Baseball America recently unveiled their list of the top 10 Reds Prospects. No surprise as Homer Bailey tops the list. I talked about Homer Bailey already so I’ll spare you a repeat. BA concludes that he’ll start the season in Triple A then get called up midseason for some much needed help on the big league club.

Coming in at number two is 2005 first round draft pick Jay Bruce. He had a nice season at Low A where he clubbed 16 homeruns and stole 19 bases. His bat speed is a plus but he needs to work on plate discipline. Oh yeah, he’s a lefty bat too and while it’s expected that he’ll start the season at High A, he probably won’t stay there for very long.

Slugger Joey Votto comes in at number three. He’d probably be in line for the starting first base job had it not been for the team’s committment to Scott Hatteberg. This guy is a potential stud and he could make for sweet slugging duo with Adam Dunn here in a couple of years. Like Bailey, he’ll start at Louisville but we’ll probably be seeing him sooner rather then later.

Rounding out the top five is right handed starter Johnny Cuerto (still at least one year away) and outfielder Drew Stubbs (2006 first round draft pick, should play Low A ball). And another interesing prospect is righty Sean Watson, who could be the team’s closer in the future although he’s at least two years away.

Good stuff here and if you’re a subscriber, you can get the scouting reports. There’s a chat at 3 pm which I might be around to listen to and if I do, I’ll fill you in afterwards.

And if you wanted more on back of the rotation starter Kirk Saarloos, here’s a great column on both his past and what we should expect.

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