Originally Posted by
RedsDude
i have to agree with M2 on this one.
no way in hell can you pass up the chance at the next barry larkin(maybe better) to take another in a long line of arm surgery victems.
look, bailey is a very talented player, and everything looks great from teh outside. he's tall, has a good throwing motion and he throws hard, but chris gruler threw hard too.... i mean, when will this organization (and others) learn that high school pitchers rarely work out. for every kerry wood or josh beckett, there are 3-4 other guys who blow out there arms and never reach their potential. guys like wood and beckett are the exception, not the rule.
now on to nelson. this guy IS bj upton, only about 4 inches shorter. he is a true 5-tool middle infeilder: he hits for average, he hits for power, he runs as well as anyone in the draft, he can pick it at short and despite t.j. surgery, he has an absolute cannon for an arm. imo, he is as close to a shore thing as it gets as far as the baseball draft is concerned.
imo, shortstop is just as big a need as pitching. look at what we have in the minor leagues as far as middle infielders:
felipe lopez: dont make me laugh. "no socks" is NOT a major league player. he's a punk with a weak bat, laughable defense and a general lack of common sense.
rey olmedo: he's a decent little player, but he'll never be more than a juan castro type.
edwin encarnacion: he's gonna be a third baseman.
it's obvious we needed a shortstop, yet the new braintrust decided to waste another high pick on a guy who will probably blow his arm out within the next two years.
for baileys sake, i hope i'm wrong and he can buck the trend of, not only h.s. pitchers, but reds pitchers in general. but i just get the feeling, while chris nelson is playing in all-star games for the colorado rockies, homer will be sitting at home in his cowboy boots, watching the games from his couch.