Perez, Meyer aren't can't-miss prospects

By John Sickls of ESPN

Febuary 11 2K

Brett Tomko and Mike Cameron, the two major leaguers involved, are certainly talented, though the Reds felt they were expendable. Tomko's stock with the Reds dropped after a difficult 1999 season, while Cameron had no place to play if Griffey came on board. But Tomko and Cameron by themselves don't add up to Griffey, so it was very interesting to see who the prospects to finish the trade would be. I was very surprised when the two prospects were named: Antonio Perez and Jake Meyer.

Of the pair, Perez has the most upside potential. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 1998, Perez is a product of Cincinnati's attempt to improve and expand their scouting in Latin America. He is extremely athletic, with outstanding speed on the bases and dexterity in the field. His range is excellent, he has soft hands, and has sound natural instincts, especially defensively. His arm strength is only average, and while he is a shortstop now, he may end up at second base eventually.

Perez is rather raw at the plate according to scouts. On the other hand, he did very well in his first North American exposure last year, hitting .288 with seven homers for Rockford in the Midwest League. That's pretty good for an 18-year old Dominican who skipped rookie ball. His strike zone judgment isn't awful; he drew 43 walks in 385 at-bats, while striking out 80 times. He has to improve his approach at the plate for his power to develop, but he isn't in the "wild hacker" class, and I am optimistic about his chances to develop. He stole 35 bases, but was caught 24 times despite his speed; obviously he'll have to improve that ratio as he moves up.

In my 2000 STATS Minor League Scouting Notebook, I gave him a Grade B-, which is a pretty good grade actually. Baseball America ranked him as the No. 8 prospect in the Reds system. I like Perez; he isn't an elite prospect just yet, but he has a good chance to develop into a solid major leaguer.

Jake Meyer was a seventh-round pick of the White Sox in 1997, out of UCLA. He was traded to the Reds for catcher Brook Fordyce last year, and posted some nice numbers as Perez' teammate at Rockford last year, saving 15 games with a 2.54 ERA and a fine 51/18 K/BB ratio. However, he was 24 years old, which is too old for a guy in the Midwest League. He was promoted to Double-A late in the year, but did not pitch well, posting a 5.96 ERA in 20 games, and poor control numbers. He did better in the Arizona Fall League, and will get another Double-A chance again in 2000.

Meyer has a good arm, throwing 91-92 mph with a hard slider. He is a standard Grade C relief pitcher prospect. Meyer isn't likely to become a closer, but he could probably handle a middle relief job, assuming he adjusts well to higher levels.

Unless there is more to the trade than has been announced so far, Perez and Meyer are the only two prospects involved. To be honest, I can't believe that the Reds got away with giving up so little in the way of prospects for Griffey. Perez has a lot of talent, but won't be in the majors anytime soon, and was blocked behind other infielders in the system, making him expendable. Meyer is OK, but there are a lot of pitchers just like him in the minor leagues.

The Reds farm system, which has improved greatly over the last two years, comes out of the transaction intact. They didn't give up Travis Dawkins, Rob Bell, Adam Dunn, Ben Broussard, Alejandro Diaz or any of their other top prospects.

Kudos to Jim Bowden for a job well done.