as the Reds found filling the middle infield positions is tougher than 1b. The Alonso pick left me scratching my head and still does ... and the Reds still don't have a competent SS.
as the Reds found filling the middle infield positions is tougher than 1b. The Alonso pick left me scratching my head and still does ... and the Reds still don't have a competent SS.
conjecture. behind Francisco, maybe. behind Fazier and his merry go round of positions? no. Not at 3B anyway. And more to the point, Alonso is behind both those guys right now but in LF.
And if Alonso can play a passable defense in LF, He's got to get past them to supplant Gomes, whereas Beckham would have to get past the same two guys to replace EE. six of one...
Beckham was in a better position to force management's hand. If the Alonso LF experiment fails, he's behind Dorn, who is killing the ball at Louisville and Votto. Steep hill. His bat is working, but have we gotten a report on the defense yet? I know he has thrown a runner out, so the arm is accurate. How strong was the throw? How is he on reads? Routes?
Dubito Ergo Cogito Ergo Sum.
To be fair Doug, Smoak has developed faster than Alonso and is rightfully rated ahead of him at this point in their respective careers. Neither player has hit LHP very well as of yet, but Smoak has outhit Yonder so far. Having said that, I still like Yonder in the long run but I think both players will be very good at the MLB level.
Bum
Alonso, IMHO, is not behind anybody. He's just learning to play till he takes over and moves other people.
Switch hitters that don't hit from a certain side are like "if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, who gives a crap?"
Dubito Ergo Cogito Ergo Sum.
A team like the Reds shouldn't be concerned with trade value as much as positional value. This franchise needs to draft for future value. We had a young guy at 1B who had been productive throughout his minor league career. I think he was MVP of the Southern League and Rook of the Year in AAA back to back years. We had no clear SS of the future and knew how expensive Phillips was going to become in 2011. So why take Alonso over Beckham? Beckham could have solved the SS issue at least as a stop gap and moved over to 2B next year. Heck he could make the conversion over to LF easier than Alonso probably.
The FO needs to draft based on contract futures and even need somewhat vs PBA. The draft is a crapshoot. Heyward was passed on by 10 - 15 teams and he will probably turn out to be the best player in that draft class...
Only one way to draft: BPA, and for once in 2008 we got him. Just give him time.
If anyone wants to reminisce about the possible drafting of Beckham, here's a June 4th thread from right before the draft:
http://www.redszone.com/forums/showt...gordon+beckham
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