I was surfing the net & came across a story about Yonder Alonso & it had me thinking about how did this guy do this past season...I really haven't read much on him through the Reds website about his progress....I am anxiously awaiting for him to get to Louisville so I can see him when he comes to my town...2009 Minor League Stats

Gulf Coast Reds (AB/HR./RBI/AVG.) 15/0/0/.133
Sarasota Reds (AB/HR./RBI/AVG.) 175/7/38/.303
Carolina Mudcats (AB/HR./RBI/AVG.) 105/2/14/.295

Total for the year = 295/9/52/.292

not bad, he is low on Power numbers from what I would have thought...I fully expect a ST invite & I'll give him a 20% chance of earning a spot on the 25 man...

I think he will be traded, John. Probably pretty soon too.

pog

is Delmon Young a realm of possibility...sorry I haven't moved on from acquiring that guy... lol

I'm not against trading Alonso, but I don't know what there will be available for him. You think we could get a catcher or SS for him? I just don't see a lot of teams shopping around young major league ready talent right now. I could be completely wrong but I just don't see us getting anything of value for him this offseason.

I don't have any crystal ball, I just don't see him being a good first basemen with his lack of athletic skills. Too slow, not real good reaction times, not quick enough. I just thing his destiny is to be a great DH in the AL. I could very well be wrong, but thats the feel I get from the scouting I've read.

And he his too valuable a property to allow his value to be hurt by any bad play. If it were me, I'd grab what I could get early on and never look back. I also have a feeling that 2010 will be Reds best chance to compete for a while and trading Alonso would be one way to put the missing pieces together without taking on any huge contracts.

pog

How fast can he learn how to catch?

:)

pog

lol...I don't know about Alonso making a successful transition to catcher but I sure do know that the Rangers have a surplus at that spot in their system...maybe we can somehow convince Walt to make a move...probably not...

I dont believe we'll see (if at all) yonder go anywhere till after the '10 season

his stock will probably be much higher then

plus if the reds are closer to contending at that point and ready to make a push for 2011, that'd be the time to deal a big time prospect to address a weakness

Youre joking right? Lay off the pipe...joking.

In all seriousness though...Alonso can continue to grow as a hitter. he played first base in college...he might be a DH but he can also play first. There are def a bunch of first basemen who arent too quick, but stick at first.

I think he can become a premiere hitter. He was the second best college hitter in that draft. In a year, or even a half year, we should (i agree we should trade him) and get something we really need. Shortstop (Hanley, with others coming up soon?) most likely not..but we could package a deal together to get some missing pieces...but not right away.

<<Youre joking right? Lay off the pipe...joking.>>

Just an uneducated opinion and actually I've posted wilder opinions than this one with less justification. There are a lot of really good reasons to trade Alonso now even though we might get better value be letting him age for a year or to.

As Kasko pointed out, its very hard to find a place for him on the big clubwithout doing some serious roster juggling and I'm not real sure the Reds will do that.

pog

EDIT: BTW, Yonder has got his average up to a sparkling .176 in t he AFL after 4 games. Heisey is 2nd in the league at .562 after 6 games. A little early, of course, but something to watch.

pog

Without personally ever seeing this kid play, is he that fundamentally deficient to move into a corner OF spot...I'm just asking because it would be ashamed to trade away a guy I will be reading about for years to come putting up stellar Offense...I would be willing to bet he can't be anymore of an adventure in their OF than some of the other players they have trotted out for the past 20 some years...Could Votto be an option ???

Heres the prospect write up on him John. Its the most complete I've seen. You can judge for yourself about his shelf life with the Reds:

<<http://redlegsbaseball.blogspot.com/2009/04/2009-top-prospect-list-1-yonder-alonso.html>>

pog

thank you so much for that info...that was great break down of Mr. Alonso...best paragraph on the entire article was this...

It'll be interesting to see how the Reds handle the 1b conundrum. Reading the organizational tea leaves leads me to believe that they will shift Joey Votto to left and play Yonder at first. However, I'd rather see them follow the Brewers course of action with Matt LaPorta and trade one of them for value that better addresses the needs of the organization. Regardless of how they choose to use the value of Yonder Alonso, it's quite clear that he has a lot of it. Yonder's blend of offensive skills and polish makes him a high ceiling prospect with very little downside risk. That combination earns him the #1 spot on the list.

so is it safe to say I can bump Alonso to about 40% chance of making this team from ST & or a 50% chance he is traded for a SP...

Fair enough although I do think a starting catcher might be a better investment if we can't reach a satisfactory agreement with Ramon. I've tried my best to be rational about this, but I just can't get it in to my head that Hannigan is the right guy for the job if we are truly going to be in the chase in 2010.

pog

I think he will be a good ML hitter, but is DH in his future? I am wondering why we drafted him and paid him all that money if he can't handle defense. I am just commenting on what many of you are saying on his defense. I have seen him hit, and he has a sweet swing.

I do like Hannigan...I'm not certain he is better than a platoon player...his "D" is great & his offense is somewhat streaky but acceptable...however I don't think Hernandez will be playing in Cincy next season...just a hunch...& I really doubt Miller & Tatum are in their picture...this why I feel the Reds are in the market for a catcher & Alonso could nab a good one...but personally if Yonder is only looked at as trade bait how about a phone call to the Giants to get one of their quality young arms...

I think Yonder starts the year in AAA and either gets traded at the deadline(if were in the hunt) or he gets brought up to play 1B.

I think he might see some time at 3B in Louisvlle. We could strike gold if he can play 3rd.

That would allow Frazier to play SS and Francisco and Heisey to play LF.

I responded to your choice of Frazier at SS in the other SS thread. Not real sure thats the best choice. I guess I have to wonder what happens to Votto if you plug Yonder in at first?. Francisco seems to be at least a season away but I sure agree with you about Heisey in left if he keeps up his AFL performance and aces spring training.

pog

If the Pirates don't have a stud prospect at firstbase ... and I have no idea if they do or don't , they have aquired so many players. Yonder could be a decent offer for their disgruntled , soon to be traded catcher. Pirates have Zero qualms of trading within the division.