The Reds roster currently sits at 40, the limit in Major League Baseball. However the Reds could always clear a spot up before the draft in order to pick someone up if they chose to. I wanted to profile a few guys who I think may be very interesting picks.
Koby Clemens – Houston Astros
Roger’s kid works the opposite end of the mound at catcher. He recently missed out on the Astro’s Top 10 over at Baseball America. 2009 Clemens absolutely obliterated the California League with a .345/.419/.636 line. Defensively he is rough at this point though with 19 passed balls and threw out 26% of attempted base stealers. The biggest concern is that the catcher has less than 20 plate appearances above High A and well, his huge season did come in the Cal League where everyone hits for power.
Marco Albano – LAA Angels
Albano is a former position player who now serves as a reliever in the Angels system. I can’t say that I know much about his stuff, but in a hitters league at AA last year he had a 3.77 ERA with 87 strikesouts and 37 walks in 88.1 innings pitched.
Anthony Recker – Oakland Athletics
Recker is another catcher that will be available. Defensively he threw out 33% of attempted runners in 77 games behind the plate. At the plate he hit .267/.342/.462 between AA and AAA (most came in AAA).
Josh Tomlin – Cleveland Indians
Tomlin started in AA, but has some experience in the bullpen as well. With a fastball in the 89-93 MPH range with a good slider, average curveball and average change up he is a guy who could be taken early and could be worth a pick. Not sure he fits the Reds needs, funny that the Reds don’t have the need for pitching isn’t it?
Steven Johnson – Baltimore Orioles
An Aflac All American in high school is now available after being acquired mid season from the Dodgers. Strange that he was left unprotected by a team who just acquired him. Johnson had a 3.41 ERA with 154 strikeouts and 62 walks in 145.1 innings split between AA and High A this past season. Johnson has a fastball that gets up to 93 MPH as a starter, but it would play up as a reliever.
Craig Baker – Colorado Rockies
A former 4th round pick, the now 24 year old has not gotten past High A, but its not for a lack of success with a career ERA under 3.00 and under 2.30 for the last two seasons with 145 strikeouts and 32 walks in 119.1 innings pitched at A and A+ the last two seasons. He also brings a 51% groundball rate with him. Can’t find a scouting report on him that isn’t from 2007 though, so I am not sure about his stuff.
Those are the guys that I liked the most out of the 50 or so guys that I did research on. Not sure if the Reds will be taking anyone this year given the amount of depth that they have at AAA, it just seems a bit risky to push someone off the 40 man in a gamble. Do you guys think I missed anyone?