The Week Ahead

by John Sickels on Dec 3, 2007 1:18 PM EST in News

The week ahead is busy, as usual in the book crunch. I'm currently working another non-book project, but I'll also start the Reds today.

What do you guys think about the Reds system? They don't get much attention, but they've sure improved the last couple of years. I like the future this team is laying out.

Team Schedule
Cincinnati Reds
Detroit Tigers
San Diego Padres
Boston Red Sox
Florida Marlins

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Reds

I probably have more knowledge on the Reds system than most and I certainly know more about them than every other team, but I love what they have going on right now.

There is plenty of depth and they are starting to show talent at the higher levels with guys outside of the big 4 with Maloney, Lecure, Dickerson, Dorn, Rosales, Tatum, Pelland, Roenicke and a few others. They also have some raw talent in the low minors with very high upsides in guys like Neftali Soto, Mesoraco, Kyle Lotzkar, Evan Hildenbrandt, Juan Francisco. Then there is the group of guys like Travis Wood, Drew Stubbs, Todd Frazier, Brandon Waring, Chris Valaika, Sean Watson and Pedro Viola who all have shown success and tools, but have lingering question marks with decent to high cielings.

http://www.redsminorleagues.com

by dougdirt on Dec 3, 2007 1:08 PM EST reply actions

Looking forward to this

The Reds are an open team in one of my leagues -so I'm intrigued by the farm system getting better outside of the Big 4 (plus they're in this yrs draft eligible players)

Jimuhendori sensei at Rigurefirudo

by gmsnctry on Dec 4, 2007 1:52 AM EST up reply actions

dont know how to edit posts

Can it be done?

Meant to add are the Reds a bottom heavy farm? -ie. most of the talent is in the lower levels? or is it evenly spread out?

Jimuhendori sensei at Rigurefirudo

by gmsnctry on Dec 4, 2007 1:55 AM EST up reply actions

There is talent everywhere

AA will probably look a little weak in the first half, but will look a lot stronger as the High A promotions begin to kick in.

AAA, High A and Low A all should have a lot of talent.

http://www.redsminorleagues.com

by dougdirt on Dec 4, 2007 11:59 AM EST up reply actions

the puerto Ricans

i will be curious to see what you think of Soto and Olivares - the two PR players taken in the June draft

by scrllb on Dec 3, 2007 1:50 PM EST reply actions

My guess

Soto in the 12-16 range. Oliveras not rated.

I really like Soto's power potential one day.

http://www.redsminorleagues.com

by dougdirt on Dec 3, 2007 2:17 PM EST up reply actions

Reds

I like this system a lot. They've got four studs (Bruce, Votto, Cueto, Bailey) and a pretty good second tier guy (Maloney) that are all pretty much MLB ready. Then there is reasonable, not great, depth. Those top five matchup with any top five, and are clearly the strength of the system.

by rwperu34 on Dec 3, 2007 4:53 PM EST reply actions

Reds

I'm not much of an NL guy but I'll agree with rwperu that Bailey, Bruce, and Votto are studs.

by tiki gods on Dec 3, 2007 5:37 PM EST reply actions

Too bad

That they get a heaping dose of Dusty Baker.

This is me being polite.

by CrimsonLiederhosen on Dec 3, 2007 5:51 PM EST up reply actions

Too bad

I know Baker isn't a good manager and has a bad reputation, but I don't think it will have any major impact. Krivsky will decide what to do with Bruce. Baker might be more careful not overusing Bailey due to his previous mistakes. Baker has already said he's looking foward to seeing Votto play, and he will be getting most of the starts.

by mlbfan30 on Dec 3, 2007 6:33 PM EST up reply actions

Maybe

Maybe the baker issue is overblown, but he presided over the destruction of two extremely talented young pitchers, including a guy whose mechanics had been described as 'perfect'.
Maybe it's a coincidence, but the ridiculous pitch counts he had them racking up suggests to me that it wasn't.
I'll tell you this much, there are a lot of displeased Reds fans around Cincinnati.

This is me being polite.

by CrimsonLiederhosen on Dec 3, 2007 8:47 PM EST up reply actions

However

Baker will hopefully learn from his mistakes. That's what most people do, but he may not.

by mlbfan30 on Dec 3, 2007 8:57 PM EST up reply actions

You Know

I heard many of the same criticisms of Baker when he first came to Chicago too and thought the same way you do. Don't bet on DB changing his stripes anytime soon. Mahalo

Matt

I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.

by WayneCampbell05 on Dec 4, 2007 12:15 AM EST up reply actions

Prior and perfect mechanics....

Whoever said that was wrong. They may have been perfect in the sense that he could repeat them every time, but they were far from perfect in the idea that they were safe for his arm.

http://www.redsminorleagues.com

by dougdirt on Dec 3, 2007 9:03 PM EST up reply actions

+1

Prior's upper body had the "inverted W" that high school pitching coaches always hated. He wasn't necessarily a disaster waiting to happen, but they were hardly perfect. That was just a myth and I don't know where it even got started.

Anyways, I agree that this whole Baker situation is overblown. He's not great, but you can't lay the responsibility of two very talented pitchers' tarnished careers solely on his shoulders. There are just too many factors that come into play to do that. Pitchers don't just throw pitches in games. They do it to warm up every inning, warm up in the bullpen, throw bullpen sessions between games, in Spring Training, in the postseason, over the offseason -- Yes, throwing well over 100 pitches every start puts more stress on a fatigued arm, but let's put things into perspective here. Pitching is an unnatural motion and is bad for your arm. Period.

Also, I don't care how "safe" people call a pitcher. Pitchers != Safe. Ever.

by elrey34 on Dec 3, 2007 11:01 PM EST up reply actions

Hmmm

Isn't an inverted W, an M?

Anyway, what is the inverted W?

by cooper7d7 on Dec 4, 2007 7:58 AM EST up reply actions

Here you go

That is one of Prior.

There is one of Liriano.

As you can see, their elbows get up higher than their shoulders do before they begin to come forward. It puts some nice stress on your arm. It also looks like an 'M' or an 'inverteded W'.

http://www.redsminorleagues.com

by dougdirt on Dec 4, 2007 11:54 AM EST up reply actions