By the way, I think it's a perfect fitting that Yorman Rodriguez is wearing Eric Davis's old number. That's one of the guys Yorman has been compared to, and if you look at the picture of Yorman, his body is similar to Davis'. Duran's body compares favorably with Alex Rios.
JD is so skinny! It amazes me they have him tagged with plus-plus power potential. Then again I have absolutely no idea how scouts come up with such projections. I just know that he is really young and will fill out, so I'm assuming that a lot of what they see is in his swing.
"When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail"
some of it is bat speed, Soto is thin as a rail but his bat speed is so quick he shoots everything to the wall
I really like the guys we signed. Iona would have been icing on a giant cake. Yorman and Juan are no doubt many years away, but the prospect of getting to watch them fill out into good pro ballplayers is great. Top it off with a few signings next year, a good draft, and we'll have a fully reloaded farm system.
Looking at the pictures of Duran swinging, you can just tell by looking at his body that he is going to rake.
Great pics -- thnaks for posting the links. Jim Donten takes some nice shots. Couple impressions:
Duran has some strength in his lower half, which is good.
Soto has very nice mechanics. (Really hope they hold onto him.)
Mesoraco is frickin yooge. Strong kid.
I agree with you on Soto - they definitely need to keep him. I think he's got a chance to be a special hitter. He's got great power potential and doesn't strikeout a whole lot. All he needs to do is start drawing a few more walks and he'll really take off. He could be the big right handed bat we're looking for, albeit it'll be a couple years before he's ready.
I also think Juan Duran is going to be a special player. Obviously he's a long, long ways off but he's got unlimited potential. The scouting report on him just makes my jaw drop. I also love the potential of Yorman Rodriguez. I think he's a little more raw than Duran but the sky is the limit for him.
In the pitching department, Juan Carlos Sulbaran is quickly becoming one of my favorite prospects in the Reds system. He's got very good stuff and a great pitchers body. I've seen some video of him pitching and I come away very impressed with him. His fastball is in the low 90's (with room for improvement) and has incredible movement. He also throws a plus curveball and a solid changeup. I think a year from now we'll be ranking him in the Reds top ten prospect lists.
Is there any extended information on the two shortstops we signed?
"When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail"
To anyone who might know:
When the DWL starts, will our guys be there or will they still be in instructional?
Here's another nice photo by Jim Donten of Alex Buchholz, Juan Duran, and Yorman Rodriguez. Duran is the one making the catch as Yorman backs him up. Look at Yorman, he just looks like an incredible athlete.
Do we have any further information on Ismael Guillon?
Only this:
13. Ismael Guillon, LHP, Venezuela
Guillon is a big 6′3 lefthander that hasn’t been seen a whole lot, but has a good amount of polish for a 16 year old. He has a larger, more filled-out frame compared to fellow 6′3 Venezuelan hurler Portillo, and throws from the left side, but has a lower upside. Guillon works in the high 80s with his fastball and lacks bigtime projection, but has 3 workable pitches and some feel for pitching. He figures to get a bonus of about $700,000 as well.
http://www.saberscouting.com/2008/06.../#comment-3177
Baseball America has a small profile on him from back in July. They say he's also a first baseman. Scouts say he has great power but he swings and misses a lot. On the mound they say he's got a 90-91 mph fastball but has a bad and funky delivery.
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