Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=699

Cincinnati Reds
Signed: RHP Dan Denham, LHP Chris Michalak, LHP Luca Panerati, LHP Adam Pettyjohn, LHP Matteo Pizziconi, 1B Kevin Barker, 1B Andy Phillips, 2B Andrew Green, 3B Jolbert Cabrera
Released: RHP Thomas Pauly, 2B Billy Rojo


Dilbert Cabrera! Had no idea he was still around.

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

Keep Michalek and release Pauly? ok....

I hope he catches on somewhere. Bet JimBo grabs him. He had good K numbers in '07. so the arm strength must be returning. Still wild and still at high A. He must have been more severely injured than Gardner.

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

No idea why Michalak was listed- I thought he'd resigned with the Nats after spending 2007 with them.

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

Forgot to post the text about the two Italian players the Reds signed in that batch.
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The Reds signed two players from Italy, Panerati and Pizziconi, and it is the former who has the higher ceiling. The 6-foot-1, 156-pound Panerati, who turned 18 in December, pitched for Italy in the World Cup in Taiwan, the highlight coming when he struck out Cardinals top prospect Colby Rasmus. Panerati had struggled a year earlier against Team USA at the IBAF World Junior Championship in Cuba. He was named the top pitcher at the European Junior Championships when he was 17, pitching 12 1/3 scoreless innings with 14 strikeouts. Panerati’s fastball currently tops out at 86 mph with some life, and the pitch should gain velocity as his frame fills out. His go-to pitch is his changeup, which sits in the mid-70s and tails away from righthanders. He also throws a curveball. Pizziconi turned 18 in October, and at 6-foot-2 and 165 pounds he is another slender Italian lefthander. His delivery has some deception and his fastball tops out in the high-80s, but his secondary stuff is rudimentary. (Ben Badler)
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Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

Incidentally, the Tigers signed UT Caonabo Cosme, the Marlins INF Jorge Cantu, the Blue Jays RHR Bubba Nelson, Texas OF Jason Ellison, Pittsburgh RHR Elmer Dessens and C Miguel Perez, and the Mets RHR Juan Padilla.

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

Why did I just KNOW Cantu would end up with the fish?

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

Michalak is fine as AAA fodder, but he better not get another start with the Reds.

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

Who are the best players out of that group of signings? Which of the pitchers and which of the position players do you seeing as having the highest ceilings or best chance of being called up to the majors?

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

Well the point of AAA fodder is to make the odd major league appearance in emergency situations. If you can't trust a guy there, he makes for bad fodder.

It really doesn't matter one way or another, but it's funny having slow pitch guys like Michalek in that role just for kicks Any of the fodder guys are likely to get blasted anyways.

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

NOOOOOOOOO

Better be for some ST innings. Think about it. You have the current rotation as, seemingly, Harang-Arroyo-Belisle-Volquez-Bailey, then the AAA rotation as Cueto-Maloney-Gardner-LeCure-Fisher/Shearn...all 6 guys better than Michalak, unless hes going to the pen.

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

I would like to have seen us give Dessens a shot.

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

Maybe they signed Michalak so they can have him pitch BP in ST.

Soft tossing LHP simply eat us alive, and Chris Michalak is the epitome of a soft tossing LHP.

That's the only justification I can see for this move.

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

These guys are probably all just organizational fodder and I hope that the team does better but...

I think Pettyjohn has a shot at being a long reliever/swingman for the Reds. He can go starters innings and is a lefty who can turn line-ups around. He would keep the team from stunting the growth of the prospects in that role. In AAA in 2007, his K/9 was over 7 and his BB/9 was under 2 but he gives up a lot of HR which doesn't bode well.

Phillips could be the RH half of a 1B Platoon with Votto or Hatte. If the Reds move Encarnacion and put Keppinger at 3B they will need a RH 1B. He's probably the most likely to be useful of this group.

The 2 Italian LH are kids who will probably play in te GCL. Barker and Cabrera are career AAAA types who could get a shot with lots of injuries but should be behind other guys. Denham is a failed prospect that the team picked up from the A's last year in the Kirk Saarloos trade. They acquired him and brought him back so maybe they see something but I have doubts he'll even see AA. Don't know much about Green.

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

I see the real motivation here. The Italians are center Defenders. Petr Cech is already around to play goalie. I'm waiting for the announced signing of Brazilian outfielders wink wink (midfielders)

Re: Reds sign a bunch, release Pauly and Rojo
 

The Reds may well be the most active team in signing Europeans these days. Lutz, from Germany, the Italians, a Czech, Smit from the Netherlands, and they had that Ruzic guy (who I think has signed elsewhere), from Eastern Europe somewhere. Pretty funky.