It is no secret that times have been tough in recent seasons for the Cincinnati Reds.
The Reds last captured the National League Central crown in 2012 when they won 97 games, and then slipped into the playoffs as a wild card in 2013 with a one-and-done loss to the rival Pittsburgh Pirates. Since then the Reds have lost 86 (2014), 98 (2015) and 94 (2016) games.
Now, for the second consecutive season, Cincinnati has the second overall pick in the Major League Baseball Draft. Anytime a team gets the chance to pick that high, it's an opportunity to select a sought-after prospect, but this year the Reds could be in a position to take a true game-changer.
If you do not follow baseball prospects, I'm referring to 17-year-old Sports Illustrated cover boy Hunter Greene.
SI asked the question on its May 1 cover, could Greene be "baseball's LeBron or the next Babe?"
That's high praise for anyone, let alone someone not old enough to vote. Greene could be the cornerstone of the Reds' rotation in a few years, but only if he makes it past the Minnesota Twins and their No. 1 overall pick on Monday.
Greene's list of attributes jumps off the page and make him seem like a no-brainer top pick, but history is not on his side.
At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, the right-handed pitcher/shortstop from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, has reached 102 miles per hour on his fastball and often works with that pitch sitting between 95 and 98. He has a serviceable slider and can throw his changeup and curveball for strikes.
MLB.com's Jim Callis said in a May 3 column that Greene would be a mid-to-late first-round pick as a power-hitting shortstop if he wasn't a pitcher and asked the question, "Is Hunter Greene the best high school right-hander ever?"
That is tough to say, but the names thrown out in Callis' column - including Josh Beckett - are good company to keep if you're Greene.
What could work against him, and in the Reds' favor, is the fact that in the 52-year history of the baseball draft there has never been a right-handed high school pitcher taken with the first overall pick.
If Greene does fall to No. 2, the Reds would be foolish to not grab him, but doing so do comes with risks.
Greene is still 17, after all, and a quick Google search brings up multiple articles mentioning his family's not-so-secret desire for him to stay close to his Southern California home, with the San Diego Padres coincidentally owning the No. 3 overall pick behind the Twins and Reds.
Greene could refuse to play for the Twins or Reds in an attempt to strong-arm those franchises into passing on him and letting him fall to the Padres at No. 3. He has a scholarship waiting for him at UCLA and could opt to be a Bruin rather than shipping off for a Midwest future in Minnesota or Ohio.
The Reds do have other options, depending on what the Twins do. Pitching prospects dominate the top of most mock drafts leading into Monday, with University of Louisville left-handed pitcher Brenden McKay, Vanderbilt righty Kyle Right and Whiteville (N.C.) High School lefty MacKenzie Gore all appearing in the mix.
There is also the issue of paying Greene. The Reds will have a little more than $13.6 million to spend on signing all of their draft picks this season. Each draft position comes with suggested "slot value" for the maximum money that pick could receive. This year, the No. 2 overall pick comes with a $7.193 million slot value.
For comparison's sake, last season the No. 2 pick came with a $6.2 million slot value. The Reds were able to sign Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel for $1.5 million below that, allowing the team to use that money toward signing its other draft picks.
If Greene falls to the Reds, low-balling him would be a bad move. The kid has options, and anything less than a full commitment from Cincinnati could send him packing for a college career at UCLA.
Beckett fell to the then-Florida Marlins at No. 2 overall in 1999 after Tampa Bay took some guy named Josh Hamilton with the top pick. If Greene's potential ceiling is Josh Beckett - a guy who stormed through the opposition to help the Marlins to the 2003 World Series title, was World Series MVP for the Boston Red Sox in 2007, threw a no-hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014 and, for a time, was one of if not the most dominant pitcher in baseball - and the Reds have an opportunity to add him to the fold, they would be silly to pass that up.
Patience will be the key. Greene will require time to develop into a big leaguer. For a proud franchise that hasn't won or been to a World Series in nearly 30 years, waiting a few more seasons while a player of Greene's caliber hones his game in the minors would be a small price to pay.
Contact Tom Bragg at 304-348-4871 or tom.bragg@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomBraggSports.