A few interesting parts of the chat:



Frank (Chicago): Is Amir Garrett simply a lottery ticket, in your opinion? What are his best attributes? Future SP or RP?
J.J. Cooper: Sure he's a lottery ticket, but it's a lottery ticket for a $200 million Powerball, not some $3 scratcher. It's too soon to really say whether he ends up as a starter or a reliever, but it's a very high ceiling arm. For the Reds, this gamble comes down to whether Garrett has a long-term career in basketball or not. If Garrett, who is averaging 7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game for St. John's as a sophomore eventually finds he's not going to be an NBA star, then the Reds get an outstanding arm with great athleticism. For now, Garrett is getting just enough innings to make some modest strides. But with no spring training or instructs because of school, he won't make any major steps forward as long as he's a two-sport guy.

David (Clifton): Any catching prospects in the system other than Barnhart?
J.J. Cooper: No one that right now projects to be a big leaguer. Brandon Dailey is a name to watch if you're looking for a sleeper.

DB (Clifton, VA): Sleepers in last years draft the 1st 10 rounds. Jackson Stephen? Jose Ortiz?
J.J. Cooper: I take it you mean after the top 10 rounds because both those guys are post 10th rounders. To hedge my bets on whether you mean top 10 or post 10, I'll pick 10th rounder Jeremy Kivel. He has excellent stuff, but like Amir Garrett, he's a lottery ticket as he's already had surgery on both knees


Terry M (Hillsboro Ohio): What happened to Jonathan Perez last year ?
J.J. Cooper: Banged up and the Reds were very cautious with him from what I heard. He's likely to be in the AZL next year.

Dave (VA): With a prospect (Reynoso) ranked 8th that will be a 20 year old at Billings and is many years away does that mean that you don't think much over their other OF prospects (LaMarre, Rodriquez, Waldrop, Gelalich)?
J.J. Cooper: No guarantee he doesn't make it to Dayton in 2013, as the writeup points out. Compared to the other guys, Reynoso has more of a chance to be a big league regular. As I've said previously in this chat, the rankings from No. 5 to No. 20 or so on this list don't have a lot of separation. When I started working on my Reds Top 30 this year, I had Reynoso No. 30, which seemed a reasonable spot for a young guy who had a very solid season in the AZL. But as I made my calls, I kept talking to sources inside and out of the organization who were clearly higher on him than that. So I started bumping him up the list. By the time I got around to writing the list, it was clear that scouts from other teams see much more of a chance for Reynoso to be a big league regular than any of the other guys you just listed. Heck, I had scouts who told me they like him better than Jesse Winker. But yes, the rest of the guys all either have significant questions about their hitting ability/makeup (Rodriguez) or project to likely be role players at the big league level. Maybe that sells Waldrop or Gelalich short, but that's the general consensus. Reynoso if it all comes together could be an impact big league regular, which in for the rankings here put him ahead of the other guys even if he has higher risk.