Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds fans will have now seen 30 percent of this list in live action following the debut of Carlos Contreras last Saturday. The young right-hander had a great outing in a low-stress situation.

Billy Hamilton has been scorching hot, and Tucker Barnhart continues to climb his way back up in batting average, in case he's ever needed again.

The rest have had mixed results. 

The Major League Baseball trade deadline has been greatly affected by the addition of the second wild card, but the Cincinnati Reds still need to do their best to address areas of need at this year's deadline.

The Cincinnati Reds' farm system is flush with young pitchers right now. A quick look through my most recent prospect rankings and you'll see that nine of the team's top 15 prospects are pitchers.

Of those nine prospects, only one is a can't-miss starter. That young man, Robert Stephenson, headlines the group of starters we'll analyze in this piece.

The Cincinnati Reds' top 10 prospects had a pretty mediocre week as a whole. The bats of Yorman Rodriguez and Tucker Barnhart were particularly cold.

One would think Barnhart's year could not get any worse, but he continues in a downward spiral. He finished the week off at just 1-for-14.

However, there were some positive results as well. Jesse Winker continued to swing the hottest bat in the Reds farm system—launching three more home runs.

It's already the first week of June, but Mat Latos has yet to throw a pitch for the Cincinnati Reds this season. Although the rotation has held its own during his absence, his return will have some effects on the entire pitching staff.

The Cincinnati Reds should trade Johnny Cueto. There, I said it. It's like taking a Band-Aid off. Do it quickly, and it doesn't sting as much.

If the Cincinnati Reds are going to make a midseason trade to help their postseason chances, they have a pretty good trade chip in Alfredo Simon.

It's been incredible to watch Simon turn into the pitcher he is today. The Reds claimed him off of waivers from the Baltimore Orioles right before the start of the 2012 season, and he has been everything from a reliable reliever to a very good starter for the Reds.

After seven long weeks atop the Reds player power rankings, Johnny Cueto was officially lifted from the throne following a disastrous outing against the Washington Nationals. It was an odd sequence of events; the first two runs to cross the plate were unearned. By that time, Cueto had already been laboring, working nearly every full.

The news came from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Joey Votto, the Cincinnati Reds star first baseman, stayed in Cincinnati for an MRI and a consultation with team physician Dr.

Updates from Saturday, May 17

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick has an update on Votto's status: