Finding Johnny Cueto

I wrote about Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez for the my Sunday Reds Insider for the paper. The theme: You can find good players, or at least potentially good players, in different ways.

To get Volquez, the Reds gave up Josh Hamilton, a high price to pay.

To get Cueto, they spent $3,500 and trusted the instincts of a very good scout.

The Reds were looking to fill out their Dominican Summer League roster in March of 2004. Johnny Almaraz, the then-director of international operations, was in the D.R. supervising the process. His scouts were doing most of the signing. But a friend of his from San Pedro de Macoris kept trying to get Almaraz to look at a little right-hander.

"I told him the only way I could do it was on my way to airport," Almaraz said. "I told him if he could get a game together at 7 in the morning, I'd watch the kid throw."

The buddy did. Almaraz signed Cueto. Mario Soto taught Cueto the change-up. Cueto added about 20 pounds and five miles per to his fastball. And the rest is history.

I don't know how good Cueto will turn out to be. But I do think losing Almaraz was a big blow to the Reds. He quit after he and Wayne Krivsky clashed. Almaraz is now the director of international operations for the Braves. He still roots for Cueto.

"Johnny's a great kid," Almaraz said. "You want to see him do well."