BA draft report card

[albbla2000mu]

Anyone have access to BaseballAmerica website to show the how they graded the reds draft this year?

[redsrbetter]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today...eds/index.html

You can look at the top of our site and see the mlb links headline. Baseball America is listed under there.

I don't see the Reds 2005 list yet though.

[General]

How do you take Pokey Reese 3 times?

[redsrbetter]

He was our top prospect for those three years. Looks pretty bad doesn't it? But it is looking better now.

[ghettochild]

CINCINNATI REDS

Best Pro Debut: LHP Travis Wood (2) was unhittable at two Rookie-level stops, going a combined 2-0, 1.29 with 67 strikeouts in 49 innings. SS Adam Rosales (12) batted .325-14-46, including .328 with nine homers in 32 games at low Class A. Some scouts questioned how he'd hit with wood bats, but area scout Rick Sellers believed in him. OF Jay Bruce (1) ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the Rookie-level Pioneer League and hit .266-9-38 for two Rookie clubs. OF Brandon Roberts (7) was an all-star in the same league, batting .318-4-36 with 32 steals.

Best Athlete: Bruce has plus tools across the board and probably will settle into right field. Area scout Steve Kring unearthed another interesting athlete in SS Michael Jones (8), who's much more raw than Bruce.

Best Pure Hitter: Bruce, who has been compared to Larry Walker and Jeremy Hermida.

Best Raw Power: Bruce's power is his best tool. When 3B Angel Colon (35) catches up to a pitch, he too can drive it a long way.

Fastest Runner: Roberts goes from the left side of the plate to first base in 4.0 seconds. Bruce might beat him in a 60-yard dash, and his speed plays better than his stopwatch time on the bases and in the outfield because of his instincts.

Best Defensive Player: Bruce or Rosales, who has well above-average arm strength. Michael Griffin (14) and Michael DeJesus (15) are good defenders at second base. Griffin had elbow surgery in August to repair a pre-existing injury.

Best Fastball: Both Wood and RHP Bo Lanier (10) reached 95 mph during the spring. Wood is lefthanded and has better command of his heater, which sat at 88-91 mph for much of the spring before taking off. RHPs Zach Ward (3), Sam LeCure (4), James Avery (5) and Carlos Fisher (11) all can get into the 93-94 mph range.

Best Breaking Ball: Ward has a hard slider. Cincinnati shut him down because he had a tired arm after working 109 innings and running up some high pitch counts at Gardner-Webb. LeCure, Avery and RHP Jeff Stevens (6) all have promising curveballs. Wood's changeup is the best offspeed pitch in this group.

Most Intriguing Background: DeJesus' brother David plays for the Royals. SS/2B Kevyn Feiner's (18) brother Korey catches in the Twins system. Unsigned OF Jake Christensen (50) is a backup quarterback at the University of Iowa and was Illinois' 2004 high school football player of the year. His father Jeff is a former NFL quarterback.

Closest To The Majors: LeCure and Avery. LeCure didn't pitch for College World Series champion Texas during the spring because he was academically ineligible, but he had little difficulty finding his good stuff.

Best Late-Round Pick: Rosales. The Reds also were delighted to get RHP Abe Woody (31) on the second day of the draft, learning he was more signable than expected. Woody has nice life on a fastball with average velocity.

The One Who Got Away: Cincinnati knew signing Christensen was a longshot but felt he was worth taking. He's a power-hitting, athletic right fielder with a 6-foot-1, 205-pound frame. The Reds signed every pick in the first 21 rounds, except ninth-round draft-and-follow Milton Loo.

Assessment: Bruce and Wood immediately become two of the better prospects in a thin Reds farm system. After that pair, Cincinnati picked up several hard-throwing righthanders.

[albbla2000mu]

...thanks ghetto