Better Prospects: Devin Mesoraco or Yasmani Grandal?

[dougdirt]

Grandal clearly hasn't signed yet, but from a pure prospect point of view, who is the better prospect between the two guys? Why?

[aubashbrother]

Went with Meso. I like Grandal as a switch hitter but after dealing with some injuries Mez seems like hes taken the next step. He's producing now with the wood bat which I think Grandal can also but I guess what really put Mez on top for me is his D

[bubbachunk]

Mez because the reports of his defense and the numbers he is putting up this year. Also he is doing this at a higher level of baseball but I can see how people would be Grandal.

[fearofpopvol1]

I voted "not sure." We haven't see Grandal against similar competition yet.

[Superdude]

I've said this before, but I'll take Mes over Grandal without thinking twice. Between injuries and adjusting to catching professionally, I don't see any reason to get hung up on Mesoraco's performance the past few years. Everything seems to be coming together for the guy, and he's starting to look like a potential masher with plus defense behind the plate...pretty rare stuff.

There seems to be differing opinions as far as Grandal goes, but slow bat and weak arm seem to come up a bit too much for my liking. Wait and see approach with him.

[fearofpopvol1]

There seems to be differing opinions as far as Grandal goes, but slow bat and weak arm seem to come up a bit too much for my liking. Wait and see approach with him.

If this is the case, how can you say Mesoraco is better? You're simply going off of scouting reports and nothing else.

[OesterPoster]

Mez is killing with a wooden bat, and we don't have a grasp on Grandal's wooden bat capabilities. Couple that with his improvements behind the plate...and I'd have a tough time believing Grandal is a better prospect.

[Superdude]

If this is the case, how can you say Mesoraco is better? You're simply going off of scouting reports and nothing else.

What else do we have on Grandal besides scouting reports? Between aluminum bats and erratic competition, I'm skeptical to read too much into college stats. I guess you never know who's going to be better if you want to get technical, but as far as ranking them, I like Mesoraco's ceiling better than Grandal, and I feel much safer saying that he'll reach that ceiling based on what he's done this year.

[mace]

Mesoraco. Because there's nothing more he could do. He's hitting for power, he's getting on base, he's throwing out runners, he's got great makeup, and he's young. If Grandal progresses well, we'll be able to say that about him in a year or two. But that sentence starts with "if".

[RedsManRick]

Mez. A bird in the hand...

[redsfandan]

Mes has a track record in the minors. Grandal doesn't.

Mes has started to show that he could be a good all around catcher. Grandal still has to show that the negative reports about his game are overblown.

[scott91575]

Well, I am the dissenter. I think too many people look at Mesaraco and see him finally reaching a respectable number in the minors after some horrible years. Even then he is only above average in AA. I think Grandal has the ability to do more than that. I personally think Mesaraco is a future regular catcher in MLB, but Grandal has the ability to be a borderline all star.

[GIDP]

I look at them and honestly see the same type of kid. Both have good swings, both have good bodies, and both seem to have the ability to D up.

As it stands right now though i think Mes has the better set of tools. I think hes a better hitter, I think hes a quicker player, and I think he has the better arm and better D.

I think Yas has all those abilities also but I really dont think hes better at any of them than Mes. Close, but I think Mes grades out better everywhere in my grading system.

[medford]

This seems almost unfair for Grandal in that he has no chance of winning this poll. Few here have seen him as much as they may have seen Des in Dayton or spring training, plus as others have said, he's got legit minor league numbers, with a wooden bat and vs legit pitching and basestealing prospects in the minors, while Grandal's numbers come against inconsistant college pitching and inconsistant college base stealers, some legit prospects, some that will never sniff pro ball.

So a couple of questions. Is there a rough estimate on how Des' numbers this season would have transferred back to a high level college program like Miami? Or conversly, how Grandal's numbers would tranfer to High A/AA ball? My gut says their numbers would be pretty similar, if not favoring Des though I don't believe its an exact science comparing a college metal bat to a pro ball wood bat. Wouldn't Des be a college junior this season had he gone the college route? Seems like they would have been picked around the same point had Des gone to college and put his translated numbers from this season in his junior year of college.

2) More importantly in my mind, if Des continues on the path he's set forth this season, what are the odds he breaks camp w/ the Reds next season? The safe path would seem to indicate that they pick up Ramon's option and go w/ the catching tandem they've used this year, w/ Des getting a full season in AAA. However, if Des can prove he belongs in the show, at least as a back up to Hannigan, perhaps in a similar role as hannigan and Ramon share this year, it could save the Reds a decent chunk of change, at least enough to help pick up some middle relief or pay Rhodes for 1 more season.

[medford]

one more thing, I'm reminded of the considerable conversation redszone had on Texas' catching situation a couple of years ago. Seems like Texas had more catching prospects than they needed and seemed like a solid trading partner for the Reds to find their catcher of the future. Flash forward 1.5 seasons later and the Rangers are picking up Molina. Seems the moral would be to keep both in the fold and let time sort things out as to which one is the better long term option along w/ Hannigan. I think they'll find it easier to get better value out of a legit catching prospect the next several seasons than it will to get legit value out of a 1b prospect in a trade.