Red Reporter Community Prospect Rankings: Past and Present

Every year we do some voting and come up with prospect lists from the Red Reporter community, which you probably know or at least I hope so, and typically we do a pretty good job.  I've been super busy/lazy lately, and have been planning on doing some write ups about previous lists, and at least comparing this year's to last year's lists.  Below you'll find the lists from 2016, 2015, and 2014.  It really is a nice little trip down memory lane.

2016 List 1. Jesse Winker, OF 2. Robert Stephenson, SP 3. Cody Reed, SP 4. Jose Peraza, SS/2B 5. Tyler Stephenson, C 6. Amir Garrett, SP T-7. Alex Blandino, 2B/SS T-7. Nick Travieso, SP 9. Rookie Davis, SP 10. Keury Mella, SP 11. Yorman Rodriguez, OF 12. Phil Ervin, OF 13. John Lamb, SP 14. Eric Jagielo, 3B/1B 15. Scot Schebler, OF 16. Tyler Mahle, SP 17. Antonio Santillan, SP 18. Gavin LaValley, 3B/1B 19. Aristides Aquino, OF T-20. Sal Romano, SP T-20. Zach Weiss, RP 22. Jon Moscot, SP 23. Seth Varner, SP 24. Blake Trahan, SS 25. Jake Cave, OF

2015 List 1.  Jesse Winker, OF 2.  Robert Stephenson, SP 3.  Michael Lorenzen, SP 4. Raisel Iglesias, SP 5. Anthony DeSclafani, SP 6.  Yorman Rodriguez, OF 7.  Nick Travieso, SP 8.  Phil Ervin 9.  Amir Garrett, SP 10.  Nick Howard, SP 11.  Aristides Aquino, OF 12.  Alex Blandino, 2B/SS 13.  Jonathon Crawford, SP 14. Kyle Waldrop, OF 15.  Seth Mejias-Brean, 3B 16.  Jon Moscot, SP 17.  Daniel Corcino, SP 18.  Tucker Barnhart, C 19.  Sal Romano, SP 20.  Gavin LaValley, 1B/3B 21.  Taylor Sparks, 3B 22.  Carlton Daal, SS 23.  Chad Wallach, C 24.  Junior Arias, INF/OF 25.  Juan Silva, OF

2014 List 1. Robert Stephenson, SP 2. Billy Hamilton, OF 3. Phillip Ervin, OF 4. Yorman Rodriguez, OF 5. Jesse Winker, OF 6. Nick Travieso, SP 7. David Holmberg, SP 8. Tucker Barnhart, C 9. Michael Lorenzen, SP/RP 10. Ben Lively, SP 11. Seth Mejias-Brean, 3B/INF 12. Daniel Corcino, SP 13. Jose Ortiz, C 14. Carlos Contreras, SP 15. Chad Rogers, SP 16. Jon Moscot, SP 17. Kevin Franklin, 3B 18. Henry Rodriguez, 3B/2B 19. Drew Cisco, SP 20. Junior Arias, OF/INF? 21. Ismael Guillon, SP 22. Donald Lutz, OF 23. Jeremy Kivel, SP 24. Juan Silva, OF 25. Ryan LaMarre, OF

The first thing you'll notice when looking at the lists is that we voted on 30 prospected in 2016.  I'm not exactly sure why.  I think it had to do with a lot of professional lists being extended to 30.  Maybe it's because we didn't have much else to write about, or maybe it's because I hate myself.

One thing that is important to note is that some of these players have been dropped off these lists because of options, release, Minor League Free Agency, or graduating to the Major League level.  So, every year there is due to be a bit of volatility to the lists.  Also, with all the trades that have happened in 2015, and this recent off-season, there are new bodies.  When I look at the lists it just reminds me that Daniel Corcino, Jose Ortiz, Ismael Guillon, Henry Rodriguez, Drew Cisco, and a bunch of others used to exist and we liked them.  I'm sure you could pick out some other names.  We even have Mr. Ryan LaMarre sitting on the 2014 list at #25, and I used an adorable picture and him and Billy Hamilton playing ping pong together.  /Sad Face  Ryan LaMarre joined the Red Sox organization.

Next, I kinda wanna just point out some change in the rankings from this year and last year.  Specifically to show how some improved, but how many other new people we really have.  It's kinda awesome.

1.  Jesse Winker - No Change

2.  Robert Stephenson - No Change

3.  Cody Reed - New to the organization from Kansas City (Cueto Trade)

4.  Jose Peraza - New to the organization from Los Angeles Dodgers (Frazier Trade)

5.  Tyler Stephenson - Drafted in 2015

6.  Amir Garrett - +3 in rankings

T-7.  Alex Blandino - +5 in rankings

T-7.  Nick Travieso - No Change

9.  Rookie Davis - New to the organization from the New York Yankees (Chapman Trade)

10.  Keury Mella - New to the organization from San Francisco (Leake Trade)

11.  Yorman Rodriguez -  -5 in rankings

12.  Phil Ervin -  -4 in rankings

13.  John Lamb - New to the organization from Kansas City (Cueto Trade)

14.  Eric Jagielo - New to the organization from New York Yankees (Chapman Trade)

15.  Scott Schebler - New to the organization from Los Angeles Dodgers (Frazier Trade)

16.  Tyler Mahle - Not on the list in 2015

17.  Antonio Santillan - Drafted in 2015

18.  Gavin LaValley - +2 in rankings

19.  Aristides Aquino - -8 in rankings

T-20.  Sal Romano - -1 change in rankings

T-20.  Zack Weiss - Not on the list in 2015

22.  Jon Moscot - -6 in rankings

23.  Seth Varner - Not on list in 2015

24.  Blake Trahan - Drafted in 2015

25.  Jake Cave - Acquired in the 2015 Rule 5 Draft from NYY.

For those of you not keeping score at home, here are some numbers to munch on.  There are 4 players that graduated from the list (really 5 if you'd put Brandon Finnegan on the list in 2015).  I count 8 players that were dropped off the list due to poor performance or age, and another 2 (Corcino and Silva) who were released from the organization

The biggest thing is look at all the additions.  There were 8 players added through trades or the Rule 5 Draft.  There were 3 players drafted in the year's previous draft that made the list, and another 3 that made the list through outstanding performances.  In the terms of improvements, you decided that 6 deserved to stay where they were or move up.  5 players were decided to drop in the rankings.

I think this is all really interesting because the Reds had a very mediocre, middle of the pack, farm system in 2015 by most accounts.  There is so much new blood in the system and good draftees that it's only improving to what should be an easily Top 10 farm system this year.  You could make solid arguments that anyone in the Top 8 spots is a Top 100 national prospect or at least 150.

Look it over yourself.  What do you think?  Do you think the RR community did a good job?  I'd say so, and I think the future is looking much brighter than some might want to portray.