Reds to invite some prospects to camp

by Slyde on Jan 13, 2009 12:58 PM EST Comment 34 comments

On Tuesday, the club announced that the eight Minor Leaguers coming to big league camp are shortstops Chris Valaika and Todd Frazier, outfielder Drew Stubbs, catcher Devin Mesoraco, left-handed pitchers Pedro Viola and Ben Jukich and right-handed pitchers James Avery and Jordan Smith.

This is good news. I figured it would happen eventually, but it's nice to see these guys get some exposure to the big leaguers.

Have Alonso and Francisco already gotten an invite to camp based on their 40-man roster status?

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Maybe if you try really hard at Fantasy Camp

they’ll invite you too.

by Brendanukkah on Jan 13, 2009 1:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think they already have somebody to do their laundry though

We’’re in process of trying to a guy with a trade record of working with pitches

by Slyde on Jan 13, 2009 1:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good thing too

When the equipment manager would ask you to separate the whites from the colors, you’d just scream that he was racist.

by Brendanukkah on Jan 13, 2009 1:08 PM EST up reply actions 4 recs

Green

by Pops Daniels on Jan 13, 2009 3:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

hey, wouldn't that be a good disney movie?

Blessed be baseball.

by Daedalus on Jan 13, 2009 2:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Valaika, Frazier, and Stubbs should absolutely be in camp, and there’s a chance that any of them might see playing time in the bigs this year. Spring training will be a great opportunity to show that they belong. Good to see Mesoraco up there too. He might only be there because our organizational catching is a little thin, but it can only do him good. I’m hoping he can make some big strides this year.

And I don’t really know anything about the pitchers, but good for them too!

by Brendanukkah on Jan 13, 2009 1:07 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

in my uninformed opinion

I think Mesoraco is there as a confidence booster more than anything else.

I’m very happy for him. As someone who carries a pro-catcher bias, I hope he develops into a Mike Piazza.

Blessed be baseball.

by Daedalus on Jan 13, 2009 2:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And a lot of catchers get invited

because someone has to catch all those extra pitchers before cuts are made.

We Are ... Marshall!

by Thundering Turtle on Jan 13, 2009 3:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i think that is why the reds signed paul bako to a minor league contract.

with an invite to spring training.

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Jan 13, 2009 3:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

you had to bring that up!

toothpick, too

Blessed be baseball.

by Daedalus on Jan 13, 2009 5:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

toothache, I mean

Blessed be baseball.

by Daedalus on Jan 13, 2009 5:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i think if Ross was healthy

Bako would not have made the team.

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Jan 13, 2009 5:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

maybe true

but dustbag would have pushed for him eventually

by sharks on Jan 13, 2009 5:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

if Bako stuck around

Bako may have elected free agency if he were designated for assignment.

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Jan 13, 2009 9:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

good point

by sharks on Jan 14, 2009 4:30 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Where's Danny Dorn at?

He seems the closest to the major leagues out of the system along with Stubbs, maybe.

"Yes, and it's so important in this sport that the athletes be able to train in the same location." -Cynthia Potter, NBC Synchronized Diving Analyst

by 3 Fast 3 Furious on Jan 13, 2009 1:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

i was about to say the same thing

these guys all deserve to be in big league camp, but leaving out Dorn is a glaring omission.

by Charlie Scrabbles on Jan 13, 2009 1:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think they're afraid that he can't hack it in Spring Training

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ccUDrB_8jQ

We’’re in process of trying to a guy with a trade record of working with pitches

by Slyde on Jan 13, 2009 1:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

On your question Slyde

Have Alonso and Francisco already gotten an invite to camp based on their 40-man roster status?

I may be wrong but I believe every member of the 40 man roster is a part of big league spring training. Mostly because right now everyone on the 40 man roster is on the “active” roster. I am guessing Alonso will be one of the first cuts and he will be optioned to the minors and go to minor league camp.

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Jan 13, 2009 1:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Correct

Alonso and Francisco are invited already due to them being on the 40 man roster. Same goes for Maloney and Fisher.

www.redsminorleagues.com

by dougdirt on Jan 13, 2009 1:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

and Manuel

We’’re in process of trying to a guy with a trade record of working with pitches

by Slyde on Jan 13, 2009 1:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

and taveras

What do you mean, "blank slate"?

by boobs on Jan 13, 2009 2:27 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

you mean "Tavoc"?

Blessed be baseball.

by Daedalus on Jan 13, 2009 2:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Juan Francisco: Niño Destructor

Juan “Child of Destruction” Francisco got some major newspaper action yesterday in the El Caribe here in the DR. The front page of the sports section (which is actually the back page of this journal like newspaper) had a photo of him following through on a golf like home run swing and said “Niño Destructor” as the headline. He hit a three run homer to put Sunday’s game against the Aguilas (EdE and Cueto’s team) out of reach. This was the day after hitting a dramatic 11th inning walk off homerun the day before against the same team. The Aguilas, defending champions and 20 time DR league champions, were eliminated from possible participation in the finals yesterday, while Francisco’s team, the Gigantes, has surged ahead into first place, a half game ahead of Licey with four games to play in the round robin. The top two teams of the four competing will play a best of 9 final.

According to MLB stats, Francisco is now leading the DR winter league in OPS:

Name Team POS G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG OPS
Juan Francisco GIG 3B 40 161 36 58 9 2 12 37 107 12 34 0 2 .419 .665 .360 1.084
Victor Diaz AGU OF 49 195 36 61 17 0 17 50 129 21 71 2 1 .382 .662 .313 1.044
Pablo Ozuna EST OF 33 118 18 46 12 0 3 21 67 13 11 2 1 .467 .568 .390 1.034
Brayan Pena GIG C 42 164 38 56 9 2 8 38 93 26 20 4 2 .423 .567 .341 .990
Jake Fox LIC C 30 116 21 41 13 0 3 31 63 11 23 0 2 .412 .543 .353 .955

(Click the link to see a much more readable stat chart)

Vólquez’s team (and Richar too), the Toros, are vying for the final spot, but they have fallen 2.5 games behind Licey. Since the round robin playoffs began, Vólquez is leading the league in strike outs with 19. His Era (6.43) and Whip (1.86) over 14 innings are nothing to write home about.

Tanzen!

by Verka Serduchka on Jan 13, 2009 3:26 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Niño Destructor

Ok, now I’m totally on board with getting him to the big leagues as soon as possible. I want to go back and do our prospect rankings votes over again because this nickname is so BAD ASS!

by Brendanukkah on Jan 13, 2009 3:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I hope this translates to english as 'Child Destroyer'

and Francisco makes it to the big leagues with rumors swirling that he eats children.

by jacob brumfield on Jan 13, 2009 3:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

R. Kelly'd

by Pops Daniels on Jan 13, 2009 3:59 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

In this age of paranoia,

he’d have to stay 100 yards from schools with a name like that.

Blessed be baseball.

by Daedalus on Jan 13, 2009 5:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

but you wrote home about them anyway

His Era (6.43) and Whip (1.86) over 14 innings are nothing to write home about.

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Jan 13, 2009 3:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Verka

I really enjoy your updates!

by jacob brumfield on Jan 13, 2009 3:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Quite a season for Francisco

his #’s look a lot like those of Nelson Cruz (of Texas) – and Francisco is quite a ways behind Cruz in terms of development.

If you look through those stat sheets, you see quite a list of names – Luis Polonia and Jose Offerman, to name a few

"To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other." - Jack Handey

by JJ on Jan 13, 2009 4:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Huh, I thought Offerman was probably in jail

"Yes, and it's so important in this sport that the athletes be able to train in the same location." -Cynthia Potter, NBC Synchronized Diving Analyst

by 3 Fast 3 Furious on Jan 13, 2009 4:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

"Yes, and it's so important in this sport that the athletes be able to train in the same location." -Cynthia Potter, NBC Synchronized Diving Analyst

by 3 Fast 3 Furious on Jan 13, 2009 4:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The Aguilas had a terrible post season

and the press is already calling for the turning of a new leaf with some of the wily veterans like Polonia (46 years old!), José Lima (37), Julian Tavárez (36), and Alberto Castillo (39) who have help bring success to the team since the 90’s

Tanzen!

by Verka Serduchka on Jan 13, 2009 4:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs