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What do others think of our farm overall? Going through the rankings of players, I see very few impact potential players and our farm really needs to start developing some higher upside players. We look okay actually on the pitching front in my opinion with a couple of higher potential guys like Mathews, Hence, Hjerpe and then McGreevy who looks the most sure with the maybe mid rotation upside. Mathews and McGreevy both have work horse potential. There are some other pitchers that have good potential like Roby (as a RP in my mind) and Chen-Wi Lin who I think can turn into a valuable workhorse SP with some development.
The hitting side I am just not impressed with. Wetherholt is obviously the top hitting prospect, but after that, you have that may have a chance of being starters like Crooks, Davis, and Bernal (I know others have Saggase here but I am not on that train). Those 3 though look like average level starters at best and I still see each with a good amount of bust potential. I like Crooks a lot, but no way am I penciling him into a future lineup as his hitting tools are average at best. We really need to be able to develop at least one 3-5 hitter type with some pop. Our best bet for that is still Walker and Gorman, but they aren’t prospects any more.
What do others think of our farm overall? Going through the rankings of players, I see very few impact potential players and our farm really needs to start developing some higher upside players.
Agreed. There just aren’t impact players in the system, especially on the hitting side. Not sure there are impact players on the pitching side, either.
There are definitely impact players on the pitching side. But I agree, aside from the guys you named and Victor Scott (who is technically not a prospect anymore but probably should be), there isn’t anyone else that I trust much. Torres could maybe become a utility for a couple seasons. I’m not quite ready to give up on Cho or Baez, but the possibility of either is starting to look slim. A couple guys drafted in the ‘24 draft are off to good starts but they have a long way to go.
The good news is that they may not need a lot. If the guys they have step up and do what they need to do, then most positions are spoken for. Even if we trade Contreras and Arenado, every position could be filled internally by guys who have the potential to be good.
Pugs mentioning the latest child signing on the international thread got me thinking how we are going to place the 2024 draft class pitchers we haven’t seen yet. I believe one or two even came pre injured. Any thoughts?
I like McGreevy and think he’s doing as much as he can with what he’s got. It’s even possible that he’s a touch better than a #4/5 starter long term.
That said, I’m going with Jimmy Crooks, catcher, here at #4. It’s strange for a guy to hit better as a pro than a college player, but Crooks has basically done that. He’s a solid defender and even though there’s the Andrew Knizner syndrome at play, I do think he hits enough to be the everyday catcher before too long.
Bling – the Cardinals have an abysmal record with drafting injured players. I expect most to collect their signing bonuses and retire like Steven Gingery or play less than 20% of the time like Travis Honeyman.
I’m kind of anxious to see Mason Christopher Burns pitch, Bling. The guy plunks a batter about every 6 innings, so we know he most likely possesses a decent degree of spunk right out of the gate. And another that we have seen, but I’m chomping at the bit to see more of is Nolan Matthew Sparks. Not a big kid, but an extremely intelligent one. I think he’s going to make it.
I’m going to go with McGreevy at #4. I think he’ll become a rotation regular in the near future. He might be able to pitch as well as Mikolas and Fedde already. Saggese has that Minor League MVP award to his credit and I could see him eventually becoming our starting second baseman. There’s an obvious argument for Crooks to be ranked here, also. But I still see Leonardo Bernal as our catcher of the future.
#4. Michael McGreevy
Two hours and 19 minutes to vote…this one is a close call, folks! YOU could swing the election so make sure your tally counts by the 12 PM CT/1 PM ET deadline!
Your #4 prospect in the 2025 TCN Top Prospects list is…Jimmy Crooks, C.
1. Quinn Mathews, LHP
2. JJ Wetherholt, IF
3. Tink Hence, RHP
4. Jimmy Crooks, CVoting for the #5 prospect is now OPEN. Voting closes at 12 PM CT/1 PM ET on November 5th.
Voting for the #5 prospect is now OPEN. Voting closes at 12 PM CT/1 PM ET on November 5th.
Today is the 5th.
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