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Going with Davis @ #8. Voting is starting to get very interesting with players having close to the same value/potential! Already seeing how posters value players differently, and I personally appreciate the discussion on each pick, even if I may not agree. We make our choices on what we see and how we dissect the stats for each player, and how that may translate in the future. This is fun!
I’m good with either Bernal or Davis here. I have them back-to-back. I gave Bernal the edge due to age relative to level. However, Davis is more important for the Cardinals to get right because of the glut of good catchers and lack of good outfielders.
I told Bling this on the Members side, but after we get through these 2 hitters, I have 12 of my next 13 players being pitchers (with Lin close to the top of that list).
Would the real St. Louis Cardinal #8 top prospect please stand up………cue Chen-Wei Lin ascending tall and proud from his seating position, with smile half the size of Texas capturing the viewers immediate attention.
Davis really started to put it together the 2nd half of this year. He doesn’t project to be a star and still has a lot of risk, but I think he can profile as a 20HR good defense corner outfield guy. He has a lot of work to get there, but we hardly have any prospects that project to even have a chance to be starters.
#8 Chase Davis
This was one really close between Davis, Bernal, and Lin. Interestingly, someone asked the Fangraphs prospect guy on his thoughts of Bernal being borderline top 100 prospects, and he thought he was. He probably has him up at #4 in our system then, which I can understand from a scouting perspective as they aren’t as infatuated with stats and instead rely more on the eye test. Something most fans like us unfortunately don’t get to do is see the lower minors players in action.
12:47
Leric A Ongenhagen: Leonardo Bernal had a great ’24, is performing well in the AFL, and is at AA as a 20 year old catcher. Will he make the top 100?12:47
Eric A Longenhagen: I’d say beter than 50/50 he does. Lefty-hitting catcher with plus bat speed. Another guy where his build is such that IDK what it’ll looks like when he’s 26-28, ya know?Graceffo seems to have lost favor with many on this board. He will have a shot to make the ML team out of ST if he does well there. Probably starts the year in Memphis, but you never know! MLB midyear rankings have him at #11, right behind McGreevy and just before Robberse. It will be interesting to see where they rank him when the new rankings for 2025 come out. As Jnevel pointed out, lots of pitchers in the next bunch of picks!
Just about 2 hours to go in the voting! Still quite a few outstanding votes here… get your vote in before noon CT/1 PM ET!
Your #8 prospect is Chase Davis, OF.
1. Quinn Mathews, LHP
2. JJ Wetherholt, IF
3. Tink Hence, RHP
4. Jimmy Crooks, C
5. Michael McGreevy, RHP
6. Thomas Saggese, 2B
7. Cooper Hjerpe, LHP
8. Chase Davis, OFVoting is now open for the #9 prospect. Voting will end at 12 PM CT/1 PM ET on Sunday, November 17th.
#9 Lin.
Bernal is a somewhat beefier version of Herrera. Maybe will have more power and strike out more. Herrera threw out 30% in Peoria and we know how that worked out. Still, I have moved Bernal up to my top 10, just after Lin.
#9 Bernal
Very reasonable error/passed ball totals over the past two years, and he gunned 34% of basethieves in 2024, a career best. Lin is a fine choice here as well, but I’ll take the upside of a very young backstop who can hit some.
Now it’s starting to get interesting and every choice becomes questionable.
Personally I recognize Bernal’s value even if I see his path not guaranteed in the organization because he has three youngsters ahead of him. To find space at least one should be traded. In my ranking he is a little after, but he is not my #9.
Lin is a great pitcher but he is a 2001 and this year he was still in Single A. There are other 2001 much more advanced: Hjerpe, Robberse, Roby, Rajcic, Mautz (even on him it was a bit disappointing), and others even younger who have done well at a higher level: Rincon, Saladin. So don’t be surprised if Lin is not even in my top20.For these reasons my #9 is Robberse
This is likely too low of a spot for me to have Bernal based off scouting evaluations. He performed well for a 20 year old catcher with very little state side experience in A+. He looks to have the ability to be at least an average catcher with a slightly above arm, and a bat that likely will be decent. I really look forward to seeing how Bernal develops, and I could see him being one of the top prospects in baseball come the start of 2026.
#9 Leonardo Bernal
I think things will really start to get more interesting after the top 10 as generally we seem fairly aligned on the top 10 names. I had the top 3 in their own group, then I personally had a 2nd tier group with McGreevy and Crooks, and then 6-10 in the next tier. There is a pretty big drop off in my opinion after 10 in the quality of our prospects.
“Therefore, we cannot choose several guys that we got to pick from last year. Here are some key names from last year who are NOT eligible:
Masyn Winn, Victor Scott, Pedro Pages, Ryan Fernandez, and Michael Siani.”
From last night’s AFL game summary: “Bernal committed a throwing error in the field and allowed four runners to steal successfully.”
He’s actually committed 4 errors now. That’s not a good look. He has thrown out several runners but in one game, they stole 9 bases with him behind the plate. But in other games, he nabbed the only runner who tried to steal.
He’s also 20 – younger by a year or two than most of our new draftees. And he has a reputation for being pretty good defensively. I haven’t compared ages, but he might be the youngest player in the AFL.
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