Cincinnati Reds links - Five Reds crack Baseball America's Best Tools lists

To put a wrap on an otherwise completely meaningless August affair between the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks, The Enquirer's C. Trent Rosecrans detailed concisely how and why yesterday's game ended amid a kerfluffle.  Losing that game 4-3 on a walkoff really means little in this already lost season, which means the only things on display truly worth observing are the ones that may impact the club's future.  One of those, obviously, is manager Bryan Price, who didn't exactly have his best outing either with game strategy (or knowing the rule book).  Read the quotes from Rosecrans where he talks about bunting and being "out-hustled," and you'll really scratch your head and wonder how much longer he'll be at the helm of this ship.

In other news, Baseball America released their annual MLB Best Tools list (as compiled from questions asked to big league managers), and several Reds make it in various categories.  Each of Joey Votto, Todd Frazier, Aroldis Chapman, Billy Hamilton, and Brandon Phillips get mentions, all of which are highly subjective, of course.  Johnny Cueto makes the cut for his pick-off move, too, and though he's listed as being with the Reds, I've tried to eliminate that from my mind for the short-term and therefore can't bring myself to count it.  These types of surveys always intrigue me, since it's the closest thing to a glimpse into the minds of the in-game decision-makers as we can get, since their hunches and sentiments are on full display.  Seeing tweets like the one below after seeing Andrew McCutchen get the 'Best Defensive Outfielder' nod emphasize that to no end:

Career Defensive Runs Saved: Lagares: 61 Pollock: 38 Span: 30 Hamilton: 19 McCutchen: -27

— Baseball Outliers (@b_outliers) August 10, 2015

BA's MiLB Best Tools lists should come out soon, I believe.  Keep an eye out for those moving forward.

Also from BA comes J.J. Cooper answering a question about how the Reds' Top 10 prospect list would stack up after the trade of Cueto to the Kansas City Royals.  Cooper give his updated list - with Brandon Finnegan again considered a prospect since he's back in the minors.  MLB.com has recent 1st round pick Tyler Stephenson as the 4th best prospect in the Cincinnati system, yet he didn't crack Cooper's list.  Disparate mavening, it appears.

As for the recently acquired Keury Mella, Doug Gray was on-hand for one of his starts while in Florida, and has some video & a scouting report on it.

As for the start to Cody Reed's tenure as a Cincinnati farmhand, CBS's Mike Axisa noted his strong debut with his new franchise, and even thinks he's got the development track that'll have him helping the big league club as early as next season.

Finally, here's SI with a good breakdown of what the August 31st waiver trade deadline entails, since aside from prospects, that's about the only other thing of importance the Reds have left in the 2015 season.  Marlon Byrd may well be moved, and the same can be said for Skip Schumaker.  The same can be said for Skip Schumaker.  For the love of god, please say the same can be said for Skip Schumaker.