50 Days, 50 Nights, 50 Cardinals Prospects: 2018

BW, your written commentary is hardly a ringing endorsement for for the prospect you have chosen to fill the #2 slot. Kelly seems destined to be the bench caddie for Molina after the FO extended YM for three years. On that day, a death knell could be heard over Kelly’s head.

You mentioned injury as a way that Carson could get some playing time. Even if he outplays Molina during the absence, Yadi will still take over on his return. Don’t forget Yadi is calling the shots now. He has been empowered by an overpriced contract to do so by the men upstairs. Clearly Yadi and his posse have been undermining the clubhouse and disrupting the dugout ever since.

The fan base no doubt wanted Molina back, perhaps not realizing the consequences. They want a straight path for Molina to enter into the HOF. But at what non-financial cost? Molina is ego-driven and disregards that cost. It will be Yadi being Yadi… the tail wagging the dog.

The front office has plainly put Kelly in a LOSE-LOSE situation and has pandered to the folks who discount his importance as the best catching prospect available. His options in the organization are very limited. Perhaps the Cards want to see how much, and if, Knizner will progress before pulling the plug on Kelly’s stay in St Louis. Otherwise, Carson’s value will only decline if he is spending his days spitting out seeds on the dugout floor.

Kelly could be a #1 prospect but not in our organization, the FO has abandoned him. These things should at least been thought about by readers here.

“I firmly and strongly disagree with those who base their comparable player assessments on projected 2018 role. In my view, these prospect rankings are about ultimate potential as a player, and should never be role- or depth chart-based, both of which are subjective and can easily change at a moment’s notice, whether by trade, injury or effectiveness.” -BW
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Kelly is a special case because it involves a 3-year window and because he is a catcher, he is not an infielder, an outfielder or a pitcher. There’s only one catcher on the field at a time. Kelly’s “ultimate potential as a player” will not begin to be realized until 2021, if Plan A is kept in order. That will lead to “osmosis”, I think it was called. Plan A can also be called the “Molina contract” which I have been critical of long before it was announced. Kindly read CN’s top-stories-of-the-year #6.

When you have “”prospect” and “osmosis” in the same sentence… that can kind of take away from potential in my mind. I don’t like Plan A and I’ve made that quite clear. I am a big Kelly fan since he was drafted and actually watched a youtube video of him driving to his first pro spring training camp. It was short and rather silly, he was a teenager then! I wrote about Plan A yesterday as being detrimental to Kelly’s career. And if “A” proceeds forward will diminish not only his skills, because of lack of playing time (there’s a limit to what you can absorb while sitting as a spectator), but also his potential and value. That backup catcher mentality is sure to set in with Plan A.

Is there any clear reason to put his ETA earlier than 2021? Is there any reason to believe Molina will be leaving before then. Carson Kelly will be Eric Fryer for three seasons? That is what goes through my mind.

Flaherty’s is a totally different situation. As of now he has the opportunity to live up to his potential in 2018… like tomorrow. I firmly believe that if there is one little slip up, one little injury the Cardinals will feel confident in inserting Flaherty into the rotation. Its also my belief that Flaherty will be at the top or near the top of the rotation by 2021.

To further illustrate the difference in projection between the two: at spring training 2021, Flaherty will be a seasoned starter, pitching to a first-season starting catcher, yep, Kelly.