MLB Pipeline ranks Garcia as the Reds 11th best prospect and had this to say:
http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2017?list=cinA 6-foot-2 middle infielder, Garcia played a lot of second base for the Cuban national team, but the Reds believe he has the goods to stick at shortstop long-term. His plus speed -- the Reds have him with 6.4 and 6.5 times in the 60 -- allows him to cover plenty of ground and while he'll have to break the habit of a lowered arm slot and flips to first, he has shown more than enough arm for the left side of the infield. At the plate, he has a balanced set-up and makes hard contact to all fields. Garcia will battle through at-bats with an advanced approach at the plate and mostly shows gap power right now, but his athletic 6-foot-3 frame looks like it should add strength. With that should come at least some over-the-fence pop.
Also, his birthday is listed as 4/5/1998, so he's a young 19.
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MLB Pipeline ranks Garcia as the Reds 11th best prospect and had this to say:
http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2017?list=cinA 6-foot-2 middle infielder, Garcia played a lot of second base for the Cuban national team, but the Reds believe he has the goods to stick at shortstop long-term. His plus speed -- the Reds have him with 6.4 and 6.5 times in the 60 -- allows him to cover plenty of ground and while he'll have to break the habit of a lowered arm slot and flips to first, he has shown more than enough arm for the left side of the infield. At the plate, he has a balanced set-up and makes hard contact to all fields. Garcia will battle through at-bats with an advanced approach at the plate and mostly shows gap power right now, but his athletic 6-foot-3 frame looks like it should add strength. With that should come at least some over-the-fence pop.
Also, his birthday is listed as 4/5/1998, so he's a young 19.
REDREAD (06-10-2017),SoTxRedsFan (06-12-2017)
The advanced plate approach comment + abundance of tools is exciting.
Any word on where he goes first? DSL?
REDREAD (06-12-2017)
Doug said it's got something to do with the money he's getting or something like that. The Reds did the same thing with AlfRod last year. They had him in the DSL, then he skipped Arizona, Billings, and Dayton altogether. I suspect Garcia skips the short-A teams next year and starts in Dayton with an eye towards him in Daytona by the end of 2018.
Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. -- Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot)
To clarify, Doug said he believes it's money related because that's where more than a few of the more recent top end, older Cuban guys have gone. Alfredo Rodriguez went there, Luis Robert went there/is going there. Guys that, in theory, should be stateside based on their age/skillset/experience. Pure speculation on my part, but some sort of tax saving situation is the only reason I can think of for these guys going there.
WrongVerb (06-12-2017)
I thought it was that playing Arizona Rookie counts as Year 1 of your eligibility and DSL did not.
Bud Selig: "I'm the worst commissioner ever"
Rob Manfred: "Hold my beer"
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marcshoe (06-12-2017),RedlegJake (06-12-2017)
I always thought it was a cultural thing that they want to have a chance to slowly adapt him to American culture without just dropping him into the middle of Dayton? You know, teach him some basic English phrases, that kind of thing?
I base this off of nothing, of course. I'm just guessing. I personally know how difficult life can be when you move to a foreign country without knowing any of the language beforehand. It sucks.
REDREAD (06-12-2017)
I get it, but at the same time, it's not like Arizona is like dropping off a Spanish speaking guy in Alaska. It's not the DR, for sure, but there's going to be other Spanish speaking guys on the team and places in the community that are certainly there that cater to Spanish speaking people.
From a baseball standpoint, there's not much reason that guys like Alfredo Rodriguez or Luis Robert should be playing anywhere near the DSL. But, I believe that I read that Rodriguez had it written into his contract that he heads to the DSL to begin his career. That's from the agent, and that suggests it's a money thing. Someone can correct me on this if I'm wrong, but I swear I remember that being reported by either C.Trent or Zack at the Enquirer.
Isn't the DSL sometimes also done as the Visa process can sometimes slow things down otherwise?
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