BK and I, in the absence of any real or significant prospect news to report on, decided to present our fine readers with a fun exercise.  We want you to predict the Opening day roster for the 2014 Redlegs.  This is stolen from something Baseball America does each year in their organizational prospect rankings.  In addition to an organization's top 10 prospects and best tools, they list their projected roster for each team in 3 years.  BA releases its Reds top prospects list soon (November 16th), so before we get their predictions, we want you to make your own.

Of course, there are ground rules.

1) You can only choose from players currently in the organization.  That means no Russian billionaires buying the team and signing Pujols, Sabathia, Jimenez, and Reyes. 

2)  You can assume that players will sign contract extensions.  For example, Joey Votto is not signed through 2014, but if you think he'll re-up and still be on the team, that is fine.  Alternatively, you can also assume players will be released or traded.  If you think Jay Bruce is a bum and is off the team by 2014, you don't have to include him, even though he's currently under contract through then.

3)  Players must be listed at the position in which they currently play.  No making Billy Hamilton the starting CF.

4) You are only listing a starting 8, 5 starting pitchers, and a closer.  We don't care about UT infielders or middle relievers.

It's up to you how you want to do this.  You can either predict what Walt will do, or you can say what you would do if you were GM.  Do you think Walt signs Brandon Phillips through 2014?  Would you?

Of course, all of these rules mean that none of us will actually be right.  This is just a fun exercise to think about how we would use the current talent in the organization.

Find BK's and my predictions after the jump, and leave yours in the comments. Happy predicting!

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The Arizona Fall League - the annual prospect showcase featuring teams named after recreational activities and desert scrub animals - gets underway today. A word of warning, via Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus:

Beyond the small sample sizes provided by a season that consists of approximately 30 games, you have a hugely offensive environment that is only bolstered by the imbalance of talent, as hitting far outweighs the pitching.

BP highlights Jazz Man as the premier catcher in the AFL. Here are the Reds' players taking part, all as members of Phoenix Desert Dogs, who apparently spit on the Diamondback's turf claims, even in the midst of their playoff run:

Bradley Boxberger, RHP (who contributed a post to the AFL Prospects blog)
Donnie Joseph, LHP
Nick Christiani, RHP
Travis Webb, LHP

Yasmani Grandal, C

Cody Puckett, 2B
Brodie Greene, SS

To mark the end of the minor league season, we're going to do something a bit different for the Farmer's Market today.  Instead of 3 fresh and stale prospects, you'll get 1 of each, for each team in the system.  Picking these was not about who was the best and worst player, but who improved or hurt their prospect stock the most.  Since many guys switched levels at some point, players are considered for the team where they got the most IP or PAs.  Also, it's late and I have school tomorrow, so no recap after the jump.

Louisville Bats (73-71)

Stock Up: Devin Mesoraco

This was a tough one, as Yonder Alonso and Dave Sappelt each improved their stock significantly.  Still, even after Devin's monster 2010 many were questioning his legitimacy.  You won't hear those questions now (except maybe from HLM).  Devin is a consensus top 10-15 prospect and possibly the best catching prospect in baseball.  At age 23 (and change) he became the youngest catcher to make a start for the Reds since 1991.  And pretty much everyone expects him to anchor the position for the Reds for years to come.  An excellent season for a future star.

Stock Down: Chris Valaika

This easily could've been Kris Negron as well, but since most prospect rankings never considered him much of a prospect, we'll go with Valaika.  He's been on a steady downward trajectory since arriving in AAA in 2009, but before this season he might have had a future as a utility guy.  Now, after hitting .261/.302/.355 in his third stint at Louisville, there's a very real chance the organization could let him go before next spring.

Carolina Mudcats (53-85)

Stock Up: Neftali Soto

Soto became the first Reds farmhand to hit 30 homers in a season since Adam Dunn did it in 2001.  He hit 30 for the Mudcats, then hit another this weekend playing for Louisville.  Because Soto missed significant time with injury, that meant that he clubbed those 31 homers in just 432 plate appearances, or a homer every 14 times to the plate.  Soto is far from a perfect hitter, as he doesn't walk much and strikes out a lot, but 31 homers from a 22 year old is very, very impressive, and puts him right back in the mix of top Reds prospects.

Stock Down: Donnie Joseph

After dominating A ball last season and eliciting calls for him to be the team's future closer, Joseph consistently struggled in AA this year, to the tune of a 6.94 ERA and 30 walks in just 58 IP.  He'll definitely get a chance to redeem himself in Louisville next season, but at age 24, and with the ceiling of a middle reliever, he'll be on the edge of non-prospect status.

Bakersfield Blaze (66-73)

Stock Up: Yasmani Grandal

Considering he ended the season going 6-12 for Louisville, it's easy to forget that Grandal spent the majority of his time this season in Bakersfield.  But over the three levels (A+, AA, AAA), Grandal compiled a line of .305/.401/.500 with a ton of walks and doubles.  He'll almost definitely start next year in Louisville, and will keep the pressure on Walt Jocketty to keep finding roster spots for the organization's talented young hitters.

Stock Down: Ryan LaMarre

He didn't have a terrible season, all told.  His final line of .278/.350/.370 with 55 SB is nothing terrible, but for a 2nd round pick with supposedly good power potential, who also spent the year in the most hitter-friendly environment in baseball, it is a bit disappointing.  Some lists had LaMarre listed as high as #11 in the system coming in to the year.  It's a safe bet he won't be that high next time around.

Dayton Dragons  (82-57)

Stock Up: David Vidal

Another tough one.  Juan Duran raised his stock tremendously by cobbling together an OPS of .792 with 16 homers.  But he also struck out a whopping 152 times in just 104 games.  David Vidal was consistently one of Dayton's best hitters, and could be in the top 10 of the organization.  He put up a .280/.350/.498 line with 20 home runs, and reports on his defense at third base were good.  Still young, he could begin moving through the system quickly and be another option at a position of need.

Stock Down: Yorman Rodriguez

Billy Hamilton had perhaps the most disappointing season from a hitting standpoint.  But he also stole 103 bases and was worlds better in the second half, offering hope moving forward.  Yorman was not terrible, but he wasn't great either (.254/.318/.393 line).  Most importantly, he was hurt....a lot.  This is the second season in a row he has missed time with injuries, and despite the tools, a lack of on-field production and seeming fragility is hurting his prospect status...for now.

Rookie Ball

Stock Up: Sean Buckley

Buckley must have been very concerned about accusations of nepotism, because this year's 6th round pick, and son of scouting director Chris Buckley, hit like a man possessed.  In 253 PAs he posted a line of .286/.372/.550.  Age, sample size, and league caveats all apply, but this kid looks like he can hit...a lot.  Expect to see him in Carolina before next season is out.

Stock Down: Ismael Guillon

One of last year's bright young Latin pitchers, Guillon struggled in Billings this year.  He walked 45 in just 58 IP and stumbled to a 6.67 ERA.  He's only 19, and Billings is tough on pitchers, but he needs a much better 2012 to stay in the prospect conversation.

Here we are, the last weekend of the (regular) minor league season.  WIth the news that Juan Francisco, Jeremy Horst, Chris Valaika, Devin Mesoraco, Jared Burton, Carlos Fisher, and Matt Maloney were on their way to the big leagues, the gaps had to get filled in all the way down.  So from now until the end of the year, Louisville will welcome Yasmani Grandal, Neftali Soto, Travis Webb, Quintin Berry, and (!) Fred Lewis.  Ryan LaMarre, Brodie Greene, Mark Fleury, and Andrew Bowman move up to Carolina to take their spots.  Brandon Dailey and Brennan May move from the AZL to Dayton, and Steven Selsky goes from the AZL to Billings.  Everyone caught up?  Good.  On to the games.

• Louisville was off.  They'll take on Indy at 7:15 with Edinson Volquez making what's likely to be his last start before coming back up.  
• Carolina lost 9-3 to Mississippi.  Didi Gregorius and Cody Puckett had 2 hits each, and Eric Campbell drove in 2 runs.  Josh Ravin was decent, going 5 innings and giving up 3 runs (2 ER).  Up next: James Avery at 7:15.
• Bakersfield lost 5-2 to San Jose.  Devin Lohman was 2-for-4 with a homer, and Mark Serrano gave up 5 runs in 7 innings of work.  Up next: The Blaze take on High Desert at 10:30.
• Dayton lost to Bowling Green 7-5.  Billy Hamilton was 2-for-5 with a homer (!) and Donald Lutz had 3 hits.  Daniel Corcino got lit up, giving up 7 runs without getting out of the 5th.  Tucker Barnhart had 2 hits and 2 runs batted in.  Up next: Josh Smith takes on BG at 8:05.
• Billings won 7-4 against Helena.  Tony Cingrani started and gave up 3 runs in 5 innings (which is more than you'd expect) but still got the win.  Robert Maddox went 3-for-5 and Bryson Smith hit his 5th homer.  Up next: Great Falls at 9:05.

• Louisville beat Columbus 2-1.  Matt Maloney gave up 1 run in 8 innings with 3 strikeouts, and Brad Boxberger pitched a perfect 9th to earn his 5th save.  Juan Francisco and Chris Valaika had 2 hits each.  Up next: Chad Reineke takes on Columbus at 7:05.
• Carolina beat Montgomery 7-3.  Eric Campbell homered and drove in 3 runs.  Curtis Partch gave up 3 runs in 6 2/3 innings, with 7 strikeouts.  Up next: Off day.
• Bakersfield beat San Jose 11-6.  Tim Crabbe started and pitched 7 shutout innings with only 1 hit, 1 walk, and 8 strikeouts.  Brodie Greene and Devin Lohman both homered.  Up next: Matt Fairel takes on San Jose at 10:30.
• Dayton beat West Michigan 3-2.  Kyle Lotzkar gave up 2 runs in 5 innings of work, and Donald Lutz hit 2 home runs, including the walk-off bomb in the 10th inning.  Ronald Torreyes also had 3 hits.  Up next: Tanner Robles gets the start in Bowling Green at 7:35.
• Billings lost 6-4 to Helena.  Kyle Waldrop and Robert Maddox homered, and Wes Mugarian gave up 5 runs in 6 innings, though they were all unearned.  Also, they're currently tied for the lead in their division with 9 games left, so keep an eye on them going forward.  Up next: Helena at 9:05.
• The AZL Reds had a playoff game and lost 9-3 to the AZL Giants.  Justice French didn't pitch well.  Since this is only a 1-game series, they're our first team to end this year.

Neftali Soto hit his 30th home run of the season for Carolina last night, marking the first time any Reds farmhand has reached that number since Adam Dunn hit 32 in 2001.  Dunner was 21 when he did it, and Soto is only 22.  What's even more scary is that Soto spent a fair bit of time on the DL and only has 400ish plate appearances on the season. 

Soto's isn't the only statistical milestone being reached.  Ryan LaMarre, the Forgotten Prospect, stole his 50th and 51st bases last night.  He's no Billy Hamilton, but that's still impressive.  LaMarre's power has been very disappointing, but his OBP on the season is .351, and he plays an excellent CF.  Might be another future leadoff candidate.

Speaking of Billy Hamilton, he stole base number 95 last night, inching him ever closer to the quixotic goal of 100.

• Louisville got crushed 11-2.  Daryl Thompson failed to make it out of the first inning, giving up 8 runs.  Chris Heisey homered on rehab.
• Carolina won 8-3.  Pedro Villareal threw 6 strong innings, giving up 2 runs (1 earned) while striking out 6.  Soto had 2 singles to go with the home run, and his OPS on the year is now .907.  Yasmani Grandal was 2-4 with a double and a walk.
• Bakersfield lost 7-6.  Ryan LaMarre had 2 hits and the 2 SB.  A bunch of other guys had 1 or 2 hits, but Mark Fleury's triple was the only extra base hit.
• Dayton lost 5-1.  Billy Hamilton was 1-4 with the SB and Ronald Torreyes was 2-4 with his 11th SB.  His line on the year is now .354/.400/.461.
• Billings was off.
• AZL Reds lost 5-4.  Once again, not much good to say here.

Yesterday afternoon, MBP and I had the privilege of heading up to Dayton on a nice Sunday afternoon to watch the Dragons take on the West Michigan Whitecaps.  Little did we know going into the game that their magic number was one at the time, and that upon winning the game, would be crowned 2nd half champions in the Midwest League East.  In fact, we didn't even know until the final out, when David Vidal made a tough play to throw out a runner at first, he hugged pitcher Daniel Wolford and the team rallied around the mound and jumped around.  It was then when we figured out that they weren't just really, really, ridiculously happy to beat West Michigan, but had clinched a playoff spot with a 43-19 record so far.  Here are some observations about the game:

• Dayton's a pretty nice place to watch a ballgame.  Nice stadium, easy to see from everywhere around the concourse, and a good crowd on hand.  A far cry from the half-empty stadiums a lot of minor leaguers are used to playing in, I'm sure.
• Josh Smith got the start, and was pretty damn impressive.  He's a bigger guy, and we couldn't see a stadium gun but it looked like his fastball was pretty sharp.  He mixed in a lot of off-speed stuff, too.  He was dominant, only giving up 3 hits in the 6 innings he pitched, with 6 strikeouts to extend his league lead.
• Billy Hamilton didn't steal any bases, but really didn't have much of a chance.  He got on base a couple times (one beating out a grounder that he had no business beating out), and I can see why scouts rave about his speed.  He got picked off his first time on base and didn't steal the other time.  Oh well.
• One thing that really struck me about this team is how short they are.  Ronald Torreyes is DRH short, Tucker Barnhart looks like a normal guy you'd see out at the bar, and David Vidal is listed at 5'11", but is actually probably about 5'9".  That said, all three of those guys can absolutely rake.  
• Juan Duran honestly impressed me.  He was 2 for 4 on the day with a single up the middle and a homer that just about his the foul pole in LF (but cleared the wall by about 30 feet).  He's so strong that he almost went opposite field and narrowly missed a homer down the RF line too, barely foul.
• Since a lot of the talk at the big-league level was about defense, it's worth mentioning that Duran was pretty solid in this game, to the point where it looks like he'll be able to stick in LF.  The most impressive infielder for me was Vidal, who made a couple of sliding catches and nice spin moves to throw out runners from 3B.  Torreyes was okay too.  On the other hand...
• Unfortunately, Billy Hamilton's defense.  He had 4 ground balls hit to him (in my recollection), and bobbled two of them.  He made both of the plays where he had to move to his left, and completely shit on the ones where he had to go to the right.  No errors due to a generous scorekeeper, but I'm considerably less optimistic on his future as a SS after seeing him play in person.  Then again, he did make a great catch where he ended up in the spot where the LF usually plays, but his range on ground balls and his throwing arm are suspect.  Why hasn't there been any talk about trying him out in CF?
• The bullpen was solid, as Pat Doyle pitched 2 shutout innings and Daniel Wolford pitched a scoreless 9th.  By the way, there isn't an anonymous Reds prospect having a better under-the-radar year than Wolford right now.  34 1/3 scoreless innings in a row, and he hasn't given up an earned run since JUNE.  That's crazy.

Edinson Volquez

He's had quality starts in 7 of his last 8 starts.  His control is better too, only issuing 27 walks in 80 innings.  I think we may see him again in September, whether we like it or not.

Neftali Soto

29 homers so far this year, leading all of the Reds teams and is now 2nd in the Southern League.  Raise your hand if you expected a breakout power year here?  We didn't either, but could he be ready for a big league role next year?

Billy Hamilton

Yeah, you know about the stolen bases (94 and counting), but he's OPSing .989 in his last 10 games.  A .500 OBP in that span for a leadoff hitter is pretty good too.

Tony Cingrani

As impressive a rookie ball debut as we've seen in some time.  66 strikeouts, 5 walks, in 40 2/3 innings.  A 1.56 ERA in 11 starts.  

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Last year, the Dayton Dragons were bad. Historically bad.  The team finished with a record of 53-85, good for last place by a big margin.  The team was near the bottom of the league in runs scored, runs allowed, and they led the league in errors.  But in some nice karmic retribution for the faithful fans in the fair city of Dayton, this year's edition has turned it around completely.  Their record currently sits at 75-54, good for first place, and they lead the league in runs allowed, are second in runs scored, and are in the lower half in errors.  What a difference a year makes.

• Louisville won 6-5.  Matt Maloney added to his franchise record in wins, going 6 innings, giving up 4 runs.  Kris Negron and Jeremy Hermida homered, and Chris Valaika doubled twice.  Brad Boxberger earned the save with a scoreless 9th.  His ERA in Louisville is down to 3.42 and he's striking out more than a batter an inning.
• Carolina lost 5-3.  Yasmani Grandal hit a 2 run, pinch hit double.  Otherwise, this game looked boring.
• Bakersfield lost 2-0.  The team wasted a good start by Tim Crabbe (7 IP, 2 ER) by only managing 4 hits.  
• Dayton made Great Lakes their bitch, winning 9-0.  Kyle Lotzkar threw 6 shutout innings, striking out 4.  Billy Hamilton was 2-5 with a double, Ronald Torreyes was 2-5 with 2 triples, and Juan Duran was 2-4 with a double and a walk.  Duran's OPS is almost at .800 for the season.  Who saw that coming?
• Billings won 7-6.  Kyle Waldrop went 4-5, and and Spencer Dickinson (seriously, rookie ball has some amazing names) doubled and tripled.
• AZL Reds lost 9-0.  There is literally nothing good to say about this game.