Redszone Community Prospect Vote:#5

[dougdirt]

Vote for the player who you think is the Reds #5 prospect (the best prospect who is not yet on the list). We will go with this as far as you guys want to take it.

I will post a new list every 2 days with 10-15 options to vote on.

If you feel like making an argument on why a guy should be voted here, feel free to vote and state why you voted for that player.

If there is someone that is not currently listed as an option to vote on, vote for 'other' then just state who you want to vote for in the thread.

If there is anyone you would like to see as an option on the next poll, just say so and if they garner enough support, they will be placed on the next poll. Guys with the lowest amount of votes will usually be removed for the next few guys who were talked about in the previous thread.


Prospect 1 - Jay Bruce
Prospect 2 - Homer Bailey
Prospect 3 - Johnny Cueto
Prospect 4 - Joey Votto

[Blue]

My vote is for Stubbs. He started to break out the last couple months last season, putting up an OPS of over .900 in July and August. He is the best athlete among the Reds true prospects, and plays an excellent CF defense.

[mlbfan30]

It's a tough choice between Stubbs and Frazier, but I had to go with Stubbs mainly for defense. Stubbs is going to always be a great defensive CF, and even if he can OPS .775 with a .350 OBP in the majors, that will be valuable enough to be a decent leadoff guy. Fraizier is unlikely to stay at SS, and will be below avg if he does.

[mth123]

For me this is a tough choice.

Running through the candidates:

Stubbs and Mesoraco have the 1st round pedigree but have been disappointments on the field so far IMO, so they are farther down on my list. Lotzkar has the arm but he's very far away and I can't seriously consider him for the top 10 yet. Dorn and Francisco are possibilities, but, as corner players, I'm not convinced that their bats will carry them in those positions (Dorn is more likely at this point IMO). Watson is a candidate, but I think he needs to be successful as a starter or move to relief in the next year or two and then he could rise up the list quickly. Wood needs a healthy season to re-establish value. Pelland is behind both Roenicke and Watson as a potential reliever. Soto needs more success at a higher level. Valaika really went in the tank at A+.

That leaves me with 4 choices. Rosales probably isn't going to be a star but projects as a multi-spot utility guy and in that role his bat could be a plus and he'll have a lot of value. Roenicke looks like a real comer for the bullpen and I seriously considered him. Maloney probably has the most trade value of the guys remaining but I suspect his trade value is higher than his actual pitching value and he could go all Dumatrait on us if he gets promoted. I hope the Reds cash him in.

In the end, I voted for Todd Frazier. His bat seems special and even if he can't stay in the MI, his time there suggests he'll be a plus defender at a corner spot. He was a high draft choice that the scouts liked and his performance did nothing to suggest that the scouts were wrong. I usually don't like to rank guys who haven't at least had a season at A ball, but Frazier looks like the real deal.

[camisadelgolf]

I was torn between Stubbs and Frazier, but ultimately, I went with Frazier because I think he's more likely to reach his ceiling, even though I think it's slightly lower than Stubbs'.

[dougdirt]

I went with Drew Stubbs. Its a more risky pick than Frazier, but I like what he did in the second half with his bat (.880 OPS) and his defense in CF is a difference maker. However, Frazier is going to have to hit a whole lot better given that his future is likely a corner IF or corner OF guy and right now, we don't really know what position he is going to be playing in the future.

[mth123]

Frazier is going to have to hit a whole lot better given that his future is likely a corner IF or corner OF guy and right now, we don't really know what position he is going to be playing in the future.

If you mean he'll have to hit better than Stubbs, I agree because Stubbs plus defense in the middle of the diamond does make up for a lot, but Frazier went a combined .319/.405/.538/.943 in his first pro experience. That will play at any position. If Stubbs does what he did in the second half over a full season, I'd happily make him my top guy next year assuming the top 4 are all in the majors. I want to see it first.

[dougdirt]

If you mean he'll have to hit better than Stubbs, I agree because Stubbs plus defense in the middle of the diamond does make up for a lot, but Frazier went a combined .319/.405/.538/.943 in his first pro experience. That will play at any position. If Stubbs does what he did in the second half over a full season, I'd happily make him my top guy next year assuming the top 4 are all in the majors. I want to see it first.

Yeah, it will play at any position, but I also don't see him posting a .943 OPS in the majors either.

As for Stubbs, I will take his most recent 250 plate appearances as a barometer for what he will do next year than his 250 before that.

[Will M]

I find it hard to get excited about prospects who haven't played above low A.

For my #5 pick I went with Maloney. His numbers looked really good last year plus he is a lefty.

I also considered Pelland & Dorn.

[Degenerate39]

This is a tough one but I'm going to say Frazier

[Kc61]

The next four, for me, in some order, are Frazier, Roenicke, Maloney, and Stubbs. For me, Frazier's bat makes him the number 5.

For a seasoned college player, Stubbs' 2007 at the plate still raises a lot of questions. I know he had injury and had a hot streak at the end but .270 with 12 homers at the low-A level does not IMO translate to a number 5 prospect. Look at Francisco, who just turned 20, and hit .268 with 25 homers and 90 RBIs at the same level.

All the Reds prospects after number 4 have some question marks, but a position player has to hit, it's the number 1 tool. Frazier seems like a guy who will hit for power and average and, as a shortstop, can probably move with ease to a number of other positions. And his talent was reflected in his results in his first year as a pro.

So I go with Frazier here and plan to go with Roenicke or Maloney next.

[Mario-Rijo]

I haven't voted just yet but I gotta toss out a few names who may be being overlooked here, just to see what others think about them.

I say may because 2 of them are pitchers and I'll be the 1st to admit at not having the best grip (some but not best) on projecting them. And the other is a question mark as to whether he is even being considered a prospect any longer, I know for this exercise he is and I feel he still is but I'm interested to hear what others think about him beyond the obvious.

LHP Pedro Viola
RHP Carlos Fisher
CF Chris Dickerson

I may very well use any good analysis given on these guys as major info to determine my next several votes. And if anyone has any scouting reports (types of pitches, projectability, velocity, command, control etc.) on our milb pitchers I would be very grateful for any of that.

My thinking is if Dickerson could improve his contact rate he is well ahead of Frazier (my potential pick) in both exp. and raw talent. Viola is supposed to be nasty, a LHP with good velocity and ??? And I have seen quite a few folks here talk about Fisher as a potential good rotation member. Which would make all 3 perhaps file in ahead of Frazier or anyone else listed.

[AdamDunn]

Travis Wood. He didn't have a good season last year since he was playing through injuries. He was in the mid 90's his first year until the Reds changed his mechanics. Now he has a low 90s fastball with a good change. If I remember correctly, he's working on a third pitch (curveball). He has too much potential and is in more advanced leagues than most of the people remaining on the list. I think if they move him into the bullpen, he can bring his fastball up to the mid-90s. His plus change and fastball (if he can put more zip on it) could make him a good relief pitcher.

Also, if Stubbs and Frazier are really close, I think we should have another vote and put only those two on it to figure out who everyone really thinks is No. 5. Just a thought.

[OnBaseMachine]

I went with Frazier.

[reds44]

A really tough one, but I went with Fraizer as well.

As for Stubbs, I have him closer to 10 then I do 5.