MOD: Cardinals

by UncleBuck44 on May 14, 2009 4:45 PM EDT Comment 27 comments

Here are the Cardinal's picks for this mock draft:

#19

#67

#98

I'll try a poll to see what everyone thinks about some of the early candidates for pick 19. I've left off Mike Leake, Jake Turner, Shelby Miller and Zack Wheeler because most mock drafts have all of them going before the Cardinals pick.

I think when you look at the Cardinals farm system, the one thing missing is a starting pitcher with true middle of the rotation potential. Judging by the mock drafts and rankings, there should be a good opportunity for the Cardinals to grab one in the 2009 draft.

Poll

Who should the Cards take in the 1st round?

Tyler Skaggs

6 votes

James Paxton

11 votes

Rex Brothers

31 votes

Bobby Borchering

1 votes

Alex Wilson

5 votes

Chad James

11 votes

Andy Oliver

20 votes

Mike Minor

8 votes

Kendal Volz

2 votes

Other(please name)

5 votes

100 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 27 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

I am wanting the Cardinals to take

Matt Hobgood, RHP, Norco HS (CA)

Yadi is my hero

by Big Phil on May 14, 2009 5:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hobgood

i agree. i voted for james b/c i think we need lefties in the system and he might be the best one left when we pick, but i am a big fan of matt hobgood. he has a big time fastball, a great curve, and is said to have very good command. i have also seen some video of him, and i think he has a nice delivery. he will need to stay on top of his weight, but guys with 2 plus pitches that throw strikes are hard to find at 19.

by fewgoodcards on May 26, 2009 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jacob Turner?

Or is he a nonstarter due to Boras?

by oater on May 14, 2009 5:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’ve left off Mike Leake, Jake Turner, Shelby Miller and Zack Wheeler because most mock drafts have all of them going before the Cardinals pick.

the truth can't hurt you, it's just like the dark/ it scares you witless, but in time you see things clear and stark -- macmanus

by tom s. on May 14, 2009 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Are we

Trying to accurately predict the draft, or take who we deem best? I think the latter, so the organizational philosophy of avoiding high school pitchers with the #1 is on hold.

Still, with Turner off the board, my vote is between Paxton, Oliver and Minor. I think they go with Minor for his superior control.

In what St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa called a "big day" for his club, starter Chris Carpenter took the mound for his first session of live batting practice and promptly buzzed the fuzz on catcher Jason LaRue’s chin with an errant fastball.

"Sorry," Carpenter called from the mound.

"Don’t say you’re sorry," LaRue barked back.

"He said it," pitching coach Dave Duncan said from the side of the cage, "but he didn’t mean it."
~ DG

by mateodh on May 14, 2009 7:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Strategy

From what I’ve understood from doing this the past two years, its take the best player available.

I had Chicago in 2007 and took Rick Porcello and then Yasmani Grandal in the supplemental 1st round. Porcello took 7 million to sign(or whatever it was) and Grandal went to Miami despite being good enough for that supp 1st round pick.

If Turner is there at 19, I’m taking him. But he won’t be, not in this mock draft.

P.S. the Cardinals would have taken Blake Beavan in 2007 had the Rangers not taken him.

by UncleBuck44 on May 14, 2009 8:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Beavan

was the guy I was hoping would fall to 18, I was real disappointed that the Rangers took him at the time. He’s often cited in the debate about Cardinal philosophy, but even if he had fallen to them it is really hard to imagine the Cardinals taking a high school pitcher this year unless he is far better and signable.

P.S. shhhh, no guarantees, the competition is reading! lol

"Sorry," Carpenter called from the mound.

"Don’t say you’re sorry," LaRue barked back.

"He said it," pitching coach Dave Duncan said from the side of the cage, "but he didn’t mean it."
~ DG

by mateodh on May 14, 2009 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jiovanni Mier

might be a name to look at if he is still around at our pick. I could see him fitting in nicely with our needs.

If not, then my vote is for Oliver.

by JBagKY on May 14, 2009 8:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Mier

Was the worst hitter I saw at the AFLAC game last summer. Good glove, though. Another Justin Jackson but not as toolsy.

by UncleBuck44 on May 14, 2009 8:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Is the thread gonna be up

when the draft is going so that we can chime in last minute?

by t7rick on May 15, 2009 12:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

well, in real life

you know the chances are slim the Cardinals would ever draft a HS pitcher, although James and Skaggs would be OK picks. Paxton would make the most sense, but I heard his velocity was down 2-4 MPH in his last outing. I’m not a real fan of Oliver. I am no fan of Volz whatsoever. Minor I heard is another Jeremy Sowers. Bleh.

I like Rex Brothers, he seems mostly safe.

Here would be my “big board”, assuming most of the big names will be off of it

Mike Leake
Matt Davidson
Rex Brothers
Wil Myers
Jiovanni Mier
Chad James
Tyler Skaggs

I too like Mier. I could see a lot of Kozma part 2 cat-calls but then again I sort of like Kozma and Mier’s glove is just so good.

godfather of futureredbirds.net

by erik on May 17, 2009 7:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

if you could get White or Green

I’d take either of those over that list, although I’m still not sure what to make of Green

godfather of futureredbirds.net

by erik on May 17, 2009 7:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

let me keep talking to myself

maybe I’d put Davidson down a notch. Just don’t think he’ll stick at 3B and the Cardinals have some depth there already. Seems more of an AL guy.

godfather of futureredbirds.net

by erik on May 17, 2009 7:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd put Paxton

above all, if you think he’s healthy. Love that K/BB ratio

godfather of futureredbirds.net

by erik on May 17, 2009 7:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Erik

I’ll definitely take Green or White if they are there but I don’t think anyone is really worried about signing bonuseseses in this draft so I don’t think they make it out of the top 10.

Paxton is high on my list although I hadn’t heard his velocity was down. Will have to see what happens with him.

I’m also not a big fan of Oliver. His milb.com report was very good but I’ve heard several reports that weren’t nearly as impressive.

I had a chance to watch Alex Wilson the other day and he was extremely impressive. Its just a question of him sticking in the rotation. Perhaps as he gets further away from surgery his chances of succeeding in the rotation will go up.

by UncleBuck44 on May 17, 2009 7:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Most of the college pitchers in this draft don't interest me

as a possibility at #19 (unless Leake or Gibson fall which I don’t see happening). I would rather target a HS pitcher in the first round. After that, with the depth of HS catching, adding a catcher makes sense.

by nmstar on May 17, 2009 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Best high school hitter available

I’d go with Jake Marisnick; big, athletic outfielder, star potential.

The StL system may seem flush with outfielders already—but in a few years there’ll likely be no Ankiel or Ludwick, and probably no Duncan, either. That leaves Rasmus, Daryl Jones (if he regains last year’s power stroke), and who else? Jon Jay & Joe Mather don’t look so hot right now, and guys like Tommy Pham, Jon Edwards, and Freddy Parejo are years from MLB-ready, if ever.

by Mekonsrock on May 17, 2009 12:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

while you can never have too many blue chip prospects anywhere, you have two of our top five

team prospects in that post (rasmus and jones) and you discount the impact of jay and mather based on the last month and a half (in which mather, at least, was injured) and ignore a full year of excellent production from both. tyler henley is not a bad prospect, and some bat-first guys could play a role in LF like duncan (craig, maybe hill).

we’re pretty flush in the outfield; moreover, a corner outfielder is a pretty fungible commodity. that’s not to say our prospects couldn’t bust or get injured. but if we have numerous excellent OF prospects, why load up further on them, when we are weak in other areas? some of the catchers and shortstops available this year seem quite nice.

how many decent corner outfielders were available in free agency this year? how many shortstops and catchers? despite our glut of outfielders, we’ve been unable to turn them into anything, partially because of the wide availability of outfielders. if we pick a first-round outfielder, what’s to say we’ll get anything like full value on him should we need to trade him down the road?

the truth can't hurt you, it's just like the dark/ it scares you witless, but in time you see things clear and stark -- macmanus

by tom s. on May 18, 2009 6:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Porcello Part 2

I am really interested if another highly touted prospect falls like Porcello did (Green, White, etc.), will the Cardinals step up and pay?

I wonder if the FO looks at the state of their starting staff and look at Porcello’s last 3 outings (18 IP, 2 ERs) and wonder what might have been? To be fair, a lot of other teams passed on Porcello as well. And honestly, I don’t fault any team balking at extreme bonus demands for a kid that has never thrown a professional pitch. I just wonder what the team does if it happens again.

I like Leake but I don’t think he is available at 19. I think the team goes with one of the lefty power arms with my preference being Brothers. Also, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings at all if the team goes the HS route with Skaggs.

www.whiteyball.com

by whiteyball on May 18, 2009 12:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Brothers

Had a pretty mediocre outing this weekend, couldn’t make it through five innings.

Do we really need a left handed Adam Ottavino? A raw college pitcher that needs a lot of work?

Any of the top high school arms that fall will do, please. Lets get a few high ceiling arms in the system for once.

by CoolCat23 on May 18, 2009 7:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

I would prefer one of the high upside HS arms but I don’t think that is the route they will take.

www.whiteyball.com

by whiteyball on May 18, 2009 8:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Brothers/HS Arms

I’ll just come right out and say it…I don’t like Brothers. I know he’s leading the poll but I don’t know if I can take him if he is there at 19. Same with Andrew Oliver. Sorry guys.
I agree that Brothers seems raw and might be the next Ottavino. When you throw 92-95 consistently with a good slider and you play the competition that they play, you are instructed to throw the ball down the middle every time. He still has 41 BBs in 89 innings. Not terrible but not great. Its like Ottavino when he was at Northeastern and his BB totals were better his junior year.

I’d much much rather grab Chad James. A lanky 6’4" prep lefty that touches 94 and has average command as an 18 year old. He sounds like he could use a little work like most prepsters but it doesn’t sound like he’s a project.

I will say that I think there is a good chance they go with a high school arm this year if the stories about Blake Beavan and Aaron Hicks are true. Hicks was an OF(although he could be a darn good pitcher as well) but he was considered raw and to hear the Cardinals were considering a high risk, high reward high school guy is good.
I just don’t think the college pitchers will be the best players on the board at 19. But of course that’s my board I’m talking about so who really knows?

by UncleBuck44 on May 18, 2009 9:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Then

I guess you’re just going to have to go all maverick on us, and pick someone else in the mock Unc.

You got the stones to deny the will of the people?

by CoolCat23 on May 18, 2009 9:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm on this train too

Chad James looks like a good choice to me. Hobgood interests me too. I’d prefer a pitcher but wouldn’t mind outfielders like a Tim Wheeler or Michael Trout.

I do think teams are really srutinizing taking a high school pitcher more in the first round than they did seven or eight years ago to the point that it is unlikely a Colt Griffin type is going to go in the upper half of the first round any more (based on the bust rate erik details). Front offices seem to be making sure kids can pitch as opposed to just hitting the upper 90s with no command.

Most of the top college pitchers have been really unimpressive this year…to the point that I wouldn’t touch most of them in the first round.

by nmstar on May 20, 2009 11:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs