Thursday 9/06/2012 Minor League Updates

[Scrap Irony]

Winker is undoubtedly one of the Top 10 prospects in the Reds system at this point. You could make a case for him as high as 5 or 6.

I could see his bat projecting similarly to Todd Frazier, which is a much higher compliment than it was a year ago.

I think you could make a long, long list of guys who could be 5 or 6 in the Red minor league pipeline.

In AAA, Gregorius, Henry Rodriguez, and Neftali Soto all could make that claim. All are young for the level and have tools that profile as plus. While none have had success at that level, all three are still young enough to become regulars at the major league level. They've all also gone through the growing pains of prospect-dom.

In AA, you got Lotzkar, Sharky Rogers, Ryan LaMarre. Both Lotzkar and Rogers have ceilings of MOR starters and should end up at least major league relievers. LaMarre plays a good CF and is a leadoff hitter with good obp and speed. Scouts insist he'll eventually find enough power to play.

In High-A, you could make the case for Ryan Wright, who also plays a premium position and hits with power.

At Dayton, you've got Drew Waldrop, who's already done the Pioneer thing and did very, very well there. He's young, too, and has a year of projection and production on Winker. You've also got Ishmael Guillon, who's young, LH, and projectable, with nice numbers as a pitcher.

In Arizona, you've got Nick Travieso, the number one pick.

If I were to quibble, I'd say Winker deserves the fifth spot based on ceiling, but it's not like he's a sure thing. There's someting to be said for completing levels. Winker's well ahead of schedule, that much is undeniable. So was Yorman Rodriguez two years ago.

Right now, ballpark guess, as to my Top Ten:
1. Hamilton
2. Stephenson
3. Cingrani
4. Corcino
5. Winker
6. Travieso
7. Guillon
8. K. Waldrop
9. Gregorius
10. H. Rodriguez
11. Lotzkar
12. Soto
13. Y. Rodriguez
14. LaMarre
15. Barnhart
16. Vidal
17. B. Smith
18. T. Rahier
19. Vincej
20. S. Selsky

Honorable mention include:
-- D. Cisco
-- J. Perez
-- D. Lutz
-- S. Mejias-Bream
-- J. Gelalich
-- G. Rosa
-- R. Wright
-- B. Greene
-- J. Silva
-- S. Buckley
-- J. Moscot
-- A. Chacin
-- S. Romano
-- J. Allen
-- T. Bowe

[Edd Roush]

I think you could make a long, long list of guys who could be 5 or 6 in the Red minor league pipeline.

In AAA, Gregorius, Henry Rodriguez, and Neftali Soto all could make that claim. All are young for the level and have tools that profile as plus. While none have had success at that level, all three are still young enough to become regulars at the major league level. They've all also gone through the growing pains of prospect-dom.

In AA, you got Lotzkar, Sharky Rogers, Ryan LaMarre. Both Lotzkar and Rogers have ceilings of MOR starters and should end up at least major league relievers. LaMarre plays a good CF and is a leadoff hitter with good obp and speed. Scouts insist he'll eventually find enough power to play.

In High-A, you could make the case for Ryan Wright, who also plays a premium position and hits with power.

At Dayton, you've got Drew Waldrop, who's already done the Pioneer thing and did very, very well there. He's young, too, and has a year of projection and production on Winker. You've also got Ishmael Guillon, who's young, LH, and projectable, with nice numbers as a pitcher.

In Arizona, you've got Nick Travieso, the number one pick.

If I were to quibble, I'd say Winker deserves the fifth spot based on ceiling, but it's not like he's a sure thing. There's someting to be said for completing levels. Winker's well ahead of schedule, that much is undeniable. So was Yorman Rodriguez two years ago.

Right now, ballpark guess, as to my Top Ten:
1. Hamilton
2. Stephenson
3. Cingrani
4. Corcino
5. Winker
6. Travieso
7. Guillon
8. K. Waldrop
9. Gregorius
10. H. Rodriguez
11. Lotzkar
12. Soto
13. Y. Rodriguez
14. LaMarre
15. Barnhart
16. Vidal
17. B. Smith
18. T. Rahier
19. Vincej
20. S. Selsky

Honorable mention include:
-- D. Cisco
-- J. Perez
-- D. Lutz
-- S. Mejias-Bream
-- J. Gelalich
-- G. Rosa
-- R. Wright
-- B. Greene
-- J. Silva
-- S. Buckley
-- J. Moscot
-- A. Chacin
-- S. Romano
-- J. Allen
-- T. Bowe

Great post, Scrap. Without doing too much research, I think my rankings will largely replicate what you have here. Winker does have very exciting upside and results to this point. However, you do bring up a good cautionary tale of Yorman Rodriguez who had both of those things two years ago and whose status has really stalled out over the past couple years.

[dougdirt]

Great post, Scrap. Without doing too much research, I think my rankings will largely replicate what you have here. Winker does have very exciting upside and results to this point. However, you do bring up a good cautionary tale of Yorman Rodriguez who had both of those things two years ago and whose status has really stalled out over the past couple years.

Yorman Rodriguez had a similar slash line, but his peripherals weren't in the same state as Winker.

[kaldaniels]

I ask this twice a year it seems...time to write off (for all intended purposes) Juan Duran?

[camisadelgolf]

I ask this twice a year it seems...time to write off (for all intended purposes) Juan Duran?

You never write off a 21-year-old with his kind of potential. Had he repeated Dayton, there's a good chance he would've put up some monster numbers, which would've made everyone very excited. But you're right--time is going against him. If I were to make a bet, I'd certainly bet against him, but I'm not going to rule things working out for him completely.