cleveland still needs another starter to contend in 2013.
• Katrina made the case for the Indians not to sign Jim Thome.

Tribe Analysis

• Jim Pete at Indians Prospect Insider begins his attempt to identify the best outfielders in Cleveland history.
• Meanwhile, Burning River Baseball’s Joseph Coblitz looks at the best non-ace starting pitchers in franchise history.
• Jordan Bastian expresses cautious optimism about Scott Kazmir.
• Paul Hoynes takes a look around the Indians’ projected infield.

Shameless Self-Promotion

• Voting is underway for the 2013 SABR Analytics Research awards yesterday at SABR.org, Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, and The Hardball Times. I am among the nominees in the “Contemporary Baseball Commentary” category (the second one on the ballot) for an article I wrote entitled “Did Hall of Fame’s Founders Want Voters to Judge With Their Eyes?”. If you like my work I would appreciate your support; either way, please take a few minutes to read and support some of the best baseball writing around.