BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

Only 1 Red, Didi Gregorious at number 7. He was the top SS on the list rated ahead of more touted guys Tim Beckham and Jose Iglesias.

IMO a SS who can field the position, run and contribute with a LH bat should get lots of opportunity to be a major leaguer. Didi may be the team's top trade bait in the off-season. I'd be fine with a good deal, but wouldn't mind the Reds keeping him. I think a tandem of Cozart and Didi would be more productive on both offense and defense than either player would be playing full time.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

Keep the better player -- and that may be Gregorious. I'm pretty sure he's the better shortstop, and he won't have to hit all that much to be as good as Cozart offensively.

Regardless, I doubt anything happens this offseason -- I expect the Reds to see how this shakes out before doing anything drastic. The position is too important to make a mistake when you have two guys like this.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

Didi vs RHP the last two years: .296/.344/.427/.771

You're right mth, that sort of platoon could really give the offense a boost.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

Call it a gut feeling, but I don't like the idea of a platoon situation for a Middle infielder. Outfield, ok. Infielder on the corners or catchers, still ok. I think you gotta go with stability at 2nd and Short. BP is gonna be there at 2nd and he needs a familiar face at short for the double play.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

Fair enough. Still, I'm thinking 70/30 split would help keep Cozart fresh.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

Completely agree. Bad, bad idea to platoon at that position. Ultimately, they're just going to have to settle on one or the other -- or go get someone if they don't feel either guy is the answer.

I'm not as high on Cozart as most. I like what I've seen from Gregorious, but it hasn't been all that much.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

I like both Cozart and Gregorius. Unless they can cash one for a true difference maker this offseason, I prefer they keep both to get a better read on which player they want long term. I have a feeling they made the wrong call with Mes/Grandal -- just a guess -- but excusable because of the return.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

Not sure if it makes a difference, but Didi is 5 years younger than Cozart.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

It's a good problem to have. Both their defenses are really easy to watch. It was my impression that Cozart dragged a little bit during the year, so breaking up the week with a day off could help his numbers, if not protect him from some bad matchups.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

I hear you, but these guys are both plus defenders and Phillips hasn't had a problem with tandems over the years, not sure why it would be a problem all of a sudden now.

IMO, Didi and Cozart could combine to OPS in the .750 range as a tandem. Individually, I think either guy would struggle to break .700 over a full season. I'm not convinced either guy would bring back anything that would improve the team as much as the team would be improved by the more favorable match-ups they would have as a tandem at SS. It would also eliminate the need to carry a Valdez or a Janish as a MI back-up which would drastically improve the bench.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

Gregorius may not be the best prospect in the Reds system, but I think he's become the most interesting. He's giving the Reds options to consider at SS and his emergence very well may have been a factor in moving Hamilton to CF.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

I don't know, to me he just kind of reeks of Gookieness. Or Olmedoma. Or Pokey Fever.


Personally, I put Hamilton, Stephenson, and Cingrani far ahead of him in the interesting rankings. Corcino is also a better prospect (but maybe not as interesting).

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

Or Danny Richar with better defense and less power.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

Didi is a true plus-defense SS with a pretty good offensive ceiling. Combine that with his being a LH bat, and you have a very interesting prospect. As I've said before, I think 2013 will be the year for the Reds to evaluate him vs Cozart as the long-term solution. Great spot for the organization to be in.

Re: BA's International League top 20 prospects
 

I was thinking Pokey also. I hope were wrong though. LH hitting shortstops dont come along all that much. Id hang onto him for another year and see what happens.