The Reds Caravan starts tomorrow. The minor league guys on the trip are: Devin Mesoraco, Todd Frazier and Yasmani Grandal. John Fay has the entire break down of who is going to be where and when. Go check it out.
Speaking of John Fay, he has the breakdown of Baseball America’s Reds Top 30 prospects from the Prospect Handbook that is now available. The surprises for me where:
- Drew Cisco at #12. I just want to see him before I get that high on him. Supposed to be a lot of polish, but I want to see it first.
- Daniel Corcino at #15. Not so much that he is that high, though I had him a little lower, but that he is ranked ahead of Ismael Guillon and Jonathan Correa.
- Dave Sappelt at #20. I really think he is getting the short end of the stick, maybe because he is short. I haven’t read the scouting report on him, but given his results I have to imagine they aren’t as good as I feel they should be.
What sticks out to you guys the most on the list? Who is too high? Too low?
Keith Law released his Organizational Rankings yesterday. He had the Reds coming in at #8 overall. The link is to an ESPN Insider article, so if you want to read beyond the first two teams you will need to be a subscriber. Here is the Top 100 prospects he has for 2011. It is also an insider link, so if you want to read it all, you have to be an insider. Here is where the Reds players rank:
- Aroldis Chapman – #15 (to low)
- Devin Mesoraco – #31 (just right)
- Billy Hamilton – #51 (too high)
- Yasmani Grandal – #59 (too high)
- Yonder Alonso – #65 (too low)
Only the Royals, Rays and Blue Jays had more Top 100 prospects, while a few teams also had 5 guys make the list. The NL Central had 12 total guys, the Reds had 5, while the Cardinals had 3, Pirates had 2 and the Cubs/Astros had 1 each.
Kyle Nagel has a Q&A with Bill Bavasi at the Dayton Daily News. He talks about Devin Mesoraco, Yasmani Grandal, Delino DeShields and Billy Hamilton. This should spark plenty of jubilation for those of us who were concerned about Hamilton and his position:
He’s got leadoff mentality, great makeup, flies, good defensive player, second or short but you’ll see him at shortstop.