Pret-tay, Pret-tay, Good

[membengal]

So, all said and done, the Reds' minor league organization had what I would consider a wildly successful season. From where I sit, what worked:

1. Moved Joey Votto and Jay Bruce successfully from minors to majors. And then some. Reds have two cornerstones to build around in the future.

2. Moved Johnny Cueto successfully to the bigs. Real nice debut for the youngster, got a good progression in his innings, had good results, now knows exactly what it takes to succeed.

3. Aggressively moved players from level to level when they showed some success. This, to my eye, was implemented by Jocketty, and I like it. Notably, the organization has restored shine to Stubbs, giving Jocketty a nice chip for trading purposes if he so chooses this off-season. Other moves that I liked were Frazier to high A, Valikia to AA, Soto to Dayton, and Thompson from AA to AAA (although I hated his jump to the majors).

4. Good success by less heralded players. Ramon Ramirez has been fun to watch in Cincy. As has Ryan Hanigan. As has Chris Dickerson. This kind of development is crucial to organizations, as not every player up will have the ceiling of a Bruce/Votto/Cueto, and we need continued help from the "non-stars". Dickerson in particular has been an eye-opener, at least to me. He will help a major league team win.

5. In addition, I like how the pitching staffs were handled throughout the organization, and the general health of those arms. Not a lot of time lost to injuries again this year. Huge.

As for what didn't work? Bailey, obviously, but I am not ready to jump off a bridge as he is still so very young. There's time, if his light ever comes on. I don't like how Thompson was rushed to Cincy, and hope his arm wasn't damaged in the process. I wish they had used Rosales more upon him getting to Cincy, but, not enough to overly complain.

I liked the infusion of young talent brought to the organization in the Jr. and Dunn deals. Getting players for those guys was a bonus, and a bunch of them look like they can play. Double bonus.

There is a lot to look forward to in 2009 for the Reds, and a bunch of that is because the minor leagues advanced players to the bigs who made an impact and who will give Jocketty flexibility to make moves this off-season.

Job well done overall, at least in my opinion.

[Javy Pornstache]

LD and I agree that things are looking pretty, prett-y, prett-tay good. Nice post.

[membengal]

I'm just glad somone got the reference...you have made my night, javy.

[mth123]

I'd add some other good developments. The seeming riches in bullpen arms and contributing OF in the high minors.

In addition to Dickerson and Stubbs, Sean Henry and Shaun Cumberland (two WK trade pick-ups) look like they may be able to play a back-up role in the big leagues by the end of 2009 and Danny Dorn looks like a guy who could have a long career as a contributing bat in a Matt Stairs sort of a way (maybe better). I expect all those guys to appear in a major league uniform at some point in 2009.

As for the pen, Marcus McBeth, Matt Belisle and Todd Coffey fell by the wayside and Gary Majewski's brief resurgence didn't last, but that may clear the way for Josh Roenicke, Danny Herrera, and my favorite underdog Carlos Fisher. Add a late season improvement of Sean Watson, an impressive debut of Zach Stewart, a coming from nowhere of Robert Manual and a nice later round pick in Mace Thurman who, like Stewart, may progress fairly quickly and the pipeline looks good. In the low minors guys like Terrell Young, Jeremy Horst and a bounce back from Phil Valiquette also look pretty good. Poor years from Tyler Pelland, Derrick Lutz and Pedro Viola are a downer, but it doesn't completely remove them from the picture. The team looks to have a steady stream of young cheap arms for the pen. That should allow the team to avoid the $3 to $4 Million 7th inning guys and put the bucks in higher impact areas. That is a very good thing IMO.

[membengal]

Good points mth. My initial thoughts are certainly not meant to be exhaustive. I forgot to add Mes to the list as a positive as well. I like what he got done in his first full season. Not earth-shattering, but definitely progress.

[OnBaseMachine]

Don't forget perhaps the biggest story of the season concerning the Reds farm system - the Reds becoming major players in the International field. The Reds signed the two best position prospects available during this years class - Juan Duran from the Dominican Republic and Yorman Rodriguez from Venezuelan. They also signed a highly touted shortstop named Junior Arias, from Bani, Dominican Republic. In total they spent $5 million on those three players, plus they were one of three finalists for Michel Inoa, perhaps the best pitching prospect to come out of the DR. These signings indicates the Reds are serious about improving this organization in any way they can.

[redsmetz]

3. Aggressively moved players from level to level when they showed some success. This, to my eye, was implemented by Jocketty, and I like it. Notably, the organization has restored shine to Stubbs, giving Jocketty a nice chip for trading purposes if he so chooses this off-season. Other moves that I liked were Frazier to high A, Valikia to AA, Soto to Dayton, and Thompson from AA to AAA (although I hated his jump to the majors).

It would seem to me that this was a continuation of what Krivsky was doing last year - step by step, moving players fairly quickly (Bruce would be an example there, wouldn't he?). Certainly more players progressed, but, again, I think that's a continuation of what had been happening since Castellini took over with both Krivsky and Jocketty.

[icehole3]

what about the trades? Masset, Richar, Castillo, Owings and Buck, they all look like very decent players and other than Buck will make spring training very interesting. All around with the signing of mega stud Alonso this was a grade A summer IMO.

[membengal]

It would seem to me that this was a continuation of what Krivsky was doing last year - step by step, moving players fairly quickly (Bruce would be an example there, wouldn't he?). Certainly more players progressed, but, again, I think that's a continuation of what had been happening since Castellini took over with both Krivsky and Jocketty.

I thought, other than Bruce, WK was too deliberate in his moves. I perceived a more system-wide steadiness in progress of movement up under Jock, but have really nothing more than general observation and perception to back that up.

[icehole3]

I agree, under WK no way Stubbs wouldve sniffed AAA and Ramon Ramirez wouldve been burried and no where to be found. I like the Jockerty plan better.

[dougdirt]

I agree, under WK Ramon Ramirez wouldve been burried and no where to be found.

I wouldn't go as far to say that. WK is the guy who protected Ramirez from the Rule V draft by adding him to the 40 man roster. He obviously liked something about him.

[LincolnparkRed]

I wouldn't go as far to say that. WK is the guy who protected Ramirez from the Rule V draft by adding him to the 40 man roster. He obviously liked something about him.

Agreed. He obviously saw enough in him to protect him last year. What young guys will we need to protect this year?