The 2022 Community Prospect Rankings are nigh

The future is near!

It’s just about time to rank some prospects again. You know, when we spend an inordinate amount of time, posts, and effort to rank the best of the best in the Cincinnati Reds system each and every day for the better part of a month.

It’s a January tradition around these parts, and despite the lockout having shut down MLB operations and despite the Red sucking the fun of the offseason before it even shut, we’re going to once again turn our focus to the future of this particular franchise. A future, I should add, that’s got a damn nice bit of promise to it.

Jonathan India just won the 2021 National League Rookie of the Year Award, for instance. Last year, this here community ranked four prospects ahead of him on the list. That’s prospect depth!

Last year’s list didn’t even include Elly De La Cruz, either, and Elly De La Cruz just might be the most electric prospect this system has seen since [name redacted to reduce bad memories of previous toolsy prospects who didn’t pan out]. Last year’s list also included India, Tyler Stephenson, Jose Barrero, Vlad Gutierrez, and Tony Santillan, all of whom graduated from prospect status in that time.

In other words, the list this year should be both refreshingly new and flush with requisite talent. It also may well be the final time you get to rank Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo, as both are poised to be big, big parts of the big league Reds in 2022 as soon as the suits figure out when the hell the season can begin.

Rest assured, the skeleton staff at Red Reporter HQ is doing their due diligence and prepping the vote-posts in preparation for a voting season that will begin in the coming days.

Stay tuned!