Well, Baseball America threw me for a loop yesterday when they switched the days that they were going to release the league Top 20′s for the Carolina and California Leagues. So, later this afternoon I will be back to post about any of the Reds players who make the California League Top 20 prospects. If Yasmani Grandal is eligible, I am sure he will be there. If he doesn’t qualify, I could see the Reds being shut out.
Edit:
Yasmani Grandal was the only player to make the list from the Blaze, coming in at #10. No big surprise at all. He was easily the best prospect on the team.
The Hardball Times released their final part of the Top 100 Fantasy Rankings. Both Yonder Alonso and Yorman Rodriguez make the cut.
84: Yonder Alonso/OF/Cincinnati Reds/4-8-87/ETA: Arrived
Forecast Notes: Modest power and average but no exceptional quality.
Current Level: Majors
Scouting Notes: Alonso is a finished product for the most part, and thus, his floor is about what you see. His home run rate in the majors won’t last, as he is more of a high teens home run hitter than one pacing for 30 plus. His hitting is good enough that he may be capable of flirting with .300 annually. He’s playing outfield now because he’s blocked at first base by Joey Votto, but make no mistake about it, he’s a first baseman in the outfield.
If he isn’t traded in the offseason to a team in need of a first baseman, he’ll find himself battling Chris Heisey for playing time in Cincinnati and will almost certainly be lifted regularly for a defensive replacement late in games he does start. If he is dealt, his value will take a huge hit as soon as he sheds outfield eligibility.
Potentially further hurting his future value would be a change in home ballparks. Few parks enhance home run hitting as much as Great American Ballpark, so any move likely will hurt his already modest power potential. Think Gaby Sanchez type value with a touch more average. In the outfield, that gets him on this list. As a first baseman, he’d just miss.
I do think that his HR projections for Alonso may be based a little too much on his minor league numbers that were hampered by his wrist injury. I think Alonso is more of a 25-30 HR guy. I guess we will find out though.
94: Yorman Rodriguez/OF/Cincinnati Reds/8-15-92/ETA: 2015
Forecast Notes: Peak .250/.292/.400.
Current Level: Single-A
Scouting Notes: Rodriguez’s stats in his first year of full season ball are a bit disappointing, but he is toolsy and raw so it was to be expected. His walk rate went up as he moved up from Rookie Level ball, which is a positive to glean from a free swinger. The tools haven’t disappeared: He’s a plus hitter with plus power and above-average speed. All his tools need to be refined, but considering the Reds spent $2.5 million on him, it’s likely they’ll do everything in their power to get the most out of him. He may still flame out, but he’s likely a cheap gamble with immense upside in dynasty leagues.
I probably wouldn’t rank him this high, but I do get the reasoning behind it. There is still a long way to go for Rodriguez at this point. High risk/high reward.
Tucker Barnhart picked up a nice award recently, he was named the Minor League Catcher Gold Glove Award Winner. The award is only given to one player per position in the entire minor leagues, so its very impressive to get the nod. Barnhart had a .998 fielding percentage as well as a 47% caught stealing rate against. He was the only Red to bring home some gold this season.
This is just an awesome look at how Wednesday’s games played out.
Who will you guys be rooting for in the playoffs? I will clearly be going for the Rays, who are my AL team. On the NL side, I will be going with the Brewers. One of my good friends is a huge Brewers fan, so I owe it to him.
Barnhart is definitely deserving. The best defensive catcher I have seen come through Dayton, and at only age 20. He will make a nice backup catcher in a few years.
I could see an outside chance of Henry Rodriguez making the bottom of the Cal league top 20.
Just checked, 56 games, 206 AB’s for Grandahl and 58 games, 238 AB’s for HRod. Not sure what would qualify, plus BA polls managers and as noted some managers don’t see much of certain guys. So it might be close for both guys. I suspect HRod is one of those guys you appreciate the more you see them.
I also think Sulbarran may have a chance to sneak in, given his age and arm, plus improvements in season.
Anyone but the Yankees from AL is fine, although I’ll root for Josh Hamilton and the Rangers. Diamondbacks from the NL, although I don’t think they have much chance. I think the Phillies are going to be hard to beat.
I could almost (grudgingly) embrace a scenario where the Yankees win every playoff and World Series game 15-0. Maybe that would be what it takes to finally force MLB to deal with the huge disparity in payroll that gives them such a competitive advantage.Since both are highly unlikely,I’ll be pulling for the Rays.
In order i’ll root for:
Rays
Diamondbacks
Tigers
Rangers
Brewers
Phillies
Playoff cancellation
Yankees
MLB disbandment
Cardinals
Doug-what is the ceiling as a catcher for Barnhart? Its looks like the power numbers are kind of low but he seems like an OK Hitter. Olus defense like that and he could be vary valuable. Mez, Yasmani, Tucker?
What is the outlook?
I think what Ryan Hanigan has done for the Reds over the last few years is a good comp. Barnhart is more advanced as a hitter at the same age, but I think that his ceiling is Ryan Hanigan like, but with more service time. Not a very good hitter, but a solid hitter without much power who gets the strikezone well who will provide very strong defense.
I meant “Plus” Defense. Sorry about that!
Doug,
When do the Arizona Fall League games start up?
October 4th I believe.
I am one of those who feel being a Baseball Player is as important or more than raw tools. Tucker Barnhart is a BASEBALL PLAYER, who has some tools as well. Give me a team of Barnharts and I will beat a team of 5-tool guys 60% of the time.
Lets pay Dusty’s final year of his contract to go to Boston(it doesn’t have to be the Red Sox it could be one of the fish markets) and sign TERRY FRANCONA!
Ha. Yeah, he can go to the fish markets. The Red Sox would NEVER hire a manager like Dusty Baker.
i second the Francona thing. Apparently it is official, he is no longer with the Red Sox. I think he would be great for the Reds.
It would be, but given what he would command, and the fact that they would still have to pay Dusty, it will never happen unless Dusty retires.
Coaching is thoroughly underappreciated by the Reds. It makes so much more sense for a team like the Reds to pay above and beyond for coaching so that their players can go further. They won’t have a team full of all-stars, so you need to have a coach that can get the most out of the guys that you have. I would rather give an extra 5 million a year to have a pitching coach who will bring the best out in guys like the White Sox, Twins, and Red Sox have done and a manager who will bring the most out of the guys that he has like Maddon, Francona, or heck, even possibly Gibson based on early indications from this year.
I am in RI (earshot from Boston) listening to a very “up to the minute/connected” radio station. Go to http://www.weei.com if there is any interest. Looks like the meeting at Fenway just broke up and they say that there will be an official resolution in a day or two but everyone
is assuming Francona is moving on.
Many are already linking him to Ozzie Guillen’s old job with the White Sox. He would want too much money for the Reds. He makes like 4.2/yr. Some also speculate that GM Theo Epstien could also go and many rumors link him to the Cubs.
Say what you will about Theo’s mistakes but they have two world championships with him and the Cubs have money to spend. Theo seems to draft very well and pay way over slot to get good talent in later rounds.
Theo in Chicago could make the Cubs better, Brewers are better, Cardinals are always good, Pirates coming in…division could be tougher.
Reds better get moving!!!!!!!
I would be a little leery of Francona. He did not have success in his 4 seasons with Philly and I’ve heard complaints from Boston fans about his in-game managing decisions. Was his success due to just having so much talent that even someone like Dusty Baker couldn’t screw it up? Is he equipped to manage in a smaller market and get the most out of his team? His Phillies teams had some hitting (including young Rolen) but had horrible pitching (Curt Schilling being the only good starter), and maybe he did do a good job with what he had. I don’t know. I’m just not sold that he is as good as advertised outside of Boston. If he could turn around a Chicago team, then all praises to him.
I agree lets get rid of Dusty and give Rick Sweet a chance. With all the homegrown talent, he would be a great manager. I know alot of people that have played for Sweet, and never heard one bad remark about him. He gets respect and he WINS.
I Say fire Dusty and Hire Rolen helps team in two spots :)
I would be happy if they brought Pete McKanin back. The team played well during his short stint as a manager.
I second this. I was impressed by the way he handled the team during his short tenure. I believe the Reds would have done just as well, and probably much better with him managing over the past 4 years.
Pete is one guy rumored for the Red Sox position.
The guy I wanted instead of Dusty was Kurt Gibson at that time.
or Pete Mackanin
I think Tito Francona would be OK. Better than Baker anyway. I think he handles the high end guys pretty well. Boston payroll is typically noth of 150K the last few years.
I am not endorsing him…just giving a local update (from RI). Dave Martinez (bench coach Tamppa Bay) is getting a lot of press as well for his work with young players. He is reporteldy a possiblity for Chicago White Sox.
FYI.
Grandal comes in at #10 in the BA Cal league list, no other Reds made it, Tyler Skaggs was #1
#10 seems awful low for Grandal. This is a guy who has a good chance of being a slightly above average starting catcher in the big leagues. Those are not easy to find.
Doug, I realize this is probably more a Wednesday quesiton, but I’ll be out of town without certain ability to access your site (I’m not looking forward to this), but on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being playing Joey Votto every day and 10 being playing Willy Taveras every day, how crazy would it be to stick Dave Sappelt in left and bat him 1st and stick Yonder Alonso at 3rd and bat him 2nd? For argument’s sake, let’s say Yonder practices hard at 3rd in the offseason and proves to have nothing worse than a slightly below average glove.
The Alonso-to-3B experiment is over. He has been told to go into next spring as a Left-Fielder.
Think the White Sox would be smart to grab Ryne Sandberg as their manager!!
I truly think BA has missed the mark on their CAL list. Grandal has just as much potential and much more polish than most of the position players on this list.
The love for Gary Brown and Zach Wheeler is way out of proportion. I don’t think Brown will ever hit more than 10 HRs in the bigs; Juan Pierre is his ceiling, IMO. Furthermore, Wheeler’s stuff isn’t much better than Sulbaran’s or Ravin’s; he has potential, but he’s a long way from reaching it. There is just no excuse to rank Wheeler or Brown higher than Grandal. The same could be said of Bettis, Singleton, and Webster. I just can’t comprehend how a legit MLB catcher, with above-average defense, and a plus hit-tool could be ranked lower than these players.