tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post4699375821601747940..comments2007-06-10T10:18:22.040-04:00Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07697776280178146413noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post-28067173679343593052007-06-10T10:18:00.000-04:002007-06-10T10:18:00.000-04:00<I>Janish is a better hitter than Castro is and its probably not close. He is also a much better fielder at this point in his career than Castro, who frankly isnt very good anymore.</I><BR/><BR/>Doug,<BR/><BR/>Yes, I know that. But being better than Castro is damning with faint praise. <BR/><BR/>My point is that Krivsky elected, even though he had Castro under contract for 2007 (his age 35 season), to extend his contract to guarantee his age 36 season with a club option on his age 37 season - <B>all while he had cheaper, younger and better options in his minor league system</B>. (Castro is a particular ax of mine I like to grind.)<BR/><BR/>The secondary point is that Cozart seems redundant if we have Janish in the system, unless Cozart is intended to be minor league roster filler (or there's something beyond the scouting report, like an affinity for scrappy good field, no hit guys). And if he is intended as filler, a second round pick seems to be buying high.Philnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post-45413213741769968352007-06-09T22:15:00.000-04:002007-06-09T22:15:00.000-04:00Phil,<BR/>Janish is a better hitter than Castro is and its probably not close. He is also a much better fielder at this point in his career than Castro, who frankly isnt very good anymore.Doug Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06429070071208586169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post-11744304625802109502007-06-08T15:44:00.000-04:002007-06-08T15:44:00.000-04:00Justin,<BR/><BR/>I saw Bryan's summary. Of course, you can't combine the two players.<BR/><BR/>And I've seen the Janish comps. Thing is, we have a Paul Janish already on the 25-man. His name is Juan Castro. And we could have him for two more years, lucky us.Philnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post-23262555272632896852007-06-08T14:59:00.000-04:002007-06-08T14:59:00.000-04:00BP's <A HREF="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6327" REL="nofollow">Bryan Smith</A> on the Reds' draft, which he rated as the second-best use of multiple picks:<BR/><BR/>"Chris Buckley finally took a prep player in the first round when he picked Devin Mesoraco, and did so again twice more in the first five rounds. However, I think the combination of Todd Frazier and Zach Cozart is a really good mix, probably because if you combined the two players, they would make one hell of a prospect."<BR/><BR/>I think he's higher on Cozart's defense than I am, but again, I like range and athleticism in my middle infielders...Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07697776280178146413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post-8181488396204556252007-06-08T14:43:00.000-04:002007-06-08T14:43:00.000-04:00We can just hope that the Reds know something about him that we don't. Maybe they can make him into something.<BR/><BR/>I've heard him compared to <A HREF="http://thebaseballcube.com/players/J/Paul-Janish.shtml" REL="nofollow">Paul Janish</A>. The problem with that comparison is that Janish actually <I>outhit</I> Cozart in his last year of college, batting 0.345/0.428/0.545 for Rice in 2004. Don't know whether there are some mitigating park factors and such we should consider (I'm sure Mississippi is rather humid, for example), but on the surface, Janish looks like a much better hitter. And yet the question about Janish is whether he'll ever hit enough to be a useful super-utility guy. So does Cozart have any hope? We'll see, I guess. -jJustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07697776280178146413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post-65032919649449002292007-06-08T10:31:00.000-04:002007-06-08T10:31:00.000-04:00I don't understand Cozart at 79. Other than having good hands, his scouting report is terrible - no power, below average speed and range, profiled as a 9-hole hitter. He looks like minor league roster filler, for which I wouldn't think you'd waste a second round pick.Philnoreply@blogger.com