Trying to understand the Reds strategy

[icehole3]

They didnt follow my lead and draft all college pitching studs with the first five picks maybe thats a good thing. Their logic drafting position players seem to be drafting shortstops and allowing them to play different positions and catchers who then can be moved to corner spots. Is anyone in agreement with that? I am of the belief that shortstops can be pretty much be moved to play any position. I think drafting catchers was good not only because they can usually play 1st base no problem, but they seem to have a better understanding of how to play the game of baseball.

The other thing was the Reds drafting college versus high school kids and it seems they dont lean one way or the other when it comes to drafting. I was reading this article about the Reds draft and some of Reds senior director of scouting Chris Buckley comments kind of struck me.

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

"College kids you know a little bit more about, and many times we've seen them play more at a higher level, like summer league or whatnot," Buckley said. "But many times, it's a high school player [that finds the most success]. I mean, out on the field tonight, you've got [Ken] Griffey, [Josh] Hamilton, [Adam] Dunn, and [Brandon] Phillips [all of whom were drafted out of high school], so I don't think you can go one way or the other. I think you need a blend of both."

So I guess overall Im pleased with the direction we're headed, I'd like to see our AAA team have more talent there year after year although one could argue we got 2 good lefties down there right now.

[Aronchis]

The Reds have 2 good lefties in AAA? Not really.

[RedEye]

Livingston and Dumatrait? Are they really good? They have the distinct look of AAAA players to me, but what do I know...?

[HBP]

IMO Dumatrait has a chance to be a MLB starter. He's very streaky though.

[icehole3]

Originally Posted by Aronchis

The Reds have 2 good lefties in AAA? Not really.

I said good as in good prospects. Not major league good, minor league good. AAA level good. Hows that.

[MikeS21]

Originally Posted by icehole3

The other thing was the Reds drafting college versus high school kids and it seems they dont lean one way or the other when it comes to drafting. I was reading this article about the Reds draft and some of Reds senior director of scouting Chris Buckley comments kind of struck me.

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

"College kids you know a little bit more about, and many times we've seen them play more at a higher level, like summer league or whatnot," Buckley said. "But many times, it's a high school player [that finds the most success]. I mean, out on the field tonight, you've got [Ken] Griffey, [Josh] Hamilton, [Adam] Dunn, and [Brandon] Phillips [all of whom were drafted out of high school], so I don't think you can go one way or the other. I think you need a blend of both."

Buckley may be referring to the findings of BA. Baseball America had an interesting study a couple years back comparing college prospects versus high school prospects. The bottom line was that a slightly higher percentage (less than 10%) of college players made it to the big leagues as compared to high school players. However, the study also discovered that among major league players who attain stardom, most of them were drafted and signed right out of high school.

[TOBTTReds]

OK guys, the mention of 2 prospects was about 2% of his post. Get over it.

As far as the direction goes, I think I would like to see a bigger focus on pitching still. The SS idea is OK I guess, but will they be able to hit in the corner OF positions? I haven't looked too deeply into it, but I don't mind what we are doing as of now.