Redzone Minor League Prospect Ranking #20

[lollipopcurve]

Guillon's problem is simply that he is going to run out of time to develop thanks to re-writing his original contract. He has 2 more years and then he is out of options. He's in low A and struggled mightily with his control especially early. Hopefully he makes significant strides this year or the Reds may simply be developing him for someone else to reap the benefits.

Good progress in the second half of 2013. If that continues, two years is enough time for him to be at least close. He's got the repertoire to succeed as a lefthander in the bigs (read: excellent changeup and a workable curve). You're right that the development time may be short for him to establish consistency with his control -- but he's got the arsenal. Like his stuff a lot better right now than Travieso or Garrett -- right now those guys don't have the secondary stuff to project well, IMO. And he's an outstanding athlete. You have to like the fact he rebounded from a horrid first half and ended up leading the Midwest League in Ks.

[RedlegJake]

I think in Guillon's case he may end up spending a couple years in the bullpen finishing his refinement. Eventually I hope he progresses enough to end up in the rotation. Best case, of course, would be simply standing everything on its head and excelling from here out.

[WrongVerb]

I think in Guillon's case he may end up spending a couple years in the bullpen finishing his refinement. Eventually I hope he progresses enough to end up in the rotation. Best case, of course, would be simply standing everything on its head and excelling from here out.

Interesting info on Gonzalez. Thanks.

And Guillen is my pick until he's off the board.

[mace]

Gonzalez is a strikingingly thin lefty (think Guidry like) with a startling grounder/pop up to flyball rate. 71 grounders/pop ups to 39 flies and just 6 line drives. 3 walks in 48 innings with 47 strikeouts. Just 1 home run and 4 doubles allowed. 30 total hits. WHIP 0.769. That is 42 total bases in 48 innings counting walks, HBP and extra base hits. Less than 1 TB per inning!! TBIP less than 1 is really remarkable. A bit old for a DSL prospect at 21 in 2014. I don't know this kid's story, why he isn't already in the states (Visa problems?) but he flat out dominated the DSL. Of course, taking too much from 48 innings in the DSL is not a great idea but I'd love to see this guy in Billings or Dayton this year.

What I additionally like about Gonzalez is that last year wasn't the first in which he dominated. I recall being enthused about him as a 17-year-old (Gonzalez, that is, not me) in 2010, when he posted a WHIP under 1.00 in the Venezuelan League. He stayed in Venezuela the next year and wasn't quite as good, then for some reason missed all of 2012. Between the decline and the disappearance, I have to assume there was an injury involved. Then he bounced back spectacularly in 2013. So, yes, I sure hope we see him stateside this year.

[RedlegJake]

What I additionally like about Gonzalez is that last year wasn't the first in which he dominated. I recall being enthused about him as a 17-year-old (Gonzalez, that is, not me) in 2010, when he posted a WHIP under 1.00 in the Venezuelan League. He stayed in Venezuela the next year and wasn't quite as good, then for some reason missed all of 2012. Between the decline and the disappearance, I have to assume there was an injury involved. Then he bounced back spectacularly in 2013. So, yes, I sure hope we see him stateside this year.

Ah, so maybe there was an injury and the Reds wanted to see if he was recovered and left him in the DSL. Could explain why he wasn't stateside yet.