A lot of Good Reds News On BA Chat Today

[New Fever]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/261884.html

[New Fever]

Q: Deywane from Memphis asks:
Joey Votto is having quite a year in AA: 18hr's, 55rbi's, OPS'ing .980, and he is only 22. Do you think he has a chance to be on the Top 50 or 100 prospect list?

A: Chris Kline: Hey everyone . . . and sorry for the delay. Former BA intern Josh Cooper is in the house.

Chris Kline: Dewayne, I see Votto as a top 100 guy, certainly. He's crushing, and I'm really looking forward to seeing a show in BP at the Futures Game on Sunday.

Q: Charles Berg from Houston, Texas asks:
Early Top 5 to watch for the minor league player of the year award?

A: Chris Kline: Berg-Piece, Wow. Good question, even though it's not early. We start tracking players for our minor league POY watch as camp breaks. Right now I'll go with Jay Bruce, Alex Gordon, Chuck Lofgren, Yovani Gallardo and Homer Bailey.

Q: Charles Berg from Houston, Texas asks:
Is Jay Bruce as good as the numbers indicate?

A: Chris Kline: I'll give you guys a little preview of a scout's view on Bruce that I actually got this morning . . . "Bruce is the best hitter in the league--period. He's a right fielder who's going to hit for a high average with plus power production. He's an above-average outfielder with plus instincts. I known people are going to mention Larry Walker as a guy he could be like. Jay Bruce is going to be a special player." I think that says an awful lot.

[Superdude]

"Bruce is the best hitter in the league--period.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Justin Upton and Cameron Maybin in the same league? :eek:

[nmculbreth]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Justin Upton and Cameron Maybin in the same league? :eek:

You are correct.

[redsfan30]

Encouraging, that's for sure.

[dougdirt]

Who said the Reds system cant produce talent? Votto, Bruce, Bailey....they all arent doing to shabby.

[Steve4192]

Who said the Reds system cant produce talent? Votto, Bruce, Bailey....they all arent doing to shabby.

To be fair, I don't think anyone has ever questioned the Reds ability to produce position players and relief pitchers. Their problem has always been producing starting pitchers. I can only think of one pitcher (Brett Tomko) who came up through the Reds system in the last twenty years and put together a decent career as a starter.

[OnBaseMachine]

More Reds questions today:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/chat/chat.php?id=2006070701&rnd=42

[RedsFanatic]

I asked the question about Maybin and Bruce and was very surprised that he responded with Maybin. Maybin's power number are almost non existent as of right now, although I think he has more potential that Bruce.

[dougdirt]

Maybin is a pure CFer though, and power at that position isnt something that comes around often. If he can hit 25 HR and play great defense, he will be one of the best CFers in baseball. I like Jay a little bit more though.

[TOBTTReds]

I asked the question about Maybin and Bruce and was very surprised that he responded with Maybin. Maybin's power number are almost non existent as of right now, although I think he has more potential that Bruce.

This is what I've heard too. I think JB has him right now.

CM: .314/.413/.468 - 1 out of 3 hits is for extra bases
JB: .314/.380/.565 - 1 out of 2 hits is for extra. His power numbers are screaming with potential. 32 doubles, 5 triples, 12 HR's in 82 games.

[Superdude]

A: Will Lingo: It has been a feel-good year for the Reds to be sure, especially when you consider how negative the vibe from that organization was even during the early part of the offseason. Still, though, we rated their farm system as one of the very worst over the winter, so they'll need a lot more help to even move into the middle of the pack. But yes, I do think they're at least moving in the right direction now.

What exactly do we have to do? We now have 2 of the better position prospects in the minors in Votto and Bruce and one of the best pitching prospects in the game. Surely we're still not one of the worst?

[TOBTTReds]

I think we still are pretty bad. Here is the way I look at it:

We have three players that could easily be in the top 50. But other than that, we are pretty empty. Our next best hope is TWood and Cueto, and they are both very low in the system.

Other teams have more than 5 good prospects. I do LOVE our top 3, but other than them, what do we have? Imagine our system next year if Bailey and Votto are on the Reds, it will be VERY thin.

[dougdirt]

I think out system is decent. somewhere in the 15-20 range. Bailey, Votto and Bruce are top loading it. Travis Wood though is probably a top 125 prospect if not at the tail end of the top 100. Zach Ward and Johnny Cueto are both pretty exciting pitchers, although I think Zach Ward is getting the short end of everyone else getting promoted. The problem is, there arent many hitters in the system, and truly I think the Reds have more promising pitchers in the minors than they do promising hitters...if you can believe that.

[lollipopcurve]

The Reds have got 2 of the best LH bats in the minors. Votto is clearly the best hitter in the Southern League and Bruce has been called the best in the Midwest League. Bailey is one of the 10 best pitching prospects in the minors, and BA itself seems to think he may be near the very top. The Louisville team, with Denorfia as a very viable prospect, is good and not particularly old for AAA. Chattanooga is good and has some bullpen arms. High A Sarasota looks like a wasteland except for Cueto. Dayton has Ward and Wood, both bona fide prospects. Keep in mind that BA had the Cubs in the middle of the pack based on Felix Pie, the great Mark Pawelek plus some "depth." In my opinion, the Reds system has as much high-end talent as MOST teams in the majors right now, and BA saying they'll struggle to be in the middle of the pack is just CYA silliness.

[New Fever]

The problem with calling the Reds system bad is you have to compare it to something. Most of the time these guys don't follow an exact farm system like we do. So they might not know who Johnny Cueto is until he hits Double A and produces well. They also tend to write off Reds pitching prospects because of the past which is fair to say the least. I personally don't see how our farm system isn't around the 10 to 15. We have two guys who might be in the top 10 in the entire minors. That has to account for something. When you look and see the A's system or the Padres and others there is no way they have the talent the Reds have right now. I think top end talent when it is that high has to figure in big time. Also I asked BA where Drew Stubbs would be ranked in they said with his potential and defense alone he would rank anywhere from 45-65. That is four high end prospects. Travis Wood may also figure into the top 100. We will see when the rankings come out. I believe they will have the mid-season rankings either this week coming up or the next week.