The Reds were looking to make some moves to improve their big league roster, particularly the pitching staff, and they had the farm system to do it. That they were able to do so without dealing any of their top five prospects is impressive.

The big league rotation has three new faces courtesy of those trades, but the Reds were able to keep the top (talent-wise) of their system intact. Losing Jeter Downs, Shed Long, Tanner Rainey and Josiah Gray thins out the system a bit, but it's still plenty strong enough to rank No. 9 in MLB Pipeline's Top 10 farm systems rankings.

Perhaps the best trade will be the one the team didn't make. There were many names being mentioned in possible deals for catcher J.T. Realmuto, most notably 2018 first-round pick Jonathan India. Realmuto headed to Philadelphia instead, so India will get to start his first full season still in the Reds' organization.

Here's a look at the Reds' top prospects:

1. Nick Senzel, OF/3B

2. Taylor Trammell, OF

3. Hunter Greene, RHP

4. Jonathan India, 3B

5. Tony Santillan, RHP

Complete Top 30 list »

Biggest jump/fall

Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the 2018 preseason list to the 2019 preseason list.

Jump: Michael Beltre, OF (2018: NR | 2019: 16) -- Raw tools aplenty, Beltre's made a lot of progress with his approach at the plate to be productive on the field.

Fall: Aristides Aquino, OF (2018: 14 | 2019: NR) -- Raw tools aplenty, but approach hasn't improved; Aquino was designated for assignment, then re-signed to a Minor League deal.

Best tools

Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.

Hit: 65 -- Nick Senzel

Power: 60 -- Ibandel Isabel

Run: 70 -- Jose Siri

Arm: 65 -- Jose Siri

Defense: 60 -- Mike Siani (Nick Senzel, TJ Friedl, Alfredo Rodriguez)

Fastball: 80 -- Hunter Greene

Curveball: 55 -- Ryan Hendrix (Vladimir Gutierrez)

Slider: 55 -- Tony Santillan (Hunter Greene, Lyon Richardson, Jacob Heatherly, Jimmy Herget)

Changeup: 60 -- Vladimir Gutierrez

Control: 55 -- Vladimir Gutierrez (Hunter Greene, Tony Santillan, Joel Kuhnel)

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How they were built

Draft: 17 | International: 8 | Trade: 4 | Free agent: 1

Breakdown by ETA

2019: 5 | 2020: 12 | 2021: 7 | 2022: 6

Breakdown by position

C: 3 | 1B: 2 | 2B: 1 | 3B: 1 | SS: 2 | OF: 9 | RHP: 9 | LHP: 3