Local Media and the Reds Minor Leaguers

[medford]

Kind of a random question based on a question popping back into my head this morning, and was interested to hear what the general board feeling was on this subject:

How much should the local Cincy sports media know about the Reds Minor leaguers?

I ask, because they often know far less than me, and I certainly don't consider myself much of an expert, just somebody that reads this board. Today, Ken Broo was on Willie's show and the subject of Bronson came up, and who the Reds could/should bring up. Now I don't really expect Willie to be on top of the subject, but I would think Ken Broo should better versed than he showed this afternoon. He mentioned Maloney, no error there, then mentioned a fast tracked prospect from last year's draft Zachary Taylor that just got called up to AAA. Most of this board has been informed that Stewart (not Taylor) has approached his total innings from last year and is just being slowed down a tad to avoid long term injury, hence the move back to the pen, and no chance he shows up in Cincy at any point this season.

While I think Ken Broo should be aware of this as well, its far from the worst scenerio I've seen played out regarding the Reds minor leaguers and the local sports media. Last year, on Extra Innings none the less, Doc Rogers was asked about the Reds farm system, specifically about Drew Stubbs. Doc made the comment that he'd never heard of Stubbs, and couldn't really comment on it. How does the host of Extra Innings not have some familarity w/ a recent #1 selection of the Reds?

I'm sure others can offer more stories where the local media leaves us scratching our head when commenting on any minor leaguer. I don't expect them to have the same level of familarity that someone like Doug does, but I certainly would expect them to have a handle of the basics, and then some.

What are other's thoughts? should we expect more, not that we'll get it anytime soon until the CTR generation (and guys who know how to find/read about the Reds minor leaguers) finds itself ontop of the local sports media scene as the go to guys

[GIDP]

I heard that Broo thing today when he said Zach Taylor and just laughed about how useless Ken Broo is. No one really knows anything about minor league prospects outside of maybe Lance and Mo Egger but even they only go so far into it. I guess you can only expect so much but come on man if you are going to talk about a prospect please at least get the name right.

Doc's understanding of sports is actually pretty limited, and its likely why he was a easy cut when clear channel downsized.

I think we will never get the coverage we would like regarding minor leaguers but thats how its always been and its also likely why you frequent the site.

Id be surprised if any other towns are that much better.

[medford]

I don't know that I'd call Ken Broo useless, I've heard him make many good points before. Today was nothing more than a mistake on name in combination of likely being an "old school" guy and not realizing the information on Reds minor leaguers out there for him, or not particularly caring since its a small % of things he needs to know about the local sports scence.

I thought Doc Rogers was at one point connected to minor league development of some sort aside from being a former pitcher and/or coach of some sort in the majors/minors (Can't remember his exact history), so I would have expected him to know who Drew Stubbs was, or that Chattanooga was the AA affiliate of the Reds last year when he couldn't remember or didn't know who that affiliate was.

Really don't want to get into personal attacks, just a brief question about how much you'd expect them to know. Sadly I think your last statement is correct that this is the way its always been, however, my guess is that when the CTrent's, Mo Eggers and Lance McCallisters of the world are the go to men, they'll be much more in tune w/ the Reds Minor league system.

Personally, I'd just wish they had a solid handle of where each level is located, the top 10-20 prospects, who's hot, and especially have a solid handle of who's in AAA/AA that can/will realistically be able to help out the major league this year, or next year when looking forward to that near the end of the season.

[Redsfaithful]

15+ years ago it was acceptable for them not to know much because the average fan didn't know much, the world's moved on though, and there's now not really any excuse.

Then again, it's talk radio, you'd be smart to keep your expectations as low as possible.

[GIDP]

Any Joe on the street can make good points but Ken Broo is just someone who isnt well informed and just tends to repeat what someone else has told him before. I dont mean it as a insult its just the way he works and what his job has been for years. He doesnt know much more than an average fan in most cases I'd say. When you want some in depth info hes not someone who anyone should go running to. Hes a broadcaster in every sense of the word. Put something in front of him and he can read it and present it well enough. He doesnt really work the other way.

I thought you were talking about Paul Doc not Doc Rogers, but Rogers has pretty limited knowledge also about whats going on these days with the reds, thats why he typically tries to compensate for his knowledge with some story about himself. He doesnt seem to really try to learn more about the Reds either because hes been giving teh same information for over a year now. Its certainly frustrating.

Id expect them to know as much as the Mo's and Lances know. CTR took some effort to actually learn about the minor leaguers and did his reading, I'm not sure anyone else cares outside of those 3, and I certainly dont feel many of them think its worth the extra time to learn when it doesnt improve their paycheck.

[OesterPoster]

Even if they simply subscribed to Jamie Ramsey's daily minor league report, they'd have quite a bit of useful information sitting right there in front of their faces.

[bucksfan2]

Even if they simply subscribed to Jamie Ramsey's daily minor league report, they'd have quite a bit of useful information sitting right there in front of their faces.

I think the reality is that the average 700 WLW listener doesn't really care about the minor leagues. They may know who the best player in the Reds system is or they may have known the names of Jay Bruce and Homer Bailey. Your average fan could probably tell you that the Reds drafted a pitcher in the first round this year, but probably doesn't remember his name. If you asked your average fan where Yonder Alonso is playing right now, they wouldn't know.

I get most of my minor league knowledge by spending 10 minutes on this section a day. Its not a whole lot of time, but it helps keep me informed. For your average fan, who Ken Broo and Doc Rodgers are talking to, don't really care about the minor league system.

[Pony Boy]

It seems to me that if your only job is to know Cincinnati sports you should know a hell of a lot about the Reds minor league system. Its not like Cincy has that many sports to cover. You have the Bengals, Reds, UC basketball and football, XU basketball and you should probably know your OSU football. That's it. Doesnt seem like a lot to ask of someone employed as a local sportscaster. That being said I think Ken Broo has one of the better shows on the radio.