From the most recent Baseball America:

Cedeno Opens Eyes In Dominican
BOSTON--Red Sox fans may not know Juan Cedeno now, but they will soon.

That's how the organization feels after the young lefthander emerged during an excellent 2003 season at low Class A Augusta.

In just his second season stateside, the fireballing native of the Dominican Republic went 7-9, 3.02 in 21 starts. He struck out 87 and walked 44 in 1001 innings, and his fastball reached 96 mph.

"He's one guy who's really opening eyes," farm director Ben Cherington said. "He has a chance to take a real step forward next year."

Cedeno, who turned 20 in August, was signed out of the Dominican in 2001 by scout Robinson Garcia. He spent that year in the Dominican Summer League before going 2-5, 4.19 in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2002.

THe 6-foot-1, 160 pounder made the jump to the South Atlantic League with improved results. "We were impressed with his poise for a 19-year-old," Cherington said. "He doesn't let the game speed up on him."

Cedeno has kept it going with Licey in the Dominican League. Playing against major leaguers like Miguel Tejada, Rafael Furcal, and Raul Mondesi, Cedeno hadn't given up an earned run in his first four appearances, striking out three in four innings of relief.

The Red Sox appreciated Licey's handling of Cedeno. The Tigers used him two days off between appearances.

"The feedback we're getting from staff and other scouts is excellent," Cherington said. "The rumor mill is that he's throwing really well, 95 (mph) with a very good curveball. Hopefully he can bottle that and bring it to spring training."

Juan Cedeno Winterball statistics
thru 12/21/03

Dominican Winter Ball League

Tigres Del Licey

from Baseball America's Boston Red Sox prospect preview:

1. Hanley Ramirez, SS
2. Kelly Shoppach, C
3. David Murphy, OF
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. Matt Murton, OF
6. Chad Spann, 3B
7. Abe Alvarez, LHP
8. Jon Lester, LHP
9. Juan Cedeno, LHP
10. Manny Delcarmen, RHP


9. Juan Cedeno, LHP
Age: 20 B-T: L-L Ht: 6'1" Wt: 160
Signed: Dominican Republic, 2001 (by Robinson Garcia)

Background: Cedeno came to the United States in 2002 and made a huge impression in instructional league, where he blew away Minnesota’s Joe Mauer in two separate at-bats. In his first full season last year, he had a 10.29 ERA in April and a 2.48 mark afterward. He allowed three or fewer earned runs in 18 of his last 19 outings.

Strengths: Cedeno has the best fastball in the system. He sat at 92-93 mph and touched 95 last summer, and reportedly hit 97 this winter in the Dominican League. He physically resembles countryman Pedro Martinez with a small, thin body, big hands and very quick arm. He spins his curveball well and it could give him a second plus pitch. He’s fiercely competitive and confident.

Weaknesses: He needs to understand that less can be more. Cedeno is enthralled with his fastball and overthrows it. He tries to hit 100 mph while the Red Sox want him to be content at 92-93 with more strikes and life. His changeup lags behind his heater and curve.

The Future: Cedeno’s velocity, approach and stuff may fit better in the bullpen in the long term. He’ll remain in the rotation this year in high Class A.

excerpt from Baseball America's Jim Callis chat (1/7/03) about Boston Red Sox prospects:

Q: Mike from Orrville, OH asks:
Jim, Where does Juan Cedeno better project, as a front of the rotation starter or as a closer?

A: Jim Callis: There are very few true front-of-the-rotation starters. Right now, Cedeno has one plus pitch. If he refines his curveball and develops a changeup, he could be a No. 3 starter. If not, he'll be used in relief.

Here's what the Sporting News had to say about Juan Cedeno:

"Hard-throwing Juan Cedeno (20) is an athletic lefthander with an above average, 92-93 MPH fastball and a breaking ball that improved in the finals months of the 2003 season. He went 7-9 with a 3.02 ERA at Class-A Augusta. Cedeno also has a good feel for a changeup..."

Line from Cedeno's most recent start:

Juan Cedeno pitched pretty well in his most recent outing, going 6.1 innings, striking out 3, while giving up 3 runs (2 ER) on 5 hits and two walks. His ERA currently stands at 5.28.

Cedeno did NOT have a good outing last night and has had a rough season overall. Here is his line from 4/26:

IP - 5.1
H - 9
R - 4
ER - 4
BB - 1
SO - 1

His ERA has risen from 5.28 to 5.66 after the game last night.

Am I cursing him?

I missed Cedeno's last start on May 3rd, so here goes:

Yet another rough outing for the young lefty, maybe I shouldn't have begged for this prospect...

TLB, I find the easiest way to format something like that is to do the spacing in Notepad and then copy-paste into the post window.

Juan Cedeno had one heck of an outing in what would end up being a 12th inning win for the Sarasox...

While I can't find a link supporting this, it seems that Cedeno has been removed from the SaraSox roster. Juan has see-sawed all season, having a few good starts mixed in with some bad to terrible outings. I'll keep scouring the web until I find more news on the young lefty, if anyone finds out before me, feel free to post in this thread.

I'm an idiot, I didn't even look at the transactions link on the team website...

Well, Cedeno's demotion really lasted long, he was back on the 29th, with good results...

they were probably just playing with the roster.

did he miss a start at sarasota?

they just wanted an extra player for the week.
juan probably never left the team.

Ted

I haven't been keeping up with Juan lately, but it looks like I've been missing something...

6/8 -

9/25 -

Not an injury, there was a long rain-delay after the first inning, I think.

Asleep at the switch as usual, I missed Cedeno's 6/28 start...

7/3-

A couple notes...

1) The changes to the board seem to have messed up my coding.
2) Juan hasn't had a start since 7/3 and I can't find anything about him being moved or placed on the DL. If anyone has info on the whereabouts of my lost prospect, please post it here.

Well, I assume that Juan was injured because he recently appeared in a relief outing during Manny Delcarmen's last start...

Cedeno had a very, very rough relief outing last night...

Cedeno had quite the up and down season in 2004, he started off very, very cold, hit a hot streak, then became cold again. However, he's only 20 years old and showed enough improvement this year to keep himself mentioned as one of the top pitching prospects in the organization.

Since everyone else is updating their prospects, I might as well get mine started.

Cedeno is a 21 year old lefty from the DR. He will be starting the 2005 season with the Wilmington Blue Rocks (high A).

Here are his numbers from the 2004 season, with Sarasota:

7-6, 4.64 ERA in 25 games, 22 starts. He threw 120.1 innigns with 78 Ks and 40 BB.

He also pitched for Tigers del Licey in the Dominican winter league, he threw 12.2 innings in 15 games, with an 0-1 record and a 4.97 ERA. He had 14 Ks and 5 BB. Soxprospects.com says:



The Blue Rocks start their season April 7th, I will try to update this after each start. If anyone has anything newsworthy about Cedeno, either PM me or post it here.

4/8 @ Myrtle Beach:

5 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 6 Ks. Great way to start the season. Hopefully he can keep it up, I will try to add to this post as I find out more about the game, but it looks like Cedeno was outstanding. Wilmington lost 4-3, with Cedeno obviously getting a ND.

Cedeno struggled last night in a loss to Kinston. He may have been left in a little long, as he gave up a HR in the 5th and then back to back jacks in the sixth before being removed. His Line:

5.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 hit, 1 BB, 4 Ks, 3 HRs.

In two starts this year, he is 0-1 with a 4.35 ERA in 10.1 IP.

Cedeno started last night and picked up the L in a 4-0 loss to Kinston. He had a decent start but you can not win if your team doesn't score. His problem has been the long ball. He gave up 2 HR last night (5 on the year in 3 starts).

His line, 4/19 vs Kinston:

6 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 2 HR.

His stats for the year as of 4/20:

0-2, 4.96 ERA, 3 G, 3 GS, 16.1 IP, 16 hits, 9 ER, 0 HBP, 3 BB, 16 Ks, OBA .258.

His record and ERA may not be great, but he has a great K-rate and K/BB rate. His WHIP is also impressive. As I said, the only thing hurting him right now is the long ball.

Cedeno had a very solid start today, but got a no decision in Wilmington's 2-1 loss in extra innings.

His line: 6 IP, 6 hits, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. This lowers his ERA to 4.03 and his record stays at 0-2, mainly because of a lack of run support. He did not allow any HRs today, which is good because he had given up 5 in his 2 previous starts.

Cedeno had a real rough outing last night. He went 3 innings giving up 5 ER on 4 hits, 3 walks, and 2 Ks. Once again he had trouble with the longball, giving up 3 HRs. This loss dropped him to 0-3 with a 5.87 ERA.

Cedeno had his best start of the young season last night. He shut down the Salem Avalanche giving up just 1 run in 7 IP. He gave up 4 hits and walked one, to go along with his 5 Ks. He improved to 1-3 on the year, as the bullpen closed it out giving Wilmington a 4-1 win. His line:

(W) 7 IP. 1 R, 1 ER, 4 hits, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR.

He has had a lot of throuble with the longball this season, so last night's start was very encouraging. He lowered his ERA by about a half of a run, down to 5.02. Hopefully this was not a fluke and he is beginning to pitch to his potential.

Cedeno had an awful outing yesterday:

4 1/3 IP, 12 hits, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 0 HR. He got the loss (1-4) and his ERA is now 5.57.

Silver lining is he did not give up the long ball, but it is really disappointing to see him choke following what was an excellent outing last weekend. Hopefully he turns it around in his next start.

He's way too inconsistent at this point.

Cedeno struggled again in his last start:

L 4 IP 8 hits 6 ER 5 K 2 BB 1 HR.

He falls to just 1-5 on the season and his ERA rises to 6.26. He has been terribly inconsistent this year, it seems like for every good start he has, there are two bad ones. Hopefully he turns it around soon.

The following is a profile I wrote for DieHard magazine's Red Sox prospect issue, which came out in March.

JUAN CEDENO

Comparing a young prospect to an established major leaguer is often unfair. But fair or not, it is inevitable. Most young players remind you of someone, and Juan Cedeno looks a little like Pedro Martinez. Or maybe Casey Fossum.

A left-hander out of the Dominican Republic, Cedeno is a lithe 6-1, 160. Like Martinez and Fossum, it is a build that doesn't fit the prototype of a power-pitcher. But with one of the best fastballs in the organization, looks can be deceiving.

"He's at 92-93, consistently," said Ben Cherington, Boston's Director of Player Development, "and he's topped out as high as 97. He's got great arm speed, and great velocity."

The build, velocity, and Dominican roots evoke the Pedro comparisons, as do Cedeno's long fingers. However, it is his similarities to the lanky Fossum that will likely determine his future success. Fossum, a promising left-hander now pitching in Tampa Bay, has often struggled with his consistency and command. So too has Cedeno.

"Juan had a solid first half in Sarasota last year," said Cherington, "but he hit a rut in July and got out of whack with his confidence and command. He's a very athletic pitcher, but needs to match the mental part of his game with his physical talent. Juan has worked hard this offseason on making that adjustment".

The 21-year-old Cedeno was signed in 2001, and made his professional debut in the Gulf Coast League the following season. In 2003, he went 7-9, 3.02 at Low-A Augusta and was named the team's Pitcher of the Year. That led to high expectations for 2004 -- Baseball America rated him as Boston's 9th best prospect -- but his season failed to produce the consistent performances he's capable of. His final numbers in Sarasota were 7-6, 4.64, and the 145 hits he surrendered in 120 innings weren't indicative of his stuff.

Cedeno's fastball can dominate, although he has a tendency to overthrow it at times. His other pitches are works-in-progress. His curveball, which can be very good, is more advanced than his change-up. Some feel Cedeno projects as a power-arm out of the bullpen, especially if his secondary pitches don't become more advanced. And while he pitched exclusively in relief this year in the Dominican Winter League, the plan is for him to remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future.

It is unclear where Cedeno will begin the 2005 season. AA Portland is a possibility, but because the organization likes players to move up on a positive note -- and Cedeno struggled in the second half -- he may return to High-A to start the year. When he does reach Portland, he will join his manager from last season, Todd Claus, who has taken the helm with the Sea Dogs. Claus likes what he's seen of Cedeno.

"I enjoyed having Juan on our ball club last summer," said Claus. "He loves to compete and has the heart of a lion. He's not physically imposing, but his arm-strength and stuff translate into big-league success."

Jon Papelbon, a teammate of Cedeno's in Sarasota, agrees with Claus.

"Juan is the type of player who really loves baseball," said Papelbon. "And along with being very determined and a hard worker, he has all the talent you could ask for. It's only a matter of time before he gets his chance to play in the big leagues."

Just like Pedro Martinez. And Casey Fossum.

Cedeno picked up his sixth loss of the season last night, despite a decent effort. The Blue Rocks again failed to give him adequate run support, the final score was 3-2.


Cedeno: L (1-6) 6.0 IP 5 hits 3 ER 4 BB 4 K 0 HR 6.06 ERA.

He is having a rough season and his stock is dropping a bit, but he is still young and he has time to turn it around.

Cedeno had his best start in a long time yesterday, but once again he was a victim of a lakc of run support. He got a no decision in a 3-2 loss. His line:

6 IP 2 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K.

He ran out of gas in the sixth as that is when he gave up both of the runs.

2005: 12 games, all starts. 1-6, 5.74 ERA. 58 IP, 62 hits, 37 ER. He has walked 26 and struck out 48. 7.45 K/9IP. Opponents are hitting .273 against him.

From your statlines, he's only gone 7 innings once and he often tires and loses something as the innings pile up.

is he gonna be a reliever by the end of the season?
do you have the stats that show his ER by inning?

thanks,
Ted

By inning:

1: 12 IP, 4 ER
2:11 IP, 4 ER
3: 11 IP, 11 ER
4: 10 IP, 2 ER
5: 7.2 IP, 7 ER
6: 5.1 IP, 7 ER
7: 1 IP, 1 ER

Innings 1-4: 4.29 ERA
Fifth inning and later: 9.64

It is safe to say that when he gets tired, he hits a wall and can not get anyone out. I don't know if they will move him to the pen, but his stock has fallen dramatically. He started the season as the 11th best prospect in the Sox system, and now he has fallen out of the top 20.

Apparently Cedeno has been bumped to the pen, and it has not gone well.

6/10: 1 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2 HR. His ERA on the season jumps to 6.10.

6/15: 2 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.

This came in the last two innings of a 14-5 win, apparently he has been demoted to mop up duty.

6/18: 2 IP, 2 hits, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. This was his best effort coming out of the pen so far, but that is not saying much. Season ERA: 5.86.

Cedeno has a nice outing out of the pen last night:

4 IP, 1 hit, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K. The Rocks came back from being down 9-2 to force extras, but they lost 13-12 in 14 innings.


2005: 1-6, 5.49 ERA, 19 G, 12 GS, 72.2 IP, 77 hits, 47 R, 44 ER, 1 HBP, 35 BB, 67 K, OBA .268.

Cedano has been traded to K.C. in the Tony Graffanino deal.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/reds...for_assignment/

Yup. I need a new prospect.