Once considered once of the top relief prospects in baseball, Craig Hansen now finds himself in an all-too familiar position: on the bus to AAA.  Still only 24-years-old, the right-hander didn’t look good at all in his brief stay in big league camp, garnering an ERA of 9.00 in six appearances, including 7 walks in 7 innings.

The Red Sox were hoping for an observable improvement from Hansen this spring, months after undergoing surgery to correct his sleep apnea (an affliction which was theorized to have had a negative effect on his performance).  Instead, it was a bit more of the same: an inability to command his stuff.  As a result, the jet to Japan will leave with the likes of Bryan Corey and Craig Breslow serving as the auxiliary arms, instead of the high-priced first round draft pick from 2005.

Hansen did show some flashes of brilliance in the second half of last season while pitching for Pawtucket. We can only hope that it wasn’t a fluke.

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