So the rumor of a predraft deal between the Kansas City Royals and Miami junior catcher Yasmani Grandal was not true.  Instead, the Royals drafted shortstop Christian Colon from Cal St. Fullerton.  Plus, the Baltimore Orioles drafted Manny Machado the pick before the Royals and so any dreams of a much-needed shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds went down the drain early.  Surprisingly, it was Grandal who slid down to the Reds at #12 and the Reds threw caution to the wind and selected him.  With this surprise comes plenty of positives and negatives.  Here they are, in order...

NEGATIVES
1.  His agent is the same agent as 2008 first-round pick Yonder Alonso's and those negotiations were gloomy at best.  His price tag is rumored to be ridiculous and that is why he slipped to #12.  If he signs with the Reds, it will be at the deadline.

2.  Grandal has had only one good year at the college level.  He hit .234 as a freshman at Miami, .299 last year and hit just .182 for Team USA last summer.  He is having a monster season this season- he is hitting .412 with an on- base percentage well over .500.  He has changed his approach to hitting by abandoning an all- pull attitude and now he sprays the ball to all fields.  Still, one year of success should make Reds fans a little uneasy.

3.  Though Reds scouting director Chris Buckley says that Grandal is a plus thrower, Baseball America quotes some scouts who say that his throwing arm is his biggest concern as they have clocked him with 2.1 pop times (that is a below average release time for a MLB catcher throwing to second base).

4.  The Reds drafted a catcher in the first round just three years ago in Devin Mesoraco.  He has been awful until this season at Single- A Lynchburg (where he was repeating the league).  He was hitting .335/ .414/ .620 before he was just recently promoted to Double- A ball.  He is arguably having the best season of any Reds minor leaguer and the Reds drafted another catcher?  This smells like the Yonder Alonso- Joey Votto quagmire the Reds have sunk into.

POSITIVES
1.  Grandal is having a massive season and is among the NCAA leaders in many offensive catagories.  He switch hits and plays a position of scarcity in the Majors.  That is an encouraging combination.

2.  Grandal was not expected to be around when the Reds picked at #12.  This could be labled as a value pick and if Mel Kiper were covering this Draft, he would be raving over it.  Pitcher Chris Sale (#13) and outfielder Josh Sale (#17 and no relation) were available and would have been value picks too so Grandal was not a no- brainer.  Overall, the Draft was not deep in talent and anywhere that value was found must be a positive.

3.  Reds Owner Bob Castellini has shown that he can get even the toughest deals done (Adrolis Chapman, Yonder Alonso) so we should have faith that he can get Grandal in the fold.

******
Clearly, the negatives outweigh the positives initially, but if the kid is signed, that reverses direction... barely.  The kid has a lot to prove and has some direct competition in Mesoraco.  Odds are that one of the two catchers will be traded or just not make the Majors.  On that note, remember, there is nothing wrong with trading your prospects so that could be the final positive.

MLB 2010 mlb amateur draft, cincinnati reds, yasmani grandal