Prospect #1 - Aroldis Chapman, LHP
Prospect #2 - Devin Mesoraco, C
Yonder Alonso
Junior Arias
Brad Boxberger
Jonathan Correa
Zack Cozart
Danny Dorn
Juan Duran
Juan Francisco
Todd Frazier
Yasmani Grandal
Ismael Guillon
Billy Hamilton
Donnie Joseph
Yorman Rodriguez
David Sappelt
Chris Valaika
Prospect #1 - Aroldis Chapman, LHP
Prospect #2 - Devin Mesoraco, C
Yorman was an easy call for me here because of how I value his upside. I might also be unfairly knocking Alonso because I don't think he'll be in the organization on opening day, but I am a huge Y-Rod fan. His speed, defense, outfield arm and plate discipline, at least as they have been reported, is all amazing for his age.
"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 picked Billy Hamilton. And I really think you may see him sooner then some think if he continues to improve and has another year like last year at a higher minor league level.
I'm not saying he is the overall package, but look at what Starlin Castro did with the Cubs. I think Hamilton has Castro like potential.
I went with Yorman. The production at his age is the key.
While I agree about the upsides of both Yorman and Hamilton and that potentially they are the best long term guys, but proximity to the big leagues is a big factor for me. They both have a lot of ground to cover and possibilities of flame out and injuries.
Many might go with Yonder here, but the bar at 1B is pretty darned high and even with his bat he may end up run if the mill. IMO, Zach Cozart is the most likely of all the players on the board to become an every day contributor. Chances are that he too could end up as a run of the mill SS but a solid MI is valuable and more difficult to replace. Cozart for me.
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!
+1 for me, and I thought about Cozart, but ended up going with Yonder for the 3 hole. I like both Hamilton and Yorman long term, but there's a ton of ground to cover b/w short season ball and the majors. Yonder could be in the majors next year (though probably not w/ the Reds) and rates a notch higher. Keep Yonder in AAA all of next year, and if Hamilton & Yorman produce in Dayton the way they did in short season ball this year, and I think both jump Yonder on these lists next year.
By the way, how many teams have a Yorman, Yamani & Yonder as top prospects. The Astros had the killer bees all those years, why can't the Reds have the Killer Y's
Francisco will probably drop way down in this poll. He is not the flavor of the month.
I voted for him at three, and think he's definitely a top five Reds prospect.
There's a tendency to prefer the lower minor league prospects whose warts haven't been demonstrated yet.
These lists also tend to favor the guys who were hottest last season.
I think Chapman is first. Because he is a catcher, I'll go with Mes second. After that it's hard to differentiate. But JF is on the cusp of the majors at 23, has enormous tools, is improved in the field.
Last edited by Kc61; 10-12-2010 at 09:37 AM.
I forget the exact quote, but I read somewhere that some scout (or someone) said something along the lines of "If Yorman Rodriguez was American, you would have never heard of Bryce Harper."
I'm sure this is a huge exageration, but it does make ya think, no?
camisadelgolf...I really hope you accidentally clicked on Danny Dorn for #3. What the heck?
I voted for Yorman Rodriguez. In his age 17 season, Yorman hit .339/.361/.456 - .817 OPS in the Pioneer League, a league with a lot of advanced college players. That's impressive. His tools are ridiculously good. After signing, Yorman's talents were compared to the likes of Carlos Beltran, Eric Davis, and Cesar Cedeno. He has the speed and range to be a great defender, the power potential to hit 25-30 HR, and the ability to hit for average. He has superstar talent.
He's going to get picked at least 20 slots before he should, so I figure we might as well get it over with. He was #17 last year and #12 the year before. However, he's coming off the best year of his career, so maybe he'll jump ahead of Todd Frazier and get comparisons to Jay Bruce (forgive the hyperbole). But in all seriousness, if he had gotten a September call-up and gone 4-for-9, he'd probably be a top-10 prospect according to RZ. If he were to go 2-for-19, he wouldn't even be in the top-30. I think we often make the unfortunate mistake of overrating a prospect until he gets his first taste of failure. Dorn will struggle in the majors imo while other players (i.e. Mesoraco) face adversity as early as rookie ball and get written off and knocked down in the rankings before they're even old enough to graduate college.
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