Dayton, Ohio-Infielder Todd Frazier and catcher Devin Mesoraco, both members of the 2008 Dayton Dragons, will participate in the Cincinnati Reds major league spring training camp as non-roster players. Frazier and Mesoraco are among 20 non-roster players invited to big league camp by the Reds. Nine of those players are former Dragons.
Other former Dragons among the non-roster invitees are outfielder Drew Stubbs ('07 Dragons), shortstop Chris Valaika ('07 Dragons), infielder Luis Bolivar ('03-'04 Dragons), catcher Chris Kroski ('04-'05 Dragons), and pitchers James Avery ('05 Dragons), Jordan Smith ('07 Dragons), and Pedro Viola ('07 Dragons).
Frazier began the 2008 season with the Dragons and batted .321 with seven home runs and 20 runs batted in before being promoted to Sarasota. He appeared in 30 games with the Dragons including 16 games at shortstop and a limited number of games at third base, first base, and left field. He was rated as the second best prospect in the Reds' organization recently by Baseball America.
Mesoraco, the Reds' first round draft pick in 2007 out of Punxsutawney High School in Pennsylvania, spent most of the 2008 season with the Dragons. He appeared in 83 games and batted .261 with nine home runs and 42 runs batted in. He also started all four Dragons playoff games.
Stubbs and Valaika were ranked as the third and fourth best prospects respectively in the Reds' organization by Baseball America. Both were key members of the Dragons' 2007 club that opened the season by going 23-4 over its first 27 games and raced to a first half divisional championship. Valaika was the Reds' 2008 Sheldon "Chief" Bender Award winner as the organization's Minor League Player of the Year. He led the Reds organization with a .317 batting average and drilled 18 home runs. Stubbs started the 2008 season at Single-A Sarasota, made a stop at Double-A Chattanooga, and finished at Triple-A Louisville.
Smith, who won 10 games for the Dragons in 2007, split the 2008 season between Sarasota and Chattanooga and posted a combined record of 9-8 as he emerged as a solid starting pitching prospect.
The Reds open spring training on February 14th in Sarasota.
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