Thursday, January 14, 2010

Season 7 Draft Review -- Cincinatti Red Stockings

In one of the oddities you get from time to time when you base draft position off of regular season record, the WS champion Red Stockings get to pick at 22. So let's see if the champs were able to take advantage of this quirk.

1st round pick Edgard Abreau has thus far not been signed. A signability concern from the get go, Cincy fans are hoping that at the very least he was offered his original demand and just refused, which would result in a comp pick in the Season 8 draft at the same spot. Abreau is another guy that fell, and clearly signability was the reason why. If Cincy can somehow sign him though, whew -- he's worth it. Not a good hitter. A GREAT hitter, and if he can be put in Cincy's park, wow. Let's hope they can get him signed.

Their second 1st round pick Bob Taylor is another of these "how did he slip" picks. Not an 'ace', but Taylor is a strong, durable pitcher with very good control, 3 above average pitches and a good enough idea of what to do out there that he keeps hitters off balance and doesn't let them get good contact. Taylor will be in a Major League rotation one day.

2nd rounder Philip Williams is another head-scratcher, "why didn't someone pick him before here" kinda pick. Perhaps other owners were scared off by the fact that he struggles from time to time against RH pitching, but Williams already has an advanced offensive skillset, and projects to be a really good OBP guy with some pop to his game. There is some concern over possible injuries getting in the way of his development, but if he can stay healthy, Williams should move quickly and should be a productive big league hitter.

The other 2nd rounder: Vladimir Prieto has the stuff to be a potential closer at the big league level. Some concern over his stamina may result in Prieto being a setup guy, but he has legit closer stuff with excellent velocity and a flat out nasty and devastating fastball that has late movement that destroys lefties and righties alike. Whatever role Prieto finds himself in, it's extremely possible he'll be filling that role on a winning ML club. How he fell all the way to 69 I'll never know.

I so want to give Cincy an A for their draft, but when you know a player is a signability risk and you draft him with your first pick and then don't sign him -- can't do it. So they get a B+ instead.