By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Hal McCoy, the Reds beat writer for the Dayton Daily News, is the J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner for 2002.

The Spink Award is presented annually to a sportswriter for "meritorious contributions to baseball writing." The winner is elected by fellow members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

McCoy, who has covered the Reds for 32 years, will receive the award at 2003 induction ceremonies at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

He is the fifth writer who covered the Reds to make the Hall. The others: Ritter Collett and Si Burick of the Dayton Daily News, Hugh Fullerton of the Columbus Dispatch and Earl Lawson of the Cincinnati Post.

RULE 5

Reds General manager Jim Bowden has said the Reds will select a player or two in today's Rule 5 Draft.

Players in the Rule 5 are selected for $50,000. They must remain on the active roster or be offered back to the teams they are selected from.

RETURN OF PETE?

Pete Harnisch, the oft-injured former ace of the Reds' staff, could return as a minor-league free agent.

Harnisch, who was with the Colorado Rockies last season, had "Tommy John" surgery in April.

"He's throwing pretty well,' said Mark Mann, the Reds trainer who is close to Harnisch. "He's chomping at the bit to come back."

REITSMA IN 'PEN

Boone said there will be at least eight candidates for the Reds' rotation. Left-hander Bruce Chen will be one of them and right-hander Chris Reitsma will not.

"As much as Reitsma wants to start, I think he helps us on the back end of the bullpen," Boone said.

Reitsma went 6-12 with a 3.64 ERA in 21 starts and 11 relief appearances last season.

Chen was 0-2 with a 4.31 ERA. His ERA was 3.53 as a reliever.