Lots of fun stuff for today. Spring training is underway and that is always awesome.
Delino DeShields talked with the Dayton Daily News about the upcoming season. The most interesting thing I took from the article was that the middle infield is expected to be Billy Hamilton and Ronald Torreyes. Not only is it interesting because Torreyes will be 18 years old and playing full season ball, but that also brings up the question of what happens to 2010 third rounder Devin Lohman, who surely won’t go to Bakersfield to play ahead of Didi Gregorius or Henry Rodriguez in their middle infield? Perhaps a shift to third base since he has a strong arm? While defensively that could work, his bat struggled mightily in Billings last season.
Ken Griffey Sr talks about his new gig as the manager of the Bakersfield Blaze with Bakersfield.com. The article is mostly about Griffey and less about the players, but go check it out.
Red Reporter has a two-part “Farmers Only: 10 Burning Questions”. Part One can be seen here. The big question from this part in my opinion was: Who is this years Billy Hamilton (IE Breakout Player)? Part Two is here. The big question from this part in my opinion was this one: Where will all of these pitchers go? The Reds have a plethora of options that should all be in AAA, but there isn’t room for everyone. How it plays out will be very interesting.
Project Prospect has up its Top 25 Fantasy Prospects. Aroldis Chapman is the only Reds player on the list. I was a little surprised that Mesoraco didn’t make the list because of position scarcity if nothing else.
Beyond the Box Score talked with Baseball America’s Conor Glassey about the upcoming draft. Go check it out. There is a lot of information in there for you draft hounds.
Jim Callis of Baseball America had a quick tweet about Ronald Torreyes last night:
Not many 5-ft-7 top prospects. Good D at 2B, can handle bat. @yankees1218: Ronald Torreyes have a real shot to become a top prospect? #Reds
While he is right and there should always be some realistic expectations with guys small in stature, size doesn’t always hold everyone back. Dustin Pedoria has done pretty well for himself being pretty short don’t you think (Pedroia is listed at 5’9″)?