Baseball America has a nice article up on Yonder Alonso today. I can't post it since it's premium material, but I recommend those of you who subscribe to BA to read it. It's not hard to see why the Reds like this guy. There's a nice little story about him and Votto during spring training.
During spring training, the Reds had Alonso locker next to Votto, and the two ended up having a friendly competition to see who could show up the earliest to camp each morning. The first day Alonso showed up at 6:45 A.M. but Votto arrived at 6:30, the next day Alonso showed up earlier to beat that, and this continued until the Reds finally told them to stop showing up so early. We've heard all about how hard of a worker Votto is and it sounds like he's got some competition now. Along with his strong workmanship, the Reds love his patience at the plate.
The Sarasota manager Joe Ayrault says Alonso could be hitting .350 right now. He says Alonso has been hitting rocket line drives and deep flyouts right at the defenders. His .257 BABIP backs that up. Ayrault also praised Alonso's work ethic and his dedication on becoming a better defensive first baseman. He says the Reds can build championship-caliber teams around Alonso. He says Alonso has some of the best plate discipline he's ever seen out of a Single-A hitter and he's great at making adjustments at the plate from atbat to atbat.
I really hope the Reds hang on to Alonso and move Votto to left field. Alonso/Bruce/Votto is championship-caliber 3-4-5 punch.