Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
New Fever posted this last week but it got lost when Redszone went down. Baseball America will release the scouting reports along with best tools and a Reds chat on Friday. I'll post the chat and a summary of the scouting reports when they are made available Friday afternoon.
1. Yonder Alonso, 1B
2. Todd Frazier, SS
3. Drew Stubbs, OF
4. Chris Valaika, SS
5. Yorman Rodriguez, OF
6. Kyle Lotzkar, RHP
7. Neftali Soto, 3B
8. Juan Francisco, 3B
8. Juan Duran, OF
10. Devin Mesoraco, C
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/
Re: Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
Number 1 Yonder will be in attendance tonight!
Your 2009 Cincinnati Reds are hitting the road and making some stops on their annual Reds Caravan to meet their fans and get them excited for the upcoming seasons. Today, from 4:30-7:00pm, one of those stops will occur right here in the ‘Ville at Louisville Slugger Field, home of its Triple-A affiliate the Louisville Bats. The event is free....
For more details go to:
http://www.straitpinkie.com/sports/r...field-tonight/
Re: Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
I talked with JJ last week and here were a few things he had to say
Me: With Joey Votto currently at first base and a slew of prospects that fit that 3B/1B/LF mold in the Reds system, how do you see it working out or how could it work out?
JJ Cooper: I don't think the Reds themselves are sure on how it all will work out, but if I had to make my guess. Long-term I think that Votto ends up moving to LF because he can handle the position adequately. Alonso is the first baseman while Frazier is the third baseman (this is assuming that by 2010-2011 Edwin Encarnacion has been dealt away or left in free agency).
Of course that still leaves Soto and Francisco on the outside looking in, and I can't tell you with any confidence that they won't be in the big leagues bopping by two or three years from now, but as of right now, I'd say it's more likely that Votto, Frazier and Alonso are holding down those spots. Of course, the Reds could also swing some trades that will make this prediction completely moot.
Me: Outside of the top prospects (Drew Stubbs, Daryl Thompson, Josh Roenicke), who could be a guy that could come in during the 2009 season and really help out the Reds?
JJ Cooper: Valaika's a top prospect too, but since he wasn't listed among your examples I'll throw him out there, but I think he could end up helping out late in the season. As far as a sleeper, Ramon Ramirez could be a useful fifth starter/bullpen arm, although there's also a decent chance he'll be part of what should be a very deep Triple-A rotation.
Me: The Reds lack a big time top 25 type prospect this year after graduating a few of them last year, but they still seem to have a lot of depth in the system. Depth wise how do they stack up against the rest of baseball?
JJ Cooper: I'd say Alonso could sneak into the top 25, but yeah, the system is deeper this year with less impact talent. As far as depth, there aren't many teams who have as many potential big leaguers in Double-A and Triple-A. Now a lot of those potential big leaguers will be backups, role players or fill-ins, but the Reds have a lot of depth.
Re: Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
Good stuff Doug. Great job as always.
Re: Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
Before the crash, I remember a lot of people criticizing the list for having Soto at number seven. I think people don't realize how easily he could turn out to be the next Tony Blanco. Don't get me wrong, though--I think Soto's a great prospect--I'm just empathizing with the naysayers.
Re: Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
One pitcher in the top 10.
That really sums it up for me.
Re: Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
Quote:
Originally Posted by
WVRed
One pitcher in the top 10.
That really sums it up for me.
To be fair, Daryl Thompson is most likely a top ten prospect in a lot of organizations. He's never going to be ace but I think he could develop into a solid middle of rotation starter. Homer Bailey would have been in the top ten if he were still eligible. With that being said, I think bats are clearly the strong point of the Reds farm system at this point. That's also true for every organization in the NL Central.
Re: Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
Quote:
Originally Posted by
WVRed
One pitcher in the top 10.
That really sums it up for me.
That said, Ramon Ramirez isn't likely in the top 20 of the BA rankings and he showed himself pretty well in the majors (and minors for that matter).
Re: Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
Quote:
That said, Ramon Ramirez isn't likely in the top 20 of the BA rankings and he showed himself pretty well in the majors (and minors for that matter).
Absolutely. Seems to me guys like Ramirez, Hanigan and Dickerson -- all of whom still project as rookies, I think -- are all but ignored by the listmakers, despite the fact that they all showed very well in their first exposure to the majors. Huge blind spot on the part of the prospect "experts," due, I'd say, to their inability to see players they haven't seen coming.
I'm not saying these players should be hailed as potential all-stars. But they do appear to have the ability to be helpful on a major league roster right now -- and that should be readily acknowledged in any "professional" evaluation of the team's farm system. While I understand the emphasis on star quality, it is a failure of the evaluators to overlook the players who are ready to contribute -- these players are often the late-stage "depth" the evaluators claim to be able to identify within a minor league system.
Re: Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
I think the real danger is putting too much credibility into the lists. They are fun to read, but Baseball America has no scouts. They simply compile opinions and try to reach a consensus. Projecting what a minor league player will do several years into the future is a very difficult thing. Geez, the Reds are not even able to predict what their own players will do THAT season. I had a key member of the Reds organization tell me late last March that Brandon Menchaca would be an all-star. He hit .176. How long did it take them to figure out that Jeremy Horst could get hitters out? There was debate within the organization as to whether he could even be a starter, and then he becomes a starter and dominates the league. So while I enjoy reading their opinions, the mistake is to assume that because they say Homer Bailey or Gookie Dawkins is a future star, then he will be. Or someone else won't be. Remember that in 2008, Daryl Thompson didn't even crack their top 30, and he was starting games in the big leagues before the all-star break.
Re: Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
Quote:
I think the real danger is putting too much credibility into the lists.
I agree. BA tends to get into ruts with their lists -- guys drafted highly get entrenched. Players BA ranked highly as amateurs get preferential listing upon entering pro ball. In large part, their rankings are predictable. However, occasionally a guy without a lot of hype will show up, and that's interesting to me.
Re: Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
More than just the list, I am a fan of the 'best tools' list. Lots of names across the list this year. It hasn't always been that way.
Baseball America has their Reds write up.
Re: Baseball America's Top Ten Reds prospects
The scouting reports are out. I'll try to post a summary later. The reports on Yorman and Duran are awesome.
Here are the best tools:
Best Hitter for Average - Yonder Alonso
Best Power Hitter - Juan Francisco
Best Strike-Zone Discipline - Yonder Alonso
Fastest Baserunner - Theodis Bowe
Best Athlete - Yorman Rodriguez
Best Fastball - Josh Roenicke
Best Curveball - Kyle Lotzkar
Best Slider - Jordan Smith
Best Changeup - Ramon Ramirez
Best Control - Robert Manuel
Best Defensive Catcher - Ryan Hanigan
Best Defensive Infielder - Zach Cozart
Best Infield Arm - Juan Francisco
Best Defensive Outfielder - Drew Stubbs
Best Outfield Arm - Yorman Rodriguez
Re: Baseball America has their Reds write up.
I stopped reading when I saw they had Stubbs above Valika...:confused: