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Post by The Duke on Sept 29, 2014 11:58:50 GMT -5
www.baseballamerica.com/majors/2014-league-top-20-prospects-index/ The Reds were shut out of the AZL top 20, but placed 5 guys in the Pioneer league top 20, with Astrides Aquino coming in at #1. I've been saying for a while that Aquino would be in the Reds top 10, this is a pretty strong indicator that will be true. Blandino was #4, Strahan #8, Sparks #12, and Mahle #15. I would have had Mahle higher, and Sparks and Strahan lower. I'm a little surprised Lavalley didn't make the AZL top 20.
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Post by kinsm on Sept 29, 2014 18:55:27 GMT -5
www.baseballamerica.com/majors/2014-league-top-20-prospects-index/ The Reds were shut out of the AZL top 20, but placed 5 guys in the Pioneer league top 20, with Astrides Aquino coming in at #1. I've been saying for a while that Aquino would be in the Reds top 10, this is a pretty strong indicator that will be true. Blandino was #4, Strahan #8, Sparks #12, and Mahle #15. I would have had Mahle higher, and Sparks and Strahan lower. I'm a little surprised Lavalley didn't make the AZL top 20. Has no bearing on being top 10, he's only 1 because he was there all year. Better players who split the year at different levels get ranked lower on these lists, some of the best prospects in the minors won't even qualify for a league list because they didn't play enough in one league. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 19:08:27 GMT -5
For certain being at one level for an entire season allows a guy to build a better resume for being on the list, but lets not overlook some pretty impressive stats. In 284 ab's he had 83 hits, 44 of them for extra bases. 21 sb's and probably most impressive of all is the 64 rbi's in 71 games played. He was #6 in the AZL last year and is still just 20. Perhaps not top 10 on the Reds rankings, but he'd have to be close. Nice to see a guy actually performing well and not getting ranked high simply because he was a high draft choice and it's assumed that someday he'll "get it".
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Post by kinsm on Sept 29, 2014 19:09:50 GMT -5
I'm not suggesting he sucks.
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Post by redsfanman on Sept 30, 2014 10:41:20 GMT -5
I'm skeptical about Aristides Aquino deserving to be among the Reds' top 10 prospects. Despite being only 20 years old he's still in his 4th season at Rookie Ball. He's showing no progress with improving his walk totals, with ~20 BB and ~65 strikeouts in ~260 ABs each year. 2014 is his first year with an OBP over .301. From what I've read he's mostly a raw skills guy. If he starts hitting well next season, in Dayton or Daytona, let alone Pensacola, maybe I'll start to take him more seriously.
In Yorman Rodriguez's case it was only his success this year at Pensacola (in the second half) that made me start taking him seriously as a prospect, but Aquino isn't there yet. Kyle Waldrop's success this year at Bakersfield and Pensacola made me start considering him a prospect again. Despite Winker's injury-shortened and Ervin's poor season, I'd still rank them ahead of Aquino on any list of Reds outfield prospects. I'd rank Aquino as the Reds' 5th best outfield prospect, but more like 20th best prospect in the system.
Aquino could quickly shoot up my prospect rankings if he shows he can hit above Rookie Ball, while Ervin could quickly drop off a cliff if he shows that 2014 is a trend, rather than a fluke. But for the moment I'd rank Ervin higher. Aquino has way too much of a chance of going bust, while Ervin showed signs of being a good hitter in 2013.
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Post by kinsm on Oct 14, 2014 18:34:49 GMT -5
BaseballAmerica has finished their top 20 lists. www.baseballamerica.com/majors/2014-league-top-20-prospects-index/Reds prospects to make the lists: RK - Pioneer League: 1. Aristides Aquino, 4. Alex Blandino, 8. Wyatt Strahan, 12. Taylor Sparks, 15. Tyler Mahle A - Midwest League: 11. Amir Garrett A+ - California League: 12. Jesse Winker, 16. Ben Lively AA - Southern League: 4. Robert Stephenson, 12. Michael Lorenzen, 20. Ben Lively AAA - International League: None |
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