Who is Redszone's #3 prospect?

[Edd Roush]

I do like Cozart a lot and I feel he has a chance to be a solid contributor for the Reds next year. He has a lot of value. However, I cannot get over his inability to take a walk. This has lead me in past prospect rankings to not select guys like Francisco and it will hamper Soto and Cozart's ranking on my personal list this year.

I know Bakersfield is a hitter's paradise, but Grandal continued his hitting into Carolina and for a very short time in Louisville. He is a tremendous minor league hitter and there have been no conerns about him sticking behind the plate in the majors. I feel he is the more valuable prospect if we remove the Reds' current short stop and catching situation from the equation. In terms of who has more value in a vaccuum, I select Grandal.

[dougdirt]

I do like Cozart a lot and I feel he has a chance to be a solid contributor for the Reds next year. He has a lot of value. However, I cannot get over his inability to take a walk. This has lead me in past prospect rankings to not select guys like Francisco and it will hamper Soto and Cozart's ranking on my personal list this year.

I know Bakersfield is a hitter's paradise, but Grandal continued his hitting into Carolina and for a very short time in Louisville. He is a tremendous minor league hitter and there have been no conerns about him sticking behind the plate in the majors. I feel he is the more valuable prospect if we remove the Reds' current short stop and catching situation from the equation. In terms of who has more value in a vaccuum, I select Grandal.

Grandal did continue his hitting, but his walk rate went down more than 50%, from 16.3% to 7.6%.

As for Cozart, he didn't walk in the majors.... but it was also roughly 9-10 games worth of at bats too. He had a 6.7% walk rate in 960 AAA plate appearances. While that isn't a high walk guy, he kept a good ratio of strikeouts to walks and that is what really matters. And unlike Soto or Francisco, Cozart has had a strong season where he has drawn walks, with an 11.6% walk rate in Carolina in 2009, which is a rate nearly twice as high as either of the other guys have ever had (Soto walked at a 6% clip this season, the highest total for a season by either player).

[mace]

A rookie SS is not likely to walk much when he's hitting ahead of Votto.

[dougdirt]

A rookie SS is not likely to walk much when he's hitting ahead of Votto.

I keep seeing this.... but does anyone look at the whole picture? This season, between Louisville and Cincinnati, Cozart hit .311 and struck out under 15% of the time (with a 6% walk rate). So perhaps the issue isn't that he isn't likely to walk, but that he simply hit plenty of good pitches this year. The guy had a Brandon Phillips like strikeout and walk rate (and I would say comparable power at this point too). He isn't the most ideal guy to bat in front of Votto (like Phillips, his average is likely going to need to carry his OBP), but we should probably also be careful about solely looking at his walks on their own, because that will never tell you the entire story.

[TRF]

Cozart is 26. Soto will be 23 next Feb. I love Cozart as a player. I'm glad he seems to be the lock for the SS job in 2012. If he OPS's .730+ we'll be looking at 2+ additional wins at the league minimum. And that is huge.

But I think Soto has a special bat. Plus he has enough hit ability to keep pitchers honest. He can hit for a decent average with tremendous power.

[camisadelgolf]

Unless we see a drastic change in the voting, we'll probably start the next poll tomorrow unless there are people opposed.

[redsfandan]

Unless we see a drastic change in the voting, we'll probably start the next poll tomorrow unless there are people opposed.

While there might not be a change in the poll this is supposed to last all offseason. No reason to rush through these.

[dougdirt]

Cozart is 26. Soto will be 23 next Feb. I love Cozart as a player. I'm glad he seems to be the lock for the SS job in 2012. If he OPS's .730+ we'll be looking at 2+ additional wins at the league minimum. And that is huge.

But I think Soto has a special bat. Plus he has enough hit ability to keep pitchers honest. He can hit for a decent average with tremendous power.

I agree with where you are coming from. I don't think Cozart is anywhere near #3. I simply am not agreeing with some of the things being said about his game. At the same time, I do think that while Soto can keep pitchers honest, he has some work to do before he is ready to face quality pitching every day.

[camisadelgolf]

While there might not be a change in the poll this is supposed to last all offseason. No reason to rush through these.

I feel like when you account for runoff votes and my posting inconsistencies, there wouldn't be much harm in limiting a couple of the earlier votes to just two days instead of three. I'm in no hurry, but I'd hate for the last vote to occur during the regular season.

[TRF]

I agree with where you are coming from. I don't think Cozart is anywhere near #3. I simply am not agreeing with some of the things being said about his game. At the same time, I do think that while Soto can keep pitchers honest, he has some work to do before he is ready to face quality pitching every day.

I can't disagree with anything you said there..

I think that may be the first time it has happened too.

[kaldaniels]

Grandal. But Boxberger had a say in things as well. (Yeah I know relievers aren't valuable yada yada yada....but I think the kid is REALLY good.)