Who will be the Reds #1 prospect next season? Who makes the biggest leap?

[OnBaseMachine]

Which Reds prospect do you think will top the Reds lists next season, and in a separate question, which Reds prospect do you think will make the biggest leap in the rankings?

Barring an injury, it's fairly safe to assume Aroldis Chapman will lose his prospect eligibility this season. I also think Devin Mesoraco will earn a promotion to Cincinnati sometime during the summer and lose his prospect eligibility as well. With those two graduating to the major leagues, that opens the door for Yorman Rodriguez, Billy Hamilton, and Yasmani Grandal. All three have a strong possibility of moving up to number one in the rankings but I'm going with Yorman Rodriguez. It's hard not to be impressed with the numbers he put up in Billings as a 17-year old last season. It's doubtful he hits .339 in Dayton but I wouldn't be surprised to see him around .285-.300 with lots of doubles/triples and around 10 HR with plenty of stolen bases too. Maybe those aren't eye-popping numbers but they would be impressive for an 18-year old in the pitcher friendly Midwest League.

As for who I think will make the biggest jump in our prospect rankings, Juan Duran is my pick. He's currently ranked #17 in the Redszone rankings. I think we'll see him jump into the top 10 next season. After struggling early on in Billings, he started to show signs of progress as the season went on. After seeing pics of him this spring and watching him on TV today, he appears to be filling out some which should only benefit him in the power department. It was only two atbats but he looked very good today against the Angels. In his first atbat he worked the count, fouled off some close pitches and then hit the ball very hard to dead CF, unfortunately it's 420 feet to dead CF. Most ballparks that would have been a HR. In his second atbat he again worked the count and drew a walk. I just have a feeling he's going to have a nice season and shoot up the prospect rankings.

I also considered Jonathan Correa here (ranked No. 22 in our rankings).

[Grande Donkey]

Mesoraco will be number 1 next year and Waldrop will make the biggest jump.

[mth123]

A lot of guys besides Chapman could lose eligibility (or be dealt in a deadline "go for it" move). Safe money would bet on Hamilton or Grandal since they are likely to still be eligible. I'm still high on Hamilton, but his numbers could suffer a bit as he jumps from Billings to full season ball and his ranking may pay the price. I'm guessing Grandal becomes the top guy.

As for biggest jump, the national rankings don't love Sappelt very much, and he could lose eligibility as well, but I expect a big jump to the top 5 there. The lower minors trio of Guillon, Corcino and Correa all look like guys who could move up to the top 10. If we're looking for a guy completely off the radar who makes his presence as a roster threat known, I'll go with Mace Thurman.

[cinreds21]

Yea, I'd guess Billy as number one.

[mace]

So many names. Yorman was my first, knee-jerk pick as next year's No. 1. He seems to have no chinks as a prospect, and he strikes me as maybe more of a pure baseball player than Hamilton, though that's mostly a guess. All the guys previously mentioned make sense as players who could make the biggest jump. Duran is definitely a good choice. I thought Waldrop showed some nice presence at the plate today, and rose in my esteem. The argument for Sappelt is a good one; Dusty seems to be sold on him. I think Hotchkiss sort of parallels Sappelt in that another similar year should catapult him. The same clearly goes for Ronald Torreyes. And Neftali Soto seems well-positioned. Mace Thurman is one of my favorites.

Given all of that, I'd venture that it will actually be somebody we haven't mentioned yet and possibly won't.

[757690]

Yu Darvish

[Red Soup]

Mes will be No. 1, Hamilton will be a close No. 2. The largest jump will come from Kyle Lotzkar. A full healthy season will find him in the top five. I'm anxious to see how he does in his first six weeks.

[gedred69]

I leave the names of Mesoraco, Chapman, Alonzo, Sappelt, etc. out, as they are at least already on the brink. If not as a Red, somewhere in a trade. Grandal hasn't had the opportunity to show anything yet. Good God. This system has so much potential how can anyone pick one player? Looking deep into the system, and how much the Reds gave him to sign even as a later round draft, I'll go with Waldrop, as he is considered a complete talent, even though he is just a high schooler.

[nmculbreth]

If I had to bet, I'd go with Mesoraco. The Reds seem pretty content with Ramon Hernandez and Ryan Hannigan splitting the catching duty, so barring an injury I don't think Mesoraco makes his MLB debut until September.

As for the biggest riser, I'll go with Junior Arias.

[dougdirt]

My guess is that its going to be Mesoraco. But, if he graduates I will say that it could be Yorman Rodriguez, who I think will show himself to be quite an overlooked prospect this past season given what he did. The biggest riser.... that is a tough one that I don't want to tackle just yet.

[Drugs Delaney]

I think Grandal will be right there for #1, though it'll depend on which guys get to the majors. If he comes in and hits right away in AA, he'll be highly regarded.

Biggest jump guess is Torreyes. Just a gut feeling, but I like his chances. He seems to make good contact almost every swing.

[medford]

I think Mes will still qualify as a prospect next year, and will be #1 in the eyes of most. I think the Hernanigan combo will be in full effect most of the season, and should an injury occur early in the season, Corky will get the call to fill in. I don't think Mes gets more than a cup of coffee in sepetember w/ an eye towards full time in the show starting next season.

I think the biggest jump on the Redszone list will be Drew Cisco, from #28 up to just outside the top 10. A 15ish place jump. However, I think the biggest jump in importance, if not statistically, will be Guillen jumping from #12 (I believe) into the top 5 and pushing towards a top 100 overall ranking.

I believe overall, a lot of the "lets look towards the future crowd, b/c the current team stinks" crowd (ie pirates fans, KC fans, Reds fans only a few short years ago) will look at the current crop of young reds, see the updated top 100 lists next season and think, "holy bleep! the rich are getting richer" Mes, Grandal, Yonder, Hamilton, Yorman & Guillen all make appareances on various list, not to mention a guy like Leake who's lost his prospect status, but would fit the mold after spending much of this season in AAA.

I think Sappelt will lose his status. At some point an injury or trade will either bring him up to the big league club for a decent period of time, or move him to someone else for a key piece to the pennant drive.

[Scrap Irony]

Biggest jump-- Ronald Torreyes
Great bat control, good patience, and power enough to survive the lower minors on mistake pitches and poor prospects. If he's playing in Dayton and puts up an 800+ OPS at his age, he should jump into the top ten at least. Even if he plays only at Billings but rakes, his numbers should translate to a much higher ranking.

Top prospect--
I suspect Mesoraco comes back to earth a bit, especially in his batting average. (His power might actually improve, depending on how much playing time he gets.) I think aggressively moving Grandal also hurts his prospect value a bit. Hamilton and Rodriguez may struggle in their first taste of the long season and better pitchers. Lotzkar's a possibility, but I suspect the Reds will baby his arm and keep his IP low, therefore affecting his prospect value.

I'll go with Mesoraco, though I think the entire system drops in value a bit, as some of the super young guys struggle in higher leagues and some of the AAA guys lose of bit of luster.

[Benihana]

Top Prospect - Yorman Rodriguez

Biggest Jump - Drew Cisco
Runners Up - Kyle Lotzkar, Brad Boxberger, Ismael Guillon

I think Cisco will have a great start to his professional career due to his polish. While his ceiling isn't as high as guys like Lotzkar and Guillon, I could see him impressing in Dayton, especially for an 18 year old. He should find his way onto most Top 10 lists by the end of the year, especially after some guys graduate.

If not Cisco, one of the trio listed below him should emerge as a Top 5 prospect (and #1 pitching prospect) in the organization. If we're lucky, it will be more than one.

[bucksfan2]

-It seems, and rightfully so, that people don't like to rank prospects high until they advance to a higher level. Rodriguez should appear on the prospect rankings as soon as midseason.

-Duran's height scares me. There just aren't too many successful players at 6'7". That is a huge strike zone to cover.

-If Mes doesn't make the jump to the bigs this year I fully expect him to be #1. However if he stays injury free I suspect he will lose his prospect status in the 2011 season.

-I think its Hamilton. The organization seems enamored with him. I don't see any reason why he doesn't continue to make big gains in the minors.