Bernie Pleskoff has released his farm system rankings over at Fanrag Sports for the 2017 season. He places the Cincinnati Reds at #9 overall. That puts the organization behind both the Pirates (5) and Brewers (3) within the National League Central division. The Cubs (14) and Cardinals (16) round out the division.
Here’s what Pleskoff has to say about the Reds:
The Reds have a long way to go before they are competitive in the NL Central. Several young prospects could be emerging to help them begin winning. They include highly-regarded, but very young, third base prospect Nick Senzel, who is still a long way away.
Closer to offering help are pitchers Amir Garrett and Robert Stephenson as well as Vladimir Gutierrez. Position players like outfielder Jesse Winker offer hope with the bat. Outfielder Taylor Trammell will help eventually, as will T.J. Friedl. Shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez and catcher Tyler Stephenson are in the system and help round out the position player depth.
I guess I would start out by asking how long ” a long way away” is if Nick Senzel is considered to be that. Almost everywhere on the planet seems to be suggesting that he may be in Cincinnati by September of 2017 (and I’d agree that he could be ready by then, though I can’t see the Reds actually calling him up by then outside of extreme circumstances). It’s also worth noting that Cody Reed would seem to be ineligible for this ranking or he would have surely been mentioned with Garrett and Stephenson. So be sure to add him to the mental check box when comparing various farm system rankings as some places count him and some do not.
It seems that most places are ranking the Reds in the back end of the Top 10 in these farm system rankings so far. That’s not great for a rebuild, but it’s not bad. But when we also consider that Cody Reed isn’t eligible for some of the lists, and that Dilson Herrera and Jose Peraza also both miss the eligibility cut-off, that it would push the organization quite a bit higher as it would be adding in three more Top 100 caliber prospects.