David Freese vs. Allen Craig

by StickRat on Aug 11, 2008 10:19 PM EDT

John reviewed his Cardinals Top 20 a week ago, so I wanted to get this posted while it was still timely. The Cards are incredibly deep at the hot corner. They have Troy Glaus signed through 2009, and have two legit third-base prospects in the upper minors. David Freese and Allen Craig are quite similar prospects. Both were drafted in 2006; Craig in the eighth round out of Cal by St. Louis, Freese in the ninth round out of South Alabama by San Diego then was traded to the Cards for Jim Edmonds before this season.

The similarities between the two are uncanny …

Freese recently reached the 20 HR mark for AAA Memphis of the PCL. Two knocks against Freese are his strike-zone judgment and his poor showing against lefties, despite being a right-handed hitter. He is currently hitting .299/.349/.529 and is batting .387 in the second half of the season.

Craig has also been red hot in the second half of the season. He recently surpassed the 20 HR mark and is batting .369 since the break at Springfield, while hitting .308/.375/.503 on the year. Also a right-handed hitter, Craig too has been criticized for his strike-zone judgment and a modest showing against lefties.

Peripheral advantages go to Craig. At 24, he is over a full year younger than Freese. Craig also has a bit more versatility, having played some first base and left field. While Freese played some shortstop in spring training this year, that doesn’t seem to figure into his future.

My questions are, How do these two figure into the future for the Cards? Which, if either, are worth more on the trade market? And, if something happened to Troy Glaus today, Which is more likely to excel in a late 2008 call up?

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Comments

tough call

Excellent diary. As a hitter I think I’d give a slight advantage to Craig based on the previous year in A+. Similar OPS numbers (Craig was at .900, .907 if you include a brief AA stint) while Freese was .887. But Freese’s numbers were put up in Lake Elsinore, while Craig’s was in the much tougher for hitters FSL.

Defensively I hear both are competent but not great, though I’d love to hear from someone who knows better. Not sure if Memphis vs Springfield is a big difference in terms of hitting environments.

But, anyway, like you said, two very good prospects, each should be major leaguers, at a minimum. I’ve expected Glaus to get injured this year and have been curious to whom the Redbirds would go, but somehow Glaus has stayed healthy. Go figure. (Is Glaus signed long term?)

by scooter on Aug 12, 2008 6:18 AM EDT 0 recs

Glaus

He’s signed through 2009.

by StickRat on Aug 12, 2008 5:37 PM EDT up 0 recs

Hope this is OK...

but a competing prospect book lists Craig as below average defensively, Freese as average.

Adoptive parental unit of Kevin "Most Spectacular Pitcher" Pucetas.

"I'm a Giant now... I like watching the ball get up there" - Wendell Fairley
"I'm really proud to be on this team." - Nate Schierholtz

by obsessivegiantscompulsive on Aug 18, 2008 12:56 PM EDT up 0 recs

and this

they actually mentioned his defense in an article a while ago,
i believe they mentioned a scout liking him at 3rd quite a bit,
and not having any doubt that he can play there.

by god allah star on Aug 18, 2008 2:35 PM EDT up 0 recs

link?

I don’t think it’s forbidden to note material written on other sites here, and would be curious to try to search out that commentary.

by scooter on Aug 19, 2008 1:22 PM EDT up 0 recs

Minor League Baseball Analyst

By Deric McKamey for my quote.

Adoptive parental unit of Kevin "Most Spectacular Pitcher" Pucetas.

"I'm a Giant now... I like watching the ball get up there" - Wendell Fairley
"I'm really proud to be on this team." - Nate Schierholtz

by obsessivegiantscompulsive on Aug 20, 2008 6:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

Good smackdown idea

I generally think this format is silly but in this case the two are similar players, at similar stages who will possibly be competing for the same job in a year or two so it has lots of practical purpose.

by nms on Aug 19, 2008 3:14 AM EDT 0 recs

Yeah, they are both great stories because they are so similar. That goes all the way back to school, when both were thought to have peaked in college. Freese was never supposed to hit for power. Craig was never supposed to hit for average. Neither were thought to be able to advance as infielders. So, both were somewhat written off as sub-skills guys … and now they are going to combine for over 50 HRs in the same upper-level farm system. Kinda cool. Guys like these are my heroes.

by StickRat on Aug 19, 2008 6:09 PM EDT up 0 recs

Actually...

neither is penciled in as future 3B of the Cardinals. Their first round pick is Brett Wallace out of ASU. He projects to be better than both and be the starter by ’10. He just recently got promoted to AA (due to an injury to Allen Craig)

Nick Stavinoah = John Gall

by The Ghost of Todd Burns on Aug 20, 2008 7:23 AM EDT 0 recs

There is even more speculation about Wallace’s ability to stay at third than Craig’s. Personally, I think Wallace will be fine. Of course he is better than both though … Wallace is going to win a batting title some day. Best college hitter in the draft this year.

by StickRat on Aug 20, 2008 12:50 PM EDT up 0 recs