In the spirit of summer's annual blitz at the box office, the Cincinnati Reds' Minor Leaguers this season have performed like a typical movie sequel.  "Ocean's Thirteen" or "Alien 4: The Resurrection" come to mind; you come in with high hopes after the previous few shows and leave wondering if you wasted your time or not.  There were some great scenes, but overall... ?

The Reds have graduated a lot of their Minor League talent to the Major Leagues over the past three years.  They have passed along more talent than the previous dozen years combined.  Just this year Mike Leake, Jordan Smith, Chris Heisey, and Logan Ondrusek have exited the Minors and they leave nice talent gaps that are hard to replace.  Some players have stepped up and some are fading faster than Molly Ringwald's film career.

The following is a listing of the midseason ranking of the Reds' Minor Leaguers based upon statistics, numerous scouting reports, first hand observation, age, position, and the catchall- research. 

Travis Wood and Matt Maloney are included in the rankings because, as unfair as it seems, the guess here is that both will be sent back down to the Minors shortly with the returns of Aaron Harang and Edinson Volquez.

First, the GetSportsInfo Preseason Rankings for a comparison:

1.  Aroldis Chapman, SP
2.  Yonder Alonso, 1B/ LF
3.  Todd Frazier, 2B/ 3B/ OF
4.  Mike Leake, SP
5.  Travis Wood, SP
6.  Chris Heisy, OF
7.  Yorman Rodriguez, OF
8.  Juan Francisco, 3B
9.  Zach Cozart, SS
10.  Matt Maloney, SP
11.  Bradley Boxberger, SP
12.  Chris Valaika, 2B
13.  Donnie Joseph, RP
14.  Juan Duran, OF
15.  Didi Gregorius, SS
16.  Billy Hamilton, SS
17.  Phillippe Valiquette, SP
18.  Enerio Del Rosario, RP
19.  Ezequiel Infante, SP
20.  Sam LeCure, SP

QUICK COMMENTS:  No Devin Mesoraco.  We missed on that one, but so did everyone else in the universe.  Enerio Del Rosario was promoted to Cincinnati, drank a few cups of coffee, showed some promise and headed back to Louisville for polish.  It is rare to rank a reliever on a Prospects List- they are so easy to come by.  Neftali Soto was left off after he ate his way out of shortstop AND third base and is now left to hit his way to the Majors over at first base.  Daryl Thompson is a long lost name that may resurface as he recovers from arm trouble in Double- A.

And now, the GSI Midseason Rankings and comments:

1.  Chapman:  temporarily being converted to a reliever to help an awful Major League bullpen.  His control issues are real and not improving much.  He seems to think that his stuff (i.e. 100 m.p.h. fastball) will carry him to success.  He still has a lot to learn.

2.  Wood:  His showing in the Majors so far has been impressive, but let's wait until the league sees him a second time around before anointing him Tom Browning.  He could be a solid #3 starting pitcher.

***3.  Yasmani Grandal, C:  The Reds' 2010 number one draft pick debuts here as soon as he commits to a contract.  That is not a great sign for the rest of the list and others.  Grandal will be an average fielding catcher who can hit somewhere between #2 and #6 in the lineup depending on how much he develops.

4.  Alonso:  The biggest trade chip the Reds have because 1.) He plays a position that is blocked by the Reds' best player and 2.) He is hotter than Catherine Zeta- Jones in "Ocean's Twelve" right now.  Over the past week, he has hit .387/.441/.742 (12-for-31), 3 R, 2 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 3 BB, 5 SO, 3 SB.

5.  Mesoraco:  He is hardly slowing down after his promotion from High- A Lynchburg (.335/ .414/ .620 in 158 at bats) to Double- A Carolina (.286/ .339/ .610 in 105 at bats).  He should have been in the Futures Game, but there are still a lot of non- believers out there because the former #1 draft pick has not done anything like this since he has been a pro.

6.  Rodriguez:  The toolsy Venezuelan with the record signing bonus continues to progress.  In just 40 at bats (small sample!!!) for the Billings Mustangs (Short Season Rookie Ball), he is hitting .375/ .366/ .525.  He still needs to work on the typical problem with young players- plate disciple (no walks, eight strikeouts).

7.  Frazier:  He is struggling mightily in Triple-A (.239/ .301/ .434 in 297 at bats).  The good news is that these numbers have come up lately.  Still, he does not look to help the big club until late 2011 at the earliest.

8.  Ryan Lamarre:  The 2010 second round draft pick should never have lasted until the #62 pick overall.  He only did so because of an early season injury at the University of Michigan.  He is a five tool talent who should be in the top five in these rankings in a year.  So far, in 92 at bats at Low- A Dayton, he is hitting .272/ .380/ .359 with 12 steals in 13 attempts.

9.  Boxberger:  2009's supplemental pick is having a decent year at High- A (1.24 WHIP, 3.19 E.R.A. and 70 strikeout and 20 walks in 62 innings).  He gets very little press for some reason.

10.  Maloney:  He probably deserves to spend more time in Cincinnati, but he is squeezed out by money and returning veterans.  He could carve out an up and down career as a 4th or 5th (probably) starter.

11.  Joseph:  He is the only reliever in the present rankings so he must be good.  Last year's third- round pick has 76 strikeouts while walking 13 in 43.33 innings this year in High and Low- A ball.  He is a future closer.

12.  Cozart:  Scouts say he does not have the arm of Paul Janish, but he has better range and can hit better than him.  In particular, he takes more walks and hits for more power.  Both Cozart and Janish are better options than Orlando Cabrera right now.

13.  Gregorius:  Scouts love his glove and arm.  It is just a matter of his bat.  So far, the Dutch import has hit .271/ .325/ .385 in 340 at bats at Dayton.  He has some speed:  10 steals in 14 attempts.  There is no shortage of fantastic glove men at shortstop in this organization.

14.  Hamilton:  The Mississippi native is possibly the best athlete in the system.  He is only 19 years old and is as raw as you can imagine.

15.  Kyle Lotzkar:  After serious arm surgery that also included elbow ligament surgery (two for the price of one), Lotzkar is slowly coming back.  He just recent started to throw again for the Arizona Rookie team.  He is a huge question mark and many think the odds are against him.

16.  Francisco:  The raw power attracts scouts.  They rave about the possibilities of 30 homer seasons.  He reminds us of Wily Mo Pena because though he may have power, he has no plate disciple, no speed, and no ability to play defense.  Pawn him off to another organization before they clue in.

17.  Duran:  Continues to show absolutely nothing (.192/ .289/ .329) at the plate, but he is only 18 and still filling out his massive frame.  Scouts say all of the physical tools are there and that he just needs to play a ton.  If Hamilton is a rare steak, Duran is still mooing on the grill.

18.  Dave Sappelt:  We are doing a lot of reaching since reaching #15 on this list.  Sappelt is not a guy who many have heard of- maybe its because he is listed as 5'9" in the media book and may be only 5'7" in real life.  But he continues to put up solid numbers (combined High- A and Double- A numbers of .325/ .372/ .467 in 302 at bats) while showing good physical tools in center field.  He needs to work on his base running as he is only 20 for 33 in stolen base attempts.

19.  Valiquette:  The Canadian can light up the radar gun so he made the Futures Game and is a candidate for the back of the rotation or as a lefty set- up man.

20.  Valaika:  After a miserable 2009 season (.235/ .271/ .344), he has rebounded nicely with the average (.290), but nothing else ( .322 OBP and  .379 SLG).  This makes him a fringe prospect at best.  The 2010 third- round pick, Devin Lohman, will be passing him and many others between #15 and #19 very shortly.

21.  Devin Lohman, SS
22.  Miguel Rojas, SS
23.  Daryl Thompson, SP
24.  Ezequiel Infante, SP
25.  Sam LeCure, SP

Minor Leagues, MLB cincinnati reds, minor league report, reds minor league rankings, louisville bats