The Cincinnati Reds had been linked to Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez since November of 2015. They reportedly agreed to terms with him in January, but he didn’t officially sign with the Reds until July. When he did sign it was for a franchise record $7M. That amount also led to penalties and fines on every other player that the organization signed from that point forward.
It had been 16 months since Alfredo Rodriguez had last played a competitive game when he joined the Dominican Summer League Reds on July 12th. Things started out well for the 22-year-old shortstop. He went 6-13 (.462) with two walks and two doubles in his first four games. Rodriguez went into a slump after that, going 3-20 (.150) over the following six games. In that final game of that stretch he was hit by a pitch and replaced in the game. He wouldn’t play over the next two weeks. That would finish July with a .273/.366/.333 line with three walks and eight strikeouts in 41 plate appearances.
Alfredo Rodriguez returned to the lineup on August 8th. In his first three games back he went 5-15with two steals. Things went south after that, going 0-14 in the next four games. He rebounded from that slump by going 4-15 with five walks and two doubles (.829 OPS) in the next five games. That stretch ended the season for the shortstop. In two week of play in August he hit .205/.308/.273 with six walks and eight strikeouts.
After signing in early July Alfredo Rodriguez played two stretches of not-quite two weeks in the Dominican Summer League, a league that he was four years older than the average player. His OPS of .632 was below the league average (.654), though he had limited action that was even further split up.
| Level | PA | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| DSL | 93 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 16 | .234 | .333 | .299 |
For all 2017 Prospect Ranking Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out one per weekday over the offseason).
Alfredo Rodriguez Scouting Report
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Hitting | The early returns on Rodriguez at the plate weren’t promising in his first taste of professional baseball. There were tons of concerns about his ability to hit when he signed and while he’s certainly added some strength since his time in Cuba, several scouts who saw him in instructional league were still questioning his ability to hit.
Power | There’s not much power for Rodriguez now or in the future. While there may be a tad more power than he showed in 2016, he’s at the bottom of the scale when it comes power output.
Running | This is the one place where he stands out offensively. He’s an above-average to plus speed guy who, if he can get on base, could steal plenty of bases.
Arm | His arm is average to slightly above-average. It plays fine at shortstop, but it doesn’t stand out at the position.
Defense | When he signed he was said to be a plus, to maybe even plus-plus defender. Reports from instructional league weren’t as rosy as that. While they still saw him as a guy with above-average range, he wasn’t nearly as polished or smooth as expected based on those previous reports.
From day one the signing was a bit of a head scratcher in terms of the amount that was paid to bring Alfredo Rodriguez in. He’s an all-glove, no hit, but still quite raw player who got premium money to sign on with the organization. He can run and he can play defense at the big league level right now, but there are some serious questions about whether he’s ever going to be able to hit enough to be able to utilize any value with his glove or legs. He’s going to have to show big improvements at the plate in 2017 as he comes to the United States and faces a large step up in competition.
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