Whats with Yonder Alonso?

by Brent Beck on Aug 6, 2008 12:25 PM EDT

Since the Reds drafted Alonso 7th overall in the first round of this years MLB Draft, I haven't heard much about him. All I knew is everyone was worried he would ask for too much money, but then others said he absolutely looked stellar with a wood bat this past summer in the Cape Cod League.

I read a few people saying if the Reds signed him he had a chance at making it to the bigs this season, obviously thats out of the question now. Still, does anyone know anything about Alonso or having any update on his current status with the Reds? I was and still am very excited about seeing him playing first for the Reds and Votto in the outfield. The only way were going to see that happen is if he gets in our farm system already, so whats the low down?

Let me know as soon as possible, it is vital to my life, I watched Yonder Alonso play in all his college World Series ESPN 2 games with the Miami Hurricanes and I don't want that aluminum bat watching boredom to be for nothing!

Biographical Data
Player Name:	Yonder Alonso
Position:	First Baseman
School:	University of Miami
School Type:	College
Academic Class:	Junior
Birthdate:	04/08/87
Height:	6'2"
Weight:	215 lbs.
Bats:	Left
Throws:	Right
Report Date(s):	03/07 - 03/09/08
Game(s):	Boston College

Focus Area	Comments
Hitting Ability:	Alonso looks like a professional hitter at the plate, a run producer with patience who's particularly good at going the other way.
Power:	He's got above-average power, the kind that could generate 25-30 homers annually in the future. Right now, it's mostly to center and left-center, but as he gets older, he'll be able to turn on and pull pitches on the inner half of the plate
Running Speed:	He's got below-average speed.
Base running:	He's not a base-clogger, with good instincts on the basepaths.
Arm Strength:	He's got a good arm at first.
Fielding:	He's adequate at first, with decent hands that allow him to catch what's right at him.
Range:	He has average range, fine for his position.
Physical Description:	Alongso has a medium frame with a thick build. He's barrel-chested and solid throughout, having worked hard to tighten up his body.
Medical Update:	Healthy.
Strengths:	He's the kind of guy who will simply hit, with great plate discpline and plenty of power
Weaknesses:	He's limited to first defensively and is only OK there.
Summary:	Alonso or Smoak? Smoak or Alonso? It can be quite a debate over which college first baseman should go first on Draft day. Alonso is a hitter, period, with a great approach and power, especially the other way right now. Defensively, he's no great shakes, but it's that bat that teams will dream about putting in the middle of their lineup to produce plenty of runs in the future.

Draft report courtesy of MLB.com

• 2008 Louisville Slugger Preseason Second Team All-American
• 2008 Preseason Watch List for Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award
• 2008 Baseball America Preseason First Team All-American
• 2007 Louisville Slugger Third Team All-American
• 2007 Baseball America Second Team All-American
• 2007 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Second Team Selection

---

Apologies I haven't been on the Red Reporter in a few days, I just saw this on a front page article from a few days earlier:

Finally, Yonder Alonso -- the Reds' 1st-round pick who scouting director Chris Buckley thinks we'll sign by the August 15th deadline -- spoke with teenage brothers associated with the Miami Herald in a story published yesterday. Here are a few of his statements:

Poll

Yonder Alonso will be _____________.

better than Jim Thome

1 votes

more loved than Sean Casey

2 votes

skinnier than Prince Fielder

22 votes

Mark McGwire without steroids

2 votes

guzungas

7 votes

34 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 33 comments

Read Related

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

I think option 3 is the safest...

but there’s no boobs on the poll, so I will abstain from voting. Way to link your information source this time, seriously.

"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands

by BK on Aug 6, 2008 12:30 PM EDT 0 recs

BK:

I upped the anty and went with the best “boob” terminology of all time, better than “rack”, better than “titties”, better than “jugs”, better than all of em, GUZUNGAS!

Brent Jonathan Beck

by Brent Beck on Aug 6, 2008 12:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

guzungas is wrong

by Charlie Scrabbles on Aug 6, 2008 12:36 PM EDT up 0 recs

boobs is a person too damn it!

Hey, if I had some place to go I certainly wouldn't be in 'Cleve-Land'. -H.T.Duck

by snohio on Aug 6, 2008 2:47 PM EDT up 0 recs

Alonso

is really not like any of those options. his strikezone judgment is supposedly very good and he doesnt strikeout very much. i’ll say he’s going to be a poor man’s Travis Hafner (circa 2005), with the ability to play 1B and about 75 points lower on his OPS.

by Charlie Scrabbles on Aug 6, 2008 12:35 PM EDT 0 recs

i just asked that in the previous diary

i can’t find anything online

Sigh...

by Daedalus on Aug 6, 2008 1:02 PM EDT 0 recs

Where you been D. ?

You can tell your uncle stuff that you could not tell your dad. That is kind of the role of an uncle. I feel very much like a father sometimes but sometimes I feel like a teammate.
Dusty Baker

by Madville on Aug 6, 2008 11:18 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yonder will sign on or near the deadline.

Blame MLB’s ‘Slot System’ for the slow signing.

First Yonder is rumored (Keith Law) to want at least an eight million signing bonus. In MLB’s dream world the draft would have players chosen based soley on talent, and then signed to contracts in descending order. But throw in some hard-nosed agents and you get players selected at the bottom of round one demanding top-choice dollars. Some of these players fall in the draft based on their rumored bonus demands. MLB’s policy is to have teams police themselves on the issue….or in other words completly ignore the Slot System. So the problem is staggered bonus $$ in the draft.

How does this affect a player waiting until the deadline to sign?
First if a team knows they are signing a player above ‘slot’ money they will wait until the end to announce the deal, mainly to avoid the ire of the MLB. Second, if you sign a guy above ‘slot’ money with plenty of time until the deadline, all of the unsigned players will use that as an argument for their contract, causing inflated bonuses.

Kudos to the Reds for chosing Yonder, because they likely knew ahead of time it would cost them over ‘slot’ money. With Castellini in charge, I think this failed slot system benefits the Reds. He has already shown he will spend money on youth and this allows us to pick up better talent in the draft that may have fallen because of bonus demands. So Yonder take a break from watching Spy Kids on August 15th, sign on the dotted line, and we will see you in Sarasota this spring.

by jacob brumfield on Aug 6, 2008 2:33 PM EDT 0 recs

Draft negotiations

One change in the most recent CBA gives teams a little more leverage in these negotiations. If the team and draftee fail to reach an agreement by the 8/15 deadline, the club gains an extra pick in essentially the same slot in the following year’s draft.

Teams that fail to sign a first-round pick no longer receive an extra pick after the first round as compensation, but instead a virtually identical pick the following year; for example, a team that fails to sign the No. 5 pick one year will receive the No. 6 pick the next, rather than one in the 30s or 40s. The same compensation also now exists for unsigned second-round picks, while a team that fails to sign a third-round pick will receive a sandwich pick between the third and fourth rounds.
The new system should decrease the growth of bonus payments to amateurs, as teams can walk away from negotiations with the reassurance of having a similar pick the next year.

It would be a PR hit to not sign your first-round pick but the compensation pick should make it almost a non-issue, especially if the unsigned draftee was only a HS player and unlikely to see MLB service for another 4+ years. For the draftee, on the other hand, failing to sign would be a huge risk. You’d have to reenter the draft the next year and hope that you don’t slump or get hurt in the meantime. It should be interesting to see if any teams play hardball this year with draftees seeking a bonus well above slot.

by ken on Aug 6, 2008 2:47 PM EDT up 0 recs

Kinda gives the teams all the power.

They could even pressure a player to sign for less than slot money.

by jacob brumfield on Aug 6, 2008 3:03 PM EDT up 0 recs

I doubt it will be less than slot,

but yeah, the new provision definitely helps the teams. An article in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette talks about the Pirates’ negotiations with Pedro Alvarez, the no. 2 pick this year. He’s a Boras client and asking for the moon and the stars but he won’t get it.

by ken on Aug 6, 2008 5:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

well researched, well known

to you, BjB, and all. Hope we see Alonso soon, though it does bring up the question of what we’re up to with Joey V

...because there's already someone posing as Jacob Brumfield

by Cy Schourek on Aug 6, 2008 4:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

Votto will be at SS in 09

That’s why Dusty is batting him 2nd.

You can tell your uncle stuff that you could not tell your dad. That is kind of the role of an uncle. I feel very much like a father sometimes but sometimes I feel like a teammate.
Dusty Baker

by Madville on Aug 6, 2008 11:19 PM EDT 0 recs

FromJonathan Mayo at MLB.com

7. Reds—Yonder Alonso: It hasn’t been going great, but the Reds are still fairly confident they’ll get it done. Look for it to be above-slot. An odd side note: The agent representing Alonso also reps Jim Morris, the University of Miami baseball coach. Yep, Alonso went to Miami…just adds some drama.

We Are ... Marshall!

by Thundering Turtle on Aug 7, 2008 12:27 PM EDT 0 recs

The Reds cannot waste this pick

At this point, the organization has to realize what kind of dollars these types of picks are going to demand, right? I mean, if you are not able/unwilling to lure top free agents here then they must sign top picks. I know we all know this, but I have the obvious button locked down on my keyboard.

Overserved and underwhelmed.

by Pops Daniels on Aug 7, 2008 2:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

You can tell your uncle stuff that you could not tell your dad. That is kind of the role of an uncle. I feel very much like a father sometimes but sometimes I feel like a teammate.
Dusty Baker

by Madville on Aug 7, 2008 2:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

A small conflict

Morris benefits if Alonso returns to Miami, so their agent has an incentive to drive a harder bargain with the Reds. Maybe Alonso should’ve picked someone else.

Do most college coaches have agents?

by ken on Aug 7, 2008 3:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

can he return to the NCAA after signing an agent?

by jacob brumfield on Aug 7, 2008 3:30 PM EDT up 0 recs

I think

He is stuck play Independent ball next year, right?

Go Florence Freedom!

by kennythered on Aug 7, 2008 4:11 PM EDT up 0 recs

Looks like he signed an "advisor", not an agent

by ken on Aug 8, 2008 7:59 AM EDT up 0 recs

Via the Fay

Miami Herald reporting:

One of Alonso’s advisors, Brian Peters, told The Miami Herald recently Alonso was looking for ’’Pat Burrell money’’—or about $7 million and that if contract negotiations weren’t finalized, Yonder would either return to UM or go to the Independent League, ’’likely the latter.’’ But another family advisor, Mike Maulini, said the family prefers Alonso come back to school.

All I’ve ever done was be Juan Pierre," he said. "I don’t know why, for some reason, they’re just sticking it to me this year."

by Slyde on Aug 7, 2008 7:07 PM EDT 0 recs

Way to go, Fay!

Way to do your job by citing someone else who has the exact same job.

by Brian B on Aug 7, 2008 11:35 PM EDT up 0 recs

yep

I don’t think a Cincinnati writer has broken a story since Jack McKeon got fired

by bobestes on Aug 8, 2008 12:17 AM EDT up 0 recs

I really hate it

when my family advisors aren’t in agreement.

by ken on Aug 8, 2008 7:58 AM EDT up 0 recs

That's insane

No one thought Alonso was either the best talent, or the likely #1 pick, in the draft. The first pick got only $6.1M, and others around Alonso (at about the pick everyone thought he would be chosen) are getting in the neighborhood of $2-2.5M.

I’m never one to complain about what an athlete makes (especially considering what Oprah Winfrey brings in), but this kid is getting some terrible advice – I can’t imagine he’s going to get significantly more money next year, and he’s throwing away a year of income.

Often wrong, never uncertain.

by sidnancy on Aug 8, 2008 10:27 AM EDT up 0 recs

The amazing things to me are

a) people think an unproven athlete deserves this kind of money
b) we live in a world where someone would risk $3 million to get $7 million. Sure $7 million is a lot more money, but $3 million is still $3 million. How anybody would be willing to go back to school and walk away from that much guaranteed money is beyond me.

All I’ve ever done was be Juan Pierre," he said. "I don’t know why, for some reason, they’re just sticking it to me this year."

by Slyde on Aug 8, 2008 10:35 AM EDT up 0 recs

i think you hit the nail on the head there

and thats why i think all this “50-50” talk is just posturing. i think he’ll take the nice above-slot offer the Reds give him and we’ll all be just fine. seriously, he cant be that crazy.

by Charlie Scrabbles on Aug 8, 2008 10:45 AM EDT up 0 recs

and if he is that crazy

i hope Greed knocks on his door next spring and blows out his knee

by jacob brumfield on Aug 8, 2008 2:25 PM EDT up 0 recs

Money doesn't talk, it swears

You can tell your uncle stuff that you could not tell your dad. That is kind of the role of an uncle. I feel very much like a father sometimes but sometimes I feel like a teammate.
Dusty Baker

by Madville on Aug 8, 2008 2:52 PM EDT up 0 recs

I don't know if "deserves" is right

I mean, really, who “deserves” that kind of money not matter what the circumstances? But I see your point; so do the NFL players, who’ve started howling that the money going to rookies is out of line compared to what vets get. In the grand scheme of things, though, the money is there, and I’d rather it go to the people who are trotting out onto the field every day.

The other thing to consider: Molina likely won’t add the year he’s missing to the end of his career, I’d think (though there’s no way I know to prove this). If that’s true, going back to school over an extra couple of mill makes less sense – he’s trading $3-4M now for (if he’s any good) an extra year of $10-15M or more.

Often wrong, never uncertain.

by sidnancy on Aug 8, 2008 1:17 PM EDT up 0 recs

Shades of Jeremy Sowers

Pick a guy you know you can’t sign, save the money. Spend it in Dominican Republic or by eating horrible contracts (I’m looking at you, Mike Stanton)

by bobestes on Aug 7, 2008 7:22 PM EDT 0 recs

Or...

we could use it to sign one of our two top ten picks next year, right?

"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands

by BK on Aug 7, 2008 9:18 PM EDT up 0 recs

I blame Wayner

You can tell your uncle stuff that you could not tell your dad. That is kind of the role of an uncle. I feel very much like a father sometimes but sometimes I feel like a teammate.
Dusty Baker

by Madville on Aug 7, 2008 9:27 PM EDT up 0 recs