Reds sign Venezuelan OFer!

[princeton]

REDS SIGN PRIZED VENEZUELAN OUTFIELDER

The Reds have announced the signing of premier Venezuelan CF Yorman Rodriguez. The high profile, 5-tool player turned 16 years old today.

"Yorman is one of the premier position players in Latin America," said Reds Senior Director of Scouting Chris Buckley. "In Rodriguez and Juan Duran, we've signed 2 of the top players available in that market and consider both to be first-round draft picks. This organization has made great progress in international scouting."

[Mario-Rijo]

That's great news. Good job Bob/Walt and company.

[Topcat]

REDS SIGN PRIZED VENEZUELAN OUTFIELDER

The Reds have announced the signing of premier Venezuelan CF Yorman Rodriguez. The high profile, 5-tool player turned 16 years old today.

"Yorman is one of the premier position players in Latin America," said Reds Senior Director of Scouting Chris Buckley. "In Rodriguez and Juan Duran, we've signed 2 of the top players available in that market and consider both to be first-round draft picks. This organization has made great progress in international scouting."

Oh Man the plan is looking sweet! If long term future on Red's future was in doubt? This last few days has all but sealed a future with a ton of promise.

[MartyFan]

I love this...I think we can also thank Krivsky for his hand in this one too.

[OnBaseMachine]

Awesome, awesome news. I was fairly confident all along that the Reds were going to sign him and then a few hours ago I began to get nervous due to the lack of news. It turned out no news was good news. This signing thrills me. Yorman supposedly has the tools to be a great center fielder and has been compared to the likes of Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Beltran. His power and speed have been rated as 70's on the 20-80 scouting scale. This just further proves the Reds are becoming major players in the International scene. Juan Duran and Yorman Rodriguez were the big signings but Junior Arias was also a fairly big signing. This is awesome. The Reds have added a lot of talent to the organization lately.

[OnBaseMachine]

Reds ink highly touted Venezuelan
Rodriguez, 16, considered five-tool center fielder
By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com

CINCINNATI -- While the Reds finalized their deal with first-round Draft pick Yonder Alonso, they also made another move on Friday night that was significant for their developmental system.

Center fielder Yorman Rodriguez, a 16-year-old from Venezuela, was signed to a contract. Considered a five-tool player, his birthday was on Friday. The youngest a foreign player can sign a contract is 16.

"He might be the top position prospect in all of Latin America," Reds scouting director Chris Buckley said.

Terms of the deal were not revealed.

Rodriguez is the second highly touted young Latin player to enter the Reds system this year. On Feb. 27, Dominican outfielder Juan Duran was signed.

"We've signed two of the top players available in that market and consider both to be first-round Draft picks," Buckley said. "This organization has made great progress in international scouting."

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/...=.jsp&c_id=cin

[Homer Bailey]

I told you guys a few weeks ago that we were getting him, and it is just now hitting me that we are really building this much talent. Please let it equal major league talent.

[MrCinatit]

I told you guys a few weeks ago that we were getting him, and it is just now hitting me that we are really building this much talent. Please let it equal major league talent.

Kudos to you, I remember your statement.
A lot of sudden hope coming out of this organization with the signings and the invigorating play of some of our youngsters on the big league roster.
So...when can Rodriguez put on a major league uniform and chase that one guy out of the center field spot?

[SirFelixCat]

What a great day for the Reds organization and the fan base. A marked change of direction from regimes past...yay for all around. A good day to celebrate!

[jesusfan]

What a team this could be In 2011 or 2012! We would only need to resign phillips and let these young guys play their way up... Even resigning Phillips is not a definite, Valaika could definitely play 2nd on that team...I know there are alot of ???? but also a lot of potential...

C- Devin Mesoraco
1st- Yonder Alonso
2nd- Brandon Phillips/Chris Valaika
SS- Junior Arias
3rd- Todd Frazier (Votto could move there, if not flip him for a catcher or pitching)
LF- Juan Duran
CF- Y'mon Rodriguez
RF- Jay Bruce

[jojo]

The beauty of 16 yo's.....you can dream them to be anything you want.

It's a good thing that the Reds are building a program in Latin America, but I'm not willing to portend that the signing of the best high school sophomore centerfielder in "the state of Texas (roughly the pop of Venezuela)" cements the Reds status as future contenders.

[lollipopcurve]

but I'm not willing to portend that the signing of the best high school sophomore centerfielder in "the state of Texas (roughly the pop of Venezuela)" cements the Reds status as future contenders.

No, let's not let the revelry get out of hand. That would be reserved for signings by the Mariners, even farther from contention than the Reds.

[johngalt]

What a team this could be In 2011 or 2012! We would only need to resign phillips and let these young guys play their way up... Even resigning Phillips is not a definite, Valaika could definitely play 2nd on that team...I know there are alot of ???? but also a lot of potential...

C- ?
1st- Yonder Alonso
2nd- Brandon Phillips/Chris Valaika
SS- Junior Arias
3rd- Todd Frazier (Votto could move there, if not flip him for a catcher or pitching)
LF- Juan Duran
CF- Y'mon Rodriguez
RF- Jay Bruce

That would be an awesome, awesome lineup oozing with talent and potential. Something we haven't seen in a while.

Only thing is, you're still talking Duran and Rodriguez being 16 year olds right now. It'll still be awfully tough to have them ready for the big leagues by 19 or so, especially since Duran has struggled this year in the DSL and Rodriguez hasn't even played yet.

[jojo]

No, let's not let the revelry get out of hand. That would be reserved for signings by the Mariners, even farther from contention than the Reds.

Actually no it wouldn't and by the way, if a competent FO gets installed, the Ms have the resources to become competitive very quickly.

[lollipopcurve]

if a competent FO gets installed, the Ms have the resources to become competitive very quickly.

best of luck to you