Following Suit- 2010 Cardinals

by mateodh on Aug 27, 2007 7:00 PM EDT

C- Yadier Molina/Bryan Anderson. Anderson is currently one of the best catching prospects in baseball, but Yadier Molina and his cannon for an arm seem entrenched at the position in the bigs. Neither are part-timers, so one will likely be moved if Anderson can stay at catcher.

1B- Albert Pujols.

2B- Jarrett Hoffpauir. Hoffpauir is having a breakout year for the Cardinals and the only thing standing in his way of the everyday 2B job is Adam Kennedy's contract. Should be a good OBP guy even if his 5'9" frame can't hit the ball with as much authority as he has in the minors.

3B- Scott Rolen. Final year of his current contract, it will be hard not to play him everyday whether or not his decline continues. If he should miss time with injuries, though, backup plans include Allen Craig and perhaps Tyler Greene.

SS- Jose Martinez. Very underrated prospect is having a nice season with Double-A Springfield. Pete Kozma probably won't be due until 2011, if he progresses anything like Rasmus has(Rasmus was drafted at a similar age), but if he does reach the bigs quickly he has a much higher ceiling than Martinez.

LF- Chris Duncan. Could be an annual 40-homer threat by this time, but should at least be a middle of the order hitter with average defense.

CF- Colby Rasmus. No brainer.

RF- Rick Ankiel. What he's already done is enough to make for a good story, but I'm still skeptical. He's got huge power and a great arm but very raw at the plate. It remains to be seen if his talent is enough to survive a 4:1 K/BB. Jeff Francoeur comes to mind...

Rotation:
Chris Carpenter
Adam Wainwright
Anthony Reyes
Adam Ottavino
Jaime Garcia
Also in the mix are Tyler Herron, Clay Mortenson and P.J. Walters. Mark McCormick is a dark horse, easily has the best stuff in the system but needs to get healthy and find some control.

Bullpen:
Chris Perez(closer)
Tyler Johnson
Josh Kinney
McCormick
Kenny Maiques
Luke Gregerson
Others with a shot: Jason Motte, Matt Scherer, Mark Worrell, Kyle McClellan, Nick Webber, Eddie Degerman, Brad Furnish...

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Nice work

Ottavino is having a great year. For some reason I think he will end up in the bullpen and could be lights out like Lidge was BP (before Pujols.)

by bl on Aug 27, 2007 8:15 PM EDT reply actions

Ottavino

He's having control issues of late. He may potentially be moved to the pen, and I wouldn't mind it. For me, the 1-2-3 pitchers in the system are any combination of Garcia, Ottavino and Herron, one of them is likely to end up in the pen. I also think Ottavino is the most durable at this point, though. Then there's this year's Ottavino, Clay Mortenson, somewhat of a surprise pick who is pitching well out of the gates. Could make waves in the system next year...

by mateodh on Aug 28, 2007 1:36 AM EDT up reply actions