With last weeks Top 40 prospect list going on there was a lot of news that went unposted, so today I am going to catch up with it all.
Danny Dorn (pictured) had a 3 HR game last week in the Venezuelan League.
John Fay is reporting that the Reds will have a new High A team in Lynchburg next season. Thats in the Carolina League.
ProjectProspect.com had Todd Frazier as the #1 rated second baseman in the minor leagues.
The Reds have released Tyler Stovall, Shea Snowden, Humberto Sosa, Keltavious Jones, Jason Louwsma, Justin Tordi, Petr Cech, Bryan Gardner, Chris Kelly and Sergio Guerrero.
Tomorrow will be a YouScout article, just switching the schedule up some with last week throwing eveerything off balance.
Here is the winter league updated stats for our guys playing in the Venezuelan, Dominican, Mexican or Arizona Fall Leagues. The Puerto Rican Winter League starts in just over a week.
| Player | League | AB | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Yonder Alonso | AFL | 45 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .244 | .275 | .422 | .697 |
| Wes Bankston | LMP | 48 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 0 | .229 | .291 | .354 | .645 |
| Kevin Barker | DWL | 49 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | .367 | .439 | .429 | .867 |
| Luis Bolivar | VWL | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .242 | .390 | .242 | .633 |
| Zack Cozart | AFL | 48 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 0 | .354 | .407 | .583 | .991 |
| Danny Dorn | VWL | 52 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .400 | .500 | .900 |
| Lew Ford | VWL | 63 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 2 | .317 | .386 | .492 | .878 |
| Juan Francisco | DWL | 42 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 0 | 0 | .190 | .292 | .381 | .673 |
| Chris Heisey | AFL | 55 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 1 | .364 | .453 | .691 | 1.144 |
| Darnell McDonald | LMP | 74 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 0 | .378 | .429 | .703 | 1.131 |
| Miguel Rojas | VWL | 29 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | .310 | .344 | .379 | .723 |
| Adam Rosales | LMP | 80 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 1 | .325 | .419 | .475 | .894 |
| Craig Tatum | DWL | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | .179 | .200 | .179 | .379 |
And here are the pitchers stats:
| Player | League | W | L | ERA | IP | H | HR | BB | SO | AVG |
| Brad Boxberger | AFL | 1 | 1 | 7.00 | 9.0 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 10 | .265 |
| Oscar Castro | LMP | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| Enerio Del Rosario | DWL | 2 | 1 | 2.70 | 6.2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .269 |
| Ben Jukich | DWL | 0 | 1 | 4.22 | 10.2 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 8 | .378 |
| Jeff Kennard | DWL | 0 | 1 | 2.08 | 4.1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .250 |
| Mike Leake | AFL | 0 | 1 | 1.04 | 8.2 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 6 | .342 |
| Sam Lecure | DWL | 0 | 2 | 7.71 | 7.0 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 5 | .344 |
| Ruben Medina | VWL | 1 | 0 | 6.30 | 10.0 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 3 | .268 |
| Logan Ondrusek | AFL | 2 | 1 | 10.80 | 6.2 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 7 | .417 |
| Sean Watson | AFL | 0 | 1 | 11.57 | 7.0 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 7 | .410 |
Any surprises in the players that were released? Do Cozart’s numbers in the AFL mean anything in terms of how the reds view him for next year?
I think Cozart is one of the guys who with a good AFL could actually benefit his plan for next year. With Janish being a bad bat at best Cozart could push for a job in April if he finishes strong and has a good spring training.
With as well as Cozart has hit this year and as good as he is said to be in the field i dont see how the Reds can deny him a spot over Janish. Janish is a back up with very good defense. If they leave Cozart down in AAA he will be even longer in picking up the nuances of being in the big(speed of the game, travel, advanced scouting, etc.) If he starts with the big club he will be much more adjusted and helpful to the team then if they bring him up in June and he starts learning then.
I disagree whole-heartedly. Cozart needs to prove at least some success in AAA before being slotted as the big-league SS. You cannot simply discount the AAA experience. Bringing him up prematurely could do more long-term harm than good. It’s not a good thing to destroy a player’s confidence, especially if Cozart slumps out of the gate and starts ‘tinkering’ with his swing at the major-league level. The majors are not a good place for rookies to ‘work on things’ or ‘figure it out’.
Janish is up because the Reds don’t have any other options and he had already played in a season’s worth of games in AAA. Unfortunately, the Reds don’t currently have the payroll flexibility to sign a viable alternative until they can shed a contract or two. I believe that Walt (and player-development staff) have determined that Janish will not likely improve much offensively from his AAA performance, therefore they are content with sacrificing his poor offense for superb defense until a better option (Cozart or FA) is ready/available. I think this is the most sound decision, for now.
He is going to see just as talented if not more talented pitching in AA then he will in AAA. It wouldnt hurt him to skip a level at all imo. If his approach is good, which it seems to be, it then hes fine. And the hitting coach at the MLB should be better then the ones in the minors so he would benifit more from them. I personally feel like Sutton is as good of an option at SS as Janish in a the short run.
I dont see how Janish wasnt a highly regaurded SS prospect because he didnt project as a hitter, yet Escobar(Brewers) is in that same mold yet he is considered a top prospect. Im guessing its just that Escobar has the “potential” to become a good hitter.
Sutton is not close to the option Janish is. Janish is not much of a hitter although his doubles rate was strong, doesn’t mean much when the rest of it is weak. But his glove is special and Cozart has a lot of room to grow and the minors is where you grow, not the majors. Let Janish hold the spot warm. We were awfully good with him in the lineup.
I agree. I’m willing to go with Janish for at least most of next season. We can see how Cozart progresses, plus by July we can better decide which of our surplus pieces to trade. July is the time to decide if we need to trade for a SS. If we trade for a SS, it is likely going to adversely
affect our budget(which isn’t good for the Reds).
If they traded for a SS before they gave Cozart a chance that would be very stupid. Unless he was part of the trade then he would be blocked and be in AAA. But with the trade for Rolen you just never know with the Reds.
“He is going to see just as talented if not more talented pitching in AA then he will in AAA.”
…uhh, I don’t think so. You’ll need to back up that statement, because I don’t agree. Right off the top of my head, I can think of many of this past season’s upper-echelon of pitching prospects that saw time in AAA: Hellickson, Price, Hansen, Tillman, Carrasco, Feliz, Arrieta, Rondon, Stewart,…. Do I need to go on?
Yes, there are a few pitchers that get rushed and succeed, like Porcello, but there are a lot more ‘stinkers’ that a batter faces in AA than they will in AAA.
As for Sutton being better than Janish, I just have to ask: Did you watch both of them during their infield defense this past summer? Night and day. Sutton will have to hit a whole lot better than he did last season to make up the difference between the two.
He will see better fastballs in AA, and better ‘raw stuff’ in AA, but most certainly not better pitchers. This year we saw a lot more ‘stud’ pitchers in AAA than I can ever rermember, at least that stayed there for more than a month or two.
I never said Sutton was as good of a defender, but he is a better hitter and he can field the position.Trust me i really enjoyed watching Janish field, but his bat was aweful and the Reds need as much O as they can get.
And im sure if i wanted to take the time to look it up i could back it up. I didnt say better pitching, i said as talented or more talented, and thats a true statement most years. The fact that that many pitchers reached AAA(not all on your limited list started there meaning they were in what, AA) is pretty impressive this year. But Hansen and Price both spent plenty of time with their big club this year. But off the top of my head Leake, Scheppers, Lincoln, Drabek, Robbie Ross, Christian Freidrich. As for learning in AAA, what will he learn in AAA if hes there for 2 months? If they plan to just call him up in june its stupid if he performs in ST not to have in from day one.
The Reds need a lot of Offense, but Janish has defense that at shortstop is more than enough to make up the difference between the bats of the two players.
Escobar has always been a better hitter at the minor league level, has plus speed and is touted to have an outstanding glove as well. Escobar doesn’t have much power and likely won’t top 10 HR in a season, but he does have the skillset to hit .300 because of his approach and speed. I think Escobar could be a guy who could hit .300/.350/.415 with 40 steals and well above average defense for 10+ years. That is a pretty valuable player.
While I think Cozart could use some time in AAA and that he will get some of it early in the year, I think that given the Reds situation at shortstop they owe it to themsevles to look at Cozart.
Why did Shea Snowden get released? He pitched well in Billings then made it to Dayton at a young age. On top of that he’s a lefty with room to add weight. It’s not like he is a 23 year old putting up mediocre numbers in Billings.
Snowden has below average stuff and well, in the past he has had some off the field issues. Not sure if they arose again, but if they did then that could be a reason for the release.
Makes sense then. He was quite a soft-tosser. We have enough of those to go around.
Yeah, I’m very surprised by Snowden’s realease, and a little surprised by the release of Sosa and Cech. Surprised by Cech, because he’s a catcher. Surprised by Sosa, because the system is a little thin on first baseman. Although Sosa’s a little old for prospect status, he sure knocked the cover off the ball in Billings before moving up to mediocre success in Dayton. Not overly concerned by any of the moves, with the exception of Snowden, however. Of course, Snowden’s personality might have more to do with his release than his performance. You never know.
The more I think of it, the more I feel like having Dorn on the Red’s bench next year would be a good idea. You have a back up for Votto at first and someone who can fill in in the outfield when a tough they face a tough righty and want to give Stubbs a break (moving Dickerson to center). Not to mention the Reds don’t have a left handed power bat on the bench at the moment and he would be very cheap. He’s gotta be better than Nix was.
I’m also loving the way Heisey and Cozart are hitting the cover off the ball right now. Hope it continues once they get to AZ for the spring.
I hope they protect Dorn and at least give him a shot. His power off the bench in GABP could make him a Matt Stairs type pinch hitter.
Of course unlike Matt Stairs, Dorn can actually not kill you defensively and could start from time to time.
out of curiousity what is the source of those transactions? minor transactions are always hard to find, thx.
Some are out of the DDN, some are from a source. Baseball America has a transactions page that will likely have them all soon enough.
Doug, I’m asking something kindof off topic here. Does Free Agency start at the end of the last game of the World Series or after the winter meetings?
I don’t know the exact date, but it starts sometime between the two. I know its before the winter meetings come around.
What are these off-the-field issues concerning Snowden? I don’t think I ever heard about that. Seems strange that we released a 21-year old lefty with room to grow still.
He was suspended 50 games in 2008 for PEDs.
Is the light clicking on for Cisco, what about the 6 walks guys, is that better?
I think he gets it a little more now than he used to, but his 6 walks isn’t overly impressive as half are of the intentional variety.
why isn’t valaika playing winter ball somewhere? i would think that after missing all that time with the injury and having such a poor season he would want to try to catch up.