BA's International League top 20 prospects

[mth123]

Only 1 Red, Didi Gregorious at number 7. He was the top SS on the list rated ahead of more touted guys Tim Beckham and Jose Iglesias.

IMO a SS who can field the position, run and contribute with a LH bat should get lots of opportunity to be a major leaguer. Didi may be the team's top trade bait in the off-season. I'd be fine with a good deal, but wouldn't mind the Reds keeping him. I think a tandem of Cozart and Didi would be more productive on both offense and defense than either player would be playing full time.

[osuceltic]

Originally Posted by mth123

Only 1 Red, Didi Gregorious at number 7. He was the top SS on the list rated ahead of more touted guys Tim Beckham and Jose Iglesias.

IMO a SS who can field the position, run and contribute with a LH bat should get lots of opportunity to be a major leaguer. Didi may be the team's top trade bait in the off-season. I'd be fine with a good deal, but wouldn't mind the Reds keeping him. I think a tandem of Cozart and Didi would be more productive on both offense and defense than either player would be playing full time.

Keep the better player -- and that may be Gregorious. I'm pretty sure he's the better shortstop, and he won't have to hit all that much to be as good as Cozart offensively.

Regardless, I doubt anything happens this offseason -- I expect the Reds to see how this shakes out before doing anything drastic. The position is too important to make a mistake when you have two guys like this.

[mdccclxix]

Didi vs RHP the last two years: .296/.344/.427/.771

You're right mth, that sort of platoon could really give the offense a boost.

[Rock of Truth]

Call it a gut feeling, but I don't like the idea of a platoon situation for a Middle infielder. Outfield, ok. Infielder on the corners or catchers, still ok. I think you gotta go with stability at 2nd and Short. BP is gonna be there at 2nd and he needs a familiar face at short for the double play.

[mdccclxix]

Fair enough. Still, I'm thinking 70/30 split would help keep Cozart fresh.

[osuceltic]

Originally Posted by Rock of Truth

Call it a gut feeling, but I don't like the idea of a platoon situation for a Middle infielder. Outfield, ok. Infielder on the corners or catchers, still ok. I think you gotta go with stability at 2nd and Short. BP is gonna be there at 2nd and he needs a familiar face at short for the double play.

Completely agree. Bad, bad idea to platoon at that position. Ultimately, they're just going to have to settle on one or the other -- or go get someone if they don't feel either guy is the answer.

I'm not as high on Cozart as most. I like what I've seen from Gregorious, but it hasn't been all that much.

[lollipopcurve]

I like both Cozart and Gregorius. Unless they can cash one for a true difference maker this offseason, I prefer they keep both to get a better read on which player they want long term. I have a feeling they made the wrong call with Mes/Grandal -- just a guess -- but excusable because of the return.

[Rock of Truth]

Not sure if it makes a difference, but Didi is 5 years younger than Cozart.

[mdccclxix]

It's a good problem to have. Both their defenses are really easy to watch. It was my impression that Cozart dragged a little bit during the year, so breaking up the week with a day off could help his numbers, if not protect him from some bad matchups.

[mth123]

Originally Posted by Rock of Truth

Call it a gut feeling, but I don't like the idea of a platoon situation for a Middle infielder. Outfield, ok. Infielder on the corners or catchers, still ok. I think you gotta go with stability at 2nd and Short. BP is gonna be there at 2nd and he needs a familiar face at short for the double play.

I hear you, but these guys are both plus defenders and Phillips hasn't had a problem with tandems over the years, not sure why it would be a problem all of a sudden now.

IMO, Didi and Cozart could combine to OPS in the .750 range as a tandem. Individually, I think either guy would struggle to break .700 over a full season. I'm not convinced either guy would bring back anything that would improve the team as much as the team would be improved by the more favorable match-ups they would have as a tandem at SS. It would also eliminate the need to carry a Valdez or a Janish as a MI back-up which would drastically improve the bench.

[M2]

Gregorius may not be the best prospect in the Reds system, but I think he's become the most interesting. He's giving the Reds options to consider at SS and his emergence very well may have been a factor in moving Hamilton to CF.

[Benihana]

Originally Posted by M2

Gregorius may not be the best prospect in the Reds system, but I think he's become the most interesting. He's giving the Reds options to consider at SS and his emergence very well may have been a factor in moving Hamilton to CF.

I don't know, to me he just kind of reeks of Gookieness. Or Olmedoma. Or Pokey Fever.


Personally, I put Hamilton, Stephenson, and Cingrani far ahead of him in the interesting rankings. Corcino is also a better prospect (but maybe not as interesting).

[camisadelgolf]

Or Danny Richar with better defense and less power.

[lollipopcurve]

Didi is a true plus-defense SS with a pretty good offensive ceiling. Combine that with his being a LH bat, and you have a very interesting prospect. As I've said before, I think 2013 will be the year for the Reds to evaluate him vs Cozart as the long-term solution. Great spot for the organization to be in.

[DGullett35]

Originally Posted by Benihana

I don't know, to me he just kind of reeks of Gookieness. Or Olmedoma. Or Pokey Fever.


Personally, I put Hamilton, Stephenson, and Cingrani far ahead of him in the interesting rankings. Corcino is also a better prospect (but maybe not as interesting).

I was thinking Pokey also. I hope were wrong though. LH hitting shortstops dont come along all that much. Id hang onto him for another year and see what happens.