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This year is a very tough year to rank the prospects. There are good arguments for Doyle, Bernal, Franklin and Mathews, as well as others.
#2 – Josh Baez
Sorry to miss Rainiel at 1. He is the best hitter I have ever watched at AA.The closest player would be Matt Adams. The two reminded me of the period where you could not throw Barry Bonds a strike without it being crushed. Adams great AA season saw twenty line drives caught on the run at the track. He simply flied out maybe three tomes all year.
Watching Rainiel rip line drives down the line foul on anything close to the zone inside was a thrill ride in and of itself.
At two I can only pick Joshua Baez. I would be shocked if he doesn’t hit 30 HR for the big club next year.
The Bernal we saw late was Ted Simmonsesque, and that is close to reality. I believe in Quinn, Liam, Cooper, and Franklin, but Joshua Baez has already arrived;his potential is now becoming concrete…like his future statue out front of the stadium.Nigel I noticed you didn’t say a single word about anybody’s defense. I think we can count Baez as a liability since he was routinely pulled late for a defensive replacement. Whether he will improve like Walker did, i don’t know. I’m guessing his makeup is different. I give Rainiel the benefit of the doubt since i haven’t seen him behind the plate. And besides, i’m too old to step in front of that hype train.
It’s the final stretch for voting for the #2 prospect…and things are very close! Any of three different guys could feasibly take the spot. If nothing changes, the tiebreaker will have to to go our “first in” choice. It would be good to not have to go that route, so let’s get some more votes!
Jnev put up some good comments but who did he actually vote for. I keep track of all of the votes.
Q: will there be any rule concerning changing the position of a player once you vote for him? That’s a peeve that I have developed. Just curious.
I think Jesus Baez deserves some love. He’s not my number 2, but he’s close. It was a tough decision between him, Doyle, Mathews and Bernal, and our other Baez twin, or Baez bash brother. Geez, how many bombs did our Baez’ bash? Nearly 80 together?
Q: will there be any rule concerning changing the position of a player once you vote for him? That’s a peeve that I have developed. Just curious.
We generally discourage swapping out picks round to round. I keep tabs as well and would call it out if it becomes an issue. We haven’t seen it happen a ton in the past, though. Maybe once or twice per year.
The reason I don’t want to do a hard fast rule comes down to the fact that some might be a lot higher on a prospect than almost anyone else (and example, gscottar and Pete Hansen) and after a while, maybe they just tire of voting for the same guy and want to add a comment on another player. So, it’s a bit of a case by case basis.
Occasionally, people forget about a player as well and want to add him in. I’m fine with that as well. That’s why I like when people write something about their pick, as it helps bring some understanding.
I think I noticed it was especially prevalent in the year Rainiel Rodriguez and Yairo Padilla were coming off killer first DSL years. Some people had them as high as top 10, others in the 20s-30s, some off the list entirely. So it led to the same couple people voting Rodriguez and Padilla every round, while their voice about who was better between the different prospects that were neck and neck for that spot went unheard because they were stuck voting for the same 2 people every round.
I would hope that a poster would explain why they are changing who they are voting for. I don’t mind someone changing who they are championing…. if it was one of the reasons state above, or they were influenced by other posters’ reasoning about prospects.
People can change their minds based on information provided. I know I sometimes rethink a prospect based on points one of our posters might add. Heck, the back half of my list is still very fluid right now and could easily shift based on other’s thoughts & opinions.
This is an especially tough year because there are so many prospects to keep track of. My list of guys I’m trying to keep up with is 94 names long. It’s typically closer to 65.
I agree we don’t want to see someone swap out picks every round just to try to be in the majority though. But I haven’t really seen that (or at least haven’t noticed it).
After my top 10 i have players in groups of 5. Within a group, i don’t worry about who is ahead of who and the order i vote can be influeced by commentary and who is getting votes. I don’t like to move guys to a different group.
With no more votes coming in, we are closing voting for the round.
With the tiebreaker vote (getting to six votes first), your 2027 TCN Community #2 prospect is Quinn Mathews, LHP. Congrats to Quinn.
1. Rainiel Rodriguez, C
2. Quinn Mathews, LHPVoting is now open for the #3 prospect. Voting will close at 12 PM CT/1 PM ET on Friday, October 9th.
Liam Doyle at #3 for me also, please.
The pride of Pinkerton Academy High School (Derry, New Hampshire) was ranked the #27 overall prospect by Keith Law of The Athletic back on July 23rd.
We must assume Doyle’s moved up in KLaw’s rankings at least a little since then, because from that point forward (10 starts), Doyle permitted just 25 hits, one longball, and 8 total earned runs across 50.2 innings. Thus his ERA for that lengthy stretch was 1.42 and his FIP roughly 2.20, thanks to a sturdy 66/23 K/BB tally.
This round could be ultra close again. We have 4 more (maybe 5) potential star prospects that each has a unique reason why someone might decide they are the best fit at 3.
Leo Bernal has exceptional defense (at least in the Minors), could have good or better than good offense, and has a good reputation for handling pitchers. He’s a switch hitter who is generally better from the left side, which all bodes extremely well. I am a bit cautious because the small sample size we saw at the Majors for his offense was probably inflated. He sure looks like the full-time catcher of the future who we have been waiting for though. It’s a bonus that he can also play first base. I’m going with him as I think he provides the next most long-term value to the Cardinals organization behind Rodriguez and Mathews. Although I’m secretly hoping each or any of the next 3 on my list pass him because they all have more upside if they can achieve it.
3. Leonardo Bernal
Liam Doyle @ #3 for me. Very close between him and Baez, but I look at Doyle as a #1 or #2 starter for the future. We need both of those guys to progress to their full potential for the Cardinals to sustain a competitive team for years to come!
We received a good taste of what Leonardo Bernal brings to the table in his short but stout cup of coffee with the big club late this season. And even better news is that he’s only going to get better. So my vote for the St. Louis Cardinals Top Prospect going into the 2027 campaign goes to none other than Leonardo Abdiel “Tank” Bernal. Thank you very mucho.
#3 is Leo Bernal. His poise at the plate and behind the behind the plate. Too valuable. Future All-star
Doyle could use a lot of that poise on the mound.
#3. Bernal
Bernal for all the comments made earlier. There’s that Minor League Gold Glove. His throws this past September have not all been great but they’re improving. He’s our catcher of the future and there’s reason to believe he could merit a GG at the big league level one day. Doyle is something to dream on but Bernal is doing it now. Josh Baez can’t be ignored, either. The top 10 ranking is looking like it could be enough to be Tennessee’s starting lineup if they one day are awarded ab MLB franchise.
#3 Leo Bernal
We have had a plethora of good catchers percolating through the system the last few years and a lot of debate on who will win the crown of being Yadi’s heir. Bernal may be the guy although we probably won’t know for sure for another year or two.
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