http://www.baseballamerica.com/today...rospects/2011/
On Wednesday, Baseball America will announce their top-10 rankings of Reds prospects. Anyone want to take any guesses before the release?
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today...rospects/2011/
On Wednesday, Baseball America will announce their top-10 rankings of Reds prospects. Anyone want to take any guesses before the release?
Here is my stab at it. I want a prize if I'm correct:
1. Aroldis Chapman, LHP
2. Devin Mesoraco, C
3. Yonder Alonso, 1B/LF
4. Todd Frazier, LF
5. Yasmani Grandal, C
6. Yorman Rodriguez, OF
7. Billy Hamilton, SS
8. Zach Cozart, SS
9. Juan Francisco, 3B
10. Dave Sappelt, OF
Sappelt won't be in the Top 10. I know that one for a fact unless someone went over JJ Coopers head. Talked with him a few weeks ago and he said I was higher on Sappelt than he was and I ranked him 10th.
Cooper should have discussed it with you, Doug. Not many players have the kind of year that Sappelt had with his bat, not to mention his defense.
Four players from last year's list are no longer eligible: Mike Leake, Chris Heisey, Travis Wood, and Matt Maloney. Despite that, this year's list looks to be much stronger.
Hamilton comes in at #2...wow.
Guess billy hamilton is no longer our little secret...
I really like me some Billy Hamilton, but I can't get behind an argument that has Billy Hamilton ahead of Devin Mesoraco.
Code:1. Aroldis Chapman, lhp 2. Billy Hamilton, ss/2b 3. Devin Mesoraco, c 4. Yonder Alonso, 1b/of 5. Yorman Rodriguez, of 6. Yasmani Grandal, c 7. Juan Francisco, 3b 8. Zack Cosart, ss 9. Todd Frazier, of/3b/1b 10. Kyle Lotzkar, rhp TOOLS Best Hitter for Average Yonder Alonso Best Power Hitter Juan Francisco Best Strike-Zone Discipline Yonder Alonso Fastest Baserunner Billy Hamilton Best Athlete Billy Hamilton Best Fastball Aroldis Chapman Best Curveball Kyle Lotzkar Best Slider Aroldis Chapman Best Changeup Ismael Guillon Best Control Kyle Lotzkar Best Defensive Catcher Yasmani Grandal Best Defensive Infielder Miguel Rojas Best Infield Arm Juan Francisco Best Defensive Outfielder Ryan LaMarre Best Outfield Arm Yorman Rodriguez
I find it interesting all-around about Lotzkar. Interesting that he's ranked #10, given that he's only pitched 44 innings since surgery. Interesting about his curveball, which I guess I didn't realize. And interesting that he's rated as having the best control, since his minor-league numbers (48 BB in 111 IP) don't really suggest that. I hope all of this comes from a deeper familiarity of him than most of us have.
Am also surprised that Grandal was rated the best defensive catcher over the likes of Coddington and McMurray.
Wow, so Mez is nowhere on the TOOLS list.
Billy Hamilton is the type of prospect I see ranked high a lot because of blazing speed and good hitting. They are usually over-ranked because of the allure of their speed. Nonetheless, he's a deserved and tantalizing prospect.
2015 Rotation: Under Construction
A few quick thoughts. I guess hamilton makes their top 100 since Mes almost certainly has to. Also, BA may still be grumpy over how far they dropped Mes in last year's rankings and slow to deal w/ his improvement.
Last edited by membengal; 01-05-2011 at 02:01 PM.
This article must've been thrown together pretty quickly, as it's pretty sloppy with typos:
Zack Cosart
Homer Bailey listed as the Reds top draft pick in 2004 and 2005
Several other grammatical errors/typos in the text
More importantly, while I like seeing Hamilton succeed (and like him as a player), I worry that speedy middle-of-the-diamond players are constantly overvalued as prospects. See Felix Pie, Fernando Martinez, Carlos Gomez, Chin-lung Hu, Carlos Trunifiel, Luis Montanez, and many, many others.
I echo others on Mesoraco not getting much love from BA, possibly due to their slamming of him in the past.
One thing to note again, is how weak the pitching is across the minor leagues. Obviously a big part of that is that all the young pitchers are now with the big club, but I'd like to see the Reds replenish the system with pitching (and a power hitting 3B or COF) in this year's draft.
Last edited by Benihana; 01-05-2011 at 01:52 PM.
Go BLUE!!!
Reds have a very nice mix of high ceiling guys (Yorman, Hamilton, Mesoraco, Chapman, Francisco) and solid prospects (Yonder, Frazier, Cozart, Grandal) in that top 10. I think the system is in very good shape right now.
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. |