Where does the Reds farm system rank?

[fearofpopvol1]

Among all clubs? I know it's a little hard to actually rank them, but is there a good place to look for so-called "expert" opinions? Or does those of you that follow the minors closely have an unbiased opinion? Just curious.

[dougdirt]

I would put them probably 8-10.

[New Fever]

Doug (Everybody) who would rank ahead of the Reds?

[dougdirt]

Honestly, thats just my opinion of where BA would rank them. The Reds had a very solid draft this year from all accounts and when you mix it in with the top end talent and the 'depth' that some people give the Reds no credit for, they are easily a Top 10 system in my mind. I mean lets be honest here, the Reds have a 20 year old leading the MWL in HR and I would be very pressed to rank him inside the top 8 prospects in the system.

[nate]

How would you compare this year's farm system with the previous five years?

[dougdirt]

incredibly better. More top end talent. More depth.

[GoReds33]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

incredibly better. More top end talent. More depth.

This farm system has a couple guys that are doing good at the lower levels too. This system is stacked. I say they would rank 4 to 6.

[paulrichjr]

It seems to me that with have a had a fairly large number of disappointments this year including Bailey and Watson (I think). Is this not the case?

Also, who are the surprises this year? The ones that no one considered prospects until this season?

[GoReds33]

Originally Posted by paulrichjr

It seems to me that with have a had a fairly large number of disappointments this year including Bailey and Watson (I think). Is this not the case?

Also, who are the surprises this year? The ones that no one considered prospects until this season?

I don't know if you would call Cueto a suprise but he had a breakout year. I guess Brandon Waring would be my suprise of the year. He wasn't here last year though. I can't recall the names, but there have been a few terrific relievers too.

[dougdirt]

While I would say that Bailey has been a disappointment, I contribute some of that to injury. In half of his MLB games his ERA was under 2.20. Of course in the other half I don't even want to calculate the number, but it was ugly. That said, the kid is still a top 20 prospect in baseball, and Johnny Cueto and Joey Votto are both also inside the top 40 prospects in baseball.

The big surprises this year have been Danny Dorn, Adam Rosales, Pedro Viola, Josh Roenicke, Rick Asadoorian and Juan Francisco. Watson pitched very well until his innings began to add up. Lets remember that he was a relief pitcher for his college career, so stretching him out was going to take a toll. That said, his prospect status is fairly unchanged in my mind, and has actually gone up from where I ranked him at the end of last year, despite his tailing off.

Just for an example, here is where I ranked these guys at my year end Top 40 last season:
Danny Dorn - 33
Adam Rosales - 34
Pedro Viola - Not ranked and pitched in the Dominican
Josh Roenicke - unranked reliever
Rick Asadoorian - unranked outfield, now solid relief pitcher
Juan Francisco - 36

Now even still only Francisco has an arguement to for the top 10 by the way I rank players, but the rest of those guys all have legit shots at being in the majors soon and all but Francisco are having very good success at the AA level.

[New Fever]

Juan Francisco would probably be the biggest surprise this year. Also a guy like Daryl Thompson who is 14-5 with a 3.18 ERA and a few of the 2007 Draft Picks. Pretty good year for the Reds' farm system. It's been fun watching the guys progress this year, now hopefully the big club will learn from the farm hands and have some success next year.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by New Fever

Juan Francisco would probably be the biggest surprise this year. Also a guy like Daryl Thompson who is 14-5 with a 3.18 ERA and a few of the 2007 Draft Picks. Pretty good year for the Reds' farm system. It's been fun watching the guys progress this year, now hopefully the big club will learn from the farm hands and have some success next year.

I kept from naming any of the 2007 draftees as a surprise types, becuase they are just new guys. I forgot about Thompson though with mine. Good call on him.

[GoReds33]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

I kept from naming any of the 2007 draftees as a surprise types, becuase they are just new guys. I forgot about Thompson though with mine. Good call on him.

I didn't think about him either. He's having a beastly season.

[SteelSD]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

While I would say that Bailey has been a disappointment, I contribute some of that to injury. In half of his MLB games his ERA was under 2.20. Of course in the other half I don't even want to calculate the number, but it was ugly. That said, the kid is still a top 20 prospect in baseball, and Johnny Cueto and Joey Votto are both also inside the top 40 prospects in baseball.

The big surprises this year have been Danny Dorn, Adam Rosales, Pedro Viola, Josh Roenicke, Rick Asadoorian and Juan Francisco. Watson pitched very well until his innings began to add up. Lets remember that he was a relief pitcher for his college career, so stretching him out was going to take a toll. That said, his prospect status is fairly unchanged in my mind, and has actually gone up from where I ranked him at the end of last year, despite his tailing off.

Just for an example, here is where I ranked these guys at my year end Top 40 last season:
Danny Dorn - 33
Adam Rosales - 34
Pedro Viola - Not ranked and pitched in the Dominican
Josh Roenicke - unranked reliever
Rick Asadoorian - unranked outfield, now solid relief pitcher
Juan Francisco - 36

Now even still only Francisco has an arguement to for the top 10 by the way I rank players, but the rest of those guys all have legit shots at being in the majors soon and all but Francisco are having very good success at the AA level.

Rick Asadoorian at age 27 in AA has a "legit shot" at producing in the Show soon? Juan Francisco and his .297 OBP/.751 OPS at Dayton has "an argument" for the top 10? If Francisco carries that kind of clout, then the Reds farm system is even worse than I think it is. Guys like that are "C-level" or worse prospects. Ditto Stubbs and a bunch of what would make up a Reds top 10 list at this point.

Right now, the Reds have Bruce, Votto, Bailey (if they haven't destroyed him), Cueto, Waring, Valaika, and Frazier who are potential "A" to "B" prospects. The Reds are incredibly thin at the upper levels and have little in the way of quality depth at any position. Overall starting pitching depth and quality is non-existent. It's nice to see guys like Viola, Roenicke, and Guevara produce in AA, but they're not exactly fast comers at ages 24, 25, and 25 respectively.

This is not a strong farm system. Every team has a draft every year and I don't see much of anything of distinction beyond that.

[kaldaniels]

Originally Posted by SteelSD

Rick Asadoorian at age 27 in AA has a "legit shot" at producing in the Show soon? Juan Francisco and his .297 OBP/.751 OPS at Dayton has "an argument" for the top 10? If Francisco carries that kind of clout, then the Reds farm system is even worse than I think it is. Guys like that are "C-level" or worse prospects. Ditto Stubbs and a bunch of what would make up a Reds top 10 list at this point.

Right now, the Reds have Bruce, Votto, Bailey (if they haven't destroyed him), Cueto, Waring, Valaika, and Frazier who are potential "A" to "B" prospects. The Reds are incredibly thin at the upper levels and have little in the way of quality depth at any position. Overall starting pitching depth and quality is non-existent. It's nice to see guys like Viola, Roenicke, and Guevara produce in AA, but they're not exactly fast comers at ages 24, 25, and 25 respectively.

This is not a strong farm system. Every team has a draft every year and I don't see much of anything of distinction beyond that.

What, and this question is for anyone, could the Reds have done up to this point to "destroy" Bailey...please elaborate. While I'm not happy with the results of this year...I would find it hard to spout out that the Reds may have "destroyed" him.