Prospect #1 - Yonder Alonso
Prospect #2 - Mike Leake
Prospect #3 - Todd Frazier
Prospect #4 - Juan Francisco
Prospect #5 - Yorman Rodriguez
Brad Boxberger
Zack Cozart
Danny Dorn
Juan Duran
Matt Fairel
Josh Fellhauer
Billy Hamilton
Chris Heisey
Donnie Joseph
Matt Klinker
Matt Maloney
Devin Mesoraco
Mark Serrano
Neftali Soto
Juan Carlos Sulbaran
Chris Valaika
Travis Wood
other - name him
Prospect #1 - Yonder Alonso
Prospect #2 - Mike Leake
Prospect #3 - Todd Frazier
Prospect #4 - Juan Francisco
Prospect #5 - Yorman Rodriguez
Wood and Heisey had great years at advanced levels. (Especially Wood-- those numbers at AA are ridiculous.) Duran has a world of talent (apparently), but no record of success at all.
Who else is even in the discussion?
Cozart? I find it hard to believe a mid 700 OPS bat-- even as a plus defensive SS-- is this high on anyone's list.
Soto? He didn't hit at all in High A though, to be fair, it could be at least in part because of the league and park.
Sulburan, Hamilton, Fellhauer, Joseph, and Boxberger have little to no track record, while Dorn, Mesoraco, Valaika, et al didn't exactly cover themselves with laurels this season.
Big drop, IMO, at this point.
I went with Wood, again. I really like what Heisey has done, but like Maloney, he's no spring chicken and his upside his limited. At least Wood has youth on his side.
Cozart will probably be next on my list followed by the Maloney, Heisey, Dorn group of guys with high floors but low ceilings.
Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.
As much as I love Heisey--especially his intangibles--I have to stick with Wood.
As for Scrap's question of who else should be in the discussion . . . I started to say that Ondrusek should be. But I see that he's not on the list yet. I'd like to recommend him as the next addition. Donnie Joseph is already on; and while I don't disagree with that, you could easily argue that Ondrusek is the best relief prospect in the system.
I'm also ready for Juan Silva to make the list. His combination of youth and production compares very favorably.
I'm not sold on Heisey as much as others, so I went with the safe choice, which I felt was Travis Wood.
I went with Wood here, but out of curiosity... 299/370/462 lifetime in the minors, OPS 832, not impressive to you for a centerfielder? I'm not sure if your expectations are fair for players if an 830 OPS from a CF is not impressive, especially one said to be a very, very good defensive player.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
I'm looking at his sub .790 OPS (including a robust .323 OBP) @ AAA, as a 24 year old over 245 ABs.
Setting the World on fire for all of 350 ABs @ AA kinda loses a lot of its shine when he moves up to AAA and watches both his OBP and SLG drop at a staggering rate, most of which was due to Chris forgetting how to, or struggling to take a walk @ AAA.
I wanna see more of him @ AAA definitely, but I hope he returns to his AA form @ AAA.
Upside doesn't equal safe. Lack of huge downside equals safe. I think Heisey is a sure thing to be a major league OF. He's got a little of everything including power, speed, defense, on base skills and attitude. He may not be a star, but I think his downside is useful player. Wood could be a guy who doesn't have the stuff for major leaguers. He had a couple of bad years before his big 2009 and 5'11" and 166 pounds makes me skeptical of his ability to hold up in the big leagues. I hope Wood becomes a reliable starter but his downside is lower than Heisey's IMO.
All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!
Chris Heisey.
Cozart
"When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail"
I took Maloney again. I like him better than Wood for the fact that he IS older and experienced, still only 25, on the cusp of the majors (I think he's the #5 next April), and has been consistently good (if not a bit slow growing).
I know Wood has bounced back from a rough 2008, but his AAA numbers still suffer a bit next to Maloney.
Once Matt gets to Cincy, if he can gain confidence, I think he fits the Reds well with low bb rates. Like Harang, if he gets beat, it won't be with the bases juiced very often.
He also has over Wood a size advantage and is pretty good with the bat, small things to add.
This is the first time I've seen someone like a prospect more because he's older. I think Maloney is underrated, but I still have to go with Wood.
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please. |