Thoughts from a scout

by riverfront76 on Jun 12, 2011 12:22 PM EDT

Happened to sit next to a Cardinals scout at a AA game last night...a Cardinals scout who's a Reds fan from SW Ohio. Assorted outtakes from our conversation:

On Yonder Alfonso: On his best day, he's not quite Jonny Gomes defensively

On Juan Francisco: I'd love to see him get his shot. I think he'd hit 25 HR in the bigs. 'Course, he'd also hit .220...

On which Reds prospects he was most excited about: The two catchers definitely. Mesoraco looks amazing.

On Cardinals wunderkind Shelby Miller: He's the real deal. Could probably help the Cards right now.

On my surprise/annoyance on how well Lance Berkman has worked out for STL: He practically begged the Cards to sign him. He insisted he was ready to play the outfield. (why does this never happen for the Reds?)

Take all this for what it's worth of course; thought it was interesting...

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I hate hearing that about Yonder

because on an average day he is two times better than Gomes offensively

LTP is for Stubbs only!

by OGC Reds on Jun 12, 2011 12:26 PM EDT reply actions

Alonso

He looks really…lumbering out there.

I’m reminded of Adam Dunn more than Gomes, watching him.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Jun 12, 2011 1:29 PM EDT reply actions

Dunn was thick in the upper body

Alonso is thick in the lower body. Man, Alonso looks like he still has some baby fat on him. But he is just about ready for his shot, and if it comes in LF, that is OK with me at this point.

by kcgard2 on Jun 12, 2011 2:35 PM EDT up reply actions

I still can't remember who the french maid is.

Billy Hamilton: Snax
Devin Mesoraco: Snacks

by nycredsfan on Jun 13, 2011 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions

some team staffer, non-baseball playing division

Is the cop Valaika and Santa is Jordan Smith? Or the other way around?

Let's not kid ourselves. It's really, really, bad.

by Cy Schourek on Jun 13, 2011 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Other way around.

Calmer than you are.

by 3 Fast 3 Furious on Jun 13, 2011 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Scott Rolen didn't beg, but he was pretty close to demanding a trade to the Reds

by Brendanukkah on Jun 12, 2011 3:04 PM EDT reply actions

Miller is probably going to be a total stud so long as he avoids injuries

by pack_fan on Jun 12, 2011 4:01 PM EDT reply actions

i sat next to jch24 at a Frontier League game last night

he deftly fielded a foul ball 6-9 inches in front of a 10 yr old. he gave the ball to said brat as opposed to either of our boys.

(the boy did offer a very meek “thank you” but only a few minutes later after his mother, seated about 100 ft away, instucted him to do so)

Buy RED: My Uncensored Life in Rock by Sammy Hagar, today

by obc2 on Jun 12, 2011 4:47 PM EDT reply actions

If only she'd known that this wasn't the first time jch had been 6-9 inches in front of a ten year old

by Brendanukkah on Jun 12, 2011 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs

Eight year olds Dude, eight year olds.

Let a man come in and do the Popcorn.

by -ManBearPig on Jun 12, 2011 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Yikes

"Wait, you think I'm being mean to the pretend orangutan?" -- battlekow

by jch24 on Jun 13, 2011 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions

Michael Cuddyer anyone?

Seems like it wouldn’t take much to get him. Might be a nice LF stopgap. Thoughts?

Wear something sexy to my funeral.

by Pops Daniels on Jun 12, 2011 5:28 PM EDT reply actions

no. call up frazier/alonso.

by jsl413 on Jun 12, 2011 7:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed

Rick Santorum telling my father [he] doesn't know about torture is like Carrot Top telling Lebron James he doesn't know about basketball." Meghan McCain

by Madville on Jun 12, 2011 8:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Who needs a first baseman?

Or do we really expect Alonso to develop defensively.

by jacob brumfield on Jun 12, 2011 6:17 PM EDT reply actions

He is a hard worker...he will develop on pure effort

Rick Santorum telling my father [he] doesn't know about torture is like Carrot Top telling Lebron James he doesn't know about basketball." Meghan McCain

by Madville on Jun 12, 2011 8:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Thank for this.

I love talking with scouts. They’re some if the most interesting, honest people in all of sports.

We Are ... Marshall!

by Thundering Turtle on Jun 12, 2011 9:43 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

only when they're off the record though

/johnu’d

Follow on Twitter: @jluckhaupt. Buy The Wire-to-Wire Reds and The MSP Reds Annual today!

by Slyde on Jun 13, 2011 9:54 AM EDT up reply actions

Thanks for showin' and tellin'

I have been curious about Alonso. I was a skeptic about his ability to play OF after I saw him run the bases in the AFL. But the fact that they kept running him out the there in L-ville made me wonder.

I doubt he has a future as a LF, but it’s still a good move by the Reds to try him out there. At the very least, they can put that on his resume if they shop him. And they can hint that they want some friendly error-scoring to bolster the specious FP statistic.

"OVERCHARGE, v. To ask a higher price than you can get." -Ambrose Bierce

by RijoSaboCaseyWKRP on Jun 13, 2011 3:16 PM EDT reply actions

It would never happen, but switching Votto to LF would be worth exploring

I don’t know how he’d do out there, but it sounds like it can’t be worse than Alonso. They could even switch off at LF/1B. Harmon Killebrew wasn’t a great defensive player, but he was able to help the Twins out by playing 1B, 3B or LF almost interchangeably. I usually think of players moving down the defensive spectrum one position at a time, but Killebrew’s career is a good example of getting a star player to rotate among a few positions in order to get whoever else needed to be in the lineup.

by ken on Jun 13, 2011 5:50 PM EDT up reply actions