St. Louis Cardinals Organization Discussion
by John Sickels on Dec 8, 2010 8:01 AM EST
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PrintI am currently working on the Baltimore Orioles. The next team in the queue is the St. Louis Cardinals, to be followed by the New York Yankees. Use this thread to discuss the Cardinals system. What sleepers do you like?
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For some reason I like Brian Broderick
Not sure why, he’s just a guy that gets it done. He knows how to attack with offspeed and movement. I’m not sure he’ll make it as more than a 5th starter in the Cards rotation, but he’s a GB guy that competes and uses his defense.
Drafted by the Nats in the rule 5
Of course, I don’t see him staying on the roster.
Baseball makes the world go 'round, or at least in my world it does.
Whats he doing now?
Catching or pitching?
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.
Not that it matters
but he was catching this last year. I imagine they’ll give up on that horrible idea by mid-year, and then he’ll demonstrate that he’s a one-trick pony on the mound for a few years too. He’s definitely a guy whose first paycheck was his biggest paycheck.
by realitypolice on Dec 9, 2010 2:58 PM EST up reply actions
not sure he's a sleeper
but I’m still quite bullish on Joe Kelly.
I'm going to throw a name out there as a sleeper
RHP Shelby Miller, who pitched in the Midwest League last year.
I like Deryk Hooker
he’s struck out like 10 per nine throughout the minors and has a real hammer curve. Last I heard, his mechanics were looking better and he’s making the right adjustments (this was a big issue early on).
Fire John Mozeliak
Seconded
Not sure why no one talks about Hooker. He’s quite young still for his level of experience and has good stuff.
Thirded
Definitely a candidate to break out in 2011.
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
Sleeper (i.e. coma) = Phil Cerreto
I have a friend from Longwood, where he played his college ball, says his bat is legit. Not sure how legit it is from an objective point of view, though. Anyone have any thoughts on the guy?
Agreed
He and Adron Chambers.
Pham looked like he might be figuring some things out in 2010, which might be a precursor to a 2011 breaout.
Chambers went to the Az Fall League this year…perhaps the add’l development time will help.
Chambers and Pham
I have been lukewarm on Pham over the past few year but he should something this past year…so he at least is intriguing now. I have been all over Chambers for 2 years. Nice to see him breakout as he could be a very solid starter in the bigs. He can play all the OF positions and has something the big league squad desperately needs….lots of speed.
Oscar Taveras
is another name to watch.
Baseball makes the world go 'round, or at least in my world it does.
May want to hold off on the O's
If any of the rumors floating around are to be believed that list could change this week.
Orioles
As long as you’re down in Baltimore, maybe we could get a Luke Scott Prospect Retro, to see whether there was anything in his minor league career that would foreshadow his birther paranoia. Any fastballs to the temple? Any knees to the forehead when he tried to break up a double play?
Don’t mean to get political, but come on, Luke Scott. You are now John Rocker.
I'd love to add Victor Sanchez to this list...
but I’m not sure he qualifies to be in the top 35-40
Sanchez
He definitely qualifies as a sleeper. Not many know much about him. For some reason I like him alot in our draft for 2010. I named him one of the guys to keep an eye on for the later round picks. There are holes in his game for sure but something about him gets me excited. Good call.
Still a Reifer Fan.
Long time lurker, new time poster.
Reifer
That makes 2 of us. He is a legit closer ceiling and his stuff is electric and nasty. I was always baffled why he was so hittable for a few years. But in 2010 he put it all together…I have been on the bandwagon for 2-3 years now. He could arrive in late 2011 if a few injuries occur. Should definitely be fighting for a bullpen spot in 2012 ST though.
Name to watch: Bryan Martinez
even though he’s overshadowed by Carlos Martinez, the guy has performed just as well in the Dominican and will be coming up with him. Groundball/strikeout tendencies good., but who knows how he’ll perform at higher levels.
Fire John Mozeliak
Not really sleepers
But I really like Tyrell Jenkins from this past draft. I’ll be following him closely. I also like Seth Blair quite a bit.
I'm just a dude who likes talking to other dudes about other dudes.........in a straight way.
"sleepers"
How about C/RF Anthony Garcia, the first GCL teen to post an .800 OPS with .170 ISO and more walks than K’s, since Hanley Ramirez eight years ago (Morneau was the last before Hanley).
Or keystone gloveman Colin Walsh, who at age 20 put up an .853 OPS in the age-appropriate NY-Penn League.
Maybe backstop Juan Castillo (also 20), who gunned down 53% while posting a line of .328/.368/.517 across rookie and short season, while fanning in fewer than 10% of his PA’s.
Kinda like Aaron Luna, too. In AA at age 23, his slash stats were nice enough (.270/.426/.470), but his 63/73 BB/K was a real eye-catcher.
One last guy: kid pitcher Juan Bautista. Just 16 on Opening Day, Bautista struck out 10 per 9 in the DSL while putting up a 1.59 ERA. Combining his six appearances of 4+ innings, he allowed just 3 runs over 28 IP, with a 31/8 K/BB. I’m hoping the team promotes him to the GCL for 2011—very curious to see what he can do in the States.
Alex Castellanos
Little old, but decent numbers in the FSL.
virgil hill got a lot of attention at draft time, but sometimes gets omitted. he has great athleticism and had a strong start in rookie ball.
wOBA of .371, with the 11th best OBP in the Appy League in his age 20 season.
"We were men - flesh and blood - and we played baseball in the sunshine. We hit doubles off the wall, slid hard into second base. We had fights, and we made love. We sang songs and prayed on Sundays. . . . We felt pain. And we felt joy. There was a lot wrong with the world. But we weren't sad, man. We had the times of our lives." Buck O'Neil, from "The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America."
Ryan Jackson put up decent numbers with a decent walk percentage in QC (13.5%)
Could be an all glove type with a fair share of walks.(has almost no power though .076 ISO)
I can't see Ryan Jackson as a breakout guy in 2011
Would love it if he did, but don’t really see it
A few others
Long time reader, first time poster…
Audrey Perez, C. 21 years old. Has shown decent power in his few years in short-season. Should be in A-ball next year.
Zach Russell, RHP. Pitched most of last season at 20 years old in short-season ball. 49th round pick in 2007 out of small Arkansas high school. Has good H/9 and K/9 ratios. Reportedly hits mid-90’s as a starter. Is raw and has been slow to develop, but should be ready for A-ball this year.
Jonathan Rodriguez, 1B/OF. 20 year old in short-season ball last year. 2009 17th rounder pick. Hit the ball hard with good power. Batavia coach raved about him last year as playing much better than his numbers suggest.
Trevor Rosenthal, RHP. 2009 21st rounder. Reportedly up to 98 mph in rookie ball.
Scott Schneider, RHP. 2009 20th rounder. Doesn’t have the best stuff, but throws down in the zone, tons of groundballs. Won’t be more than a 5th starter, but hey, he’s a sleeper.
Russell
Zach Russell is an intriguing pitcher and one to watch for next year. I hadn’t heard he hits mid 90s but if that is true then this kid could be a very good sleeper.
One thing that has been very impressive about him is his improvement of his control:
2007: 12 BB, 7 INN, 15.4 BB/9
2008: 21 BB, 13.1 INN, 14.2 BB/9
2009: 28 BB, 40.2 INN, 6.2 BB/9
2010: 31 BB, 61 INN, 4.5 BB/9
Hopefully he can keep improving in Low A ball next year.
by UncleBuck44 on Dec 11, 2010 10:49 AM EST up reply actions
Sleepers
I think the system has some intriguing guys that most have never heard of. I will list some that no one else has mentioned:
John Gast
Cody Stanley
Reggie Williams Jr
Chris Edmondson
Joey Bergman
Scott Bittle (if he can bounce back from injury)
Curt Smith
Niko Vasquez
Michael Swinson
Nick Longmire (probably my favorite non top prospect in the system)
Sleepers
The Cardinals went a different route in rounds 10-20 of last year’s draft. Normally they grab a ton of college righthanders and catchers but in 2010 they went after a number of high school players. They are:
Round 11: Ben Freeman-LHP
12: Austin Wilson-OF (Didn’t sign)
14: Cesar Aguilar-RHP
16: Anthony Bryant-OF
17: Corderious Dodd-OF
20: Trevor Martin-SS/2B
I think it is likely that most of the 5 that did sign aren’t very good and might have been better of going to school(kinda like a Travis Mitchell). But it is nice to see Luhnow mix it up a little bit and go after the high schoolers later in the draft. He also nabbed Richard Mendoza in the 25th round.
It’ll be interesting to see how these guys progress over the next few years.
by UncleBuck44 on Dec 11, 2010 10:43 AM EST up reply actions
Agreed
Luhnow has taken a little different approach over the past couple drafts. Many of these guys will never make it but if we have a few of them that blossom thats all you can ask for. Out of the guys you mentioned Freeman and Bryant are the 2 that intrigue me quite a bit. Both raw and will need plenty of years to develop.
The phrasing on Bittle that I heard was pretty grim
I’d love to see him bounce back because his cutter was a true plus-plus pitch but I’m not holding out much hope at this point.
Fire John Mozeliak
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