- This topic has 616 replies, 22 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 4 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Nigel,
You definitely have a point. The starting pitching is getting very crowded. It’s going to force some to the bullpen. However, I think Komar stays in the rotation. We basically need 6 starters at each level due to injuries. Here’s my best prediction:
AAA: Thompson, McGreevey, Graceffo, Robberse, Kloffenstein, Santos with Connor Thomas and Liberatore becoming full-time relievers.
AA: Hence, Roby, Rajcic, Hjerpe, Komar, Bedell with Cornwell, Lunn, and Pereira becoming relievers. I actually think Lunn will likely just be released.
High A: Baker, Love, Paniagua, Mautz, Rincon, and Matthews with Mills becoming a reliever. I’m least confident about this group because it feels like any or all of Baker, Love, and Paniagua would be best served moving to AA as relievers.
Low A: Showalter, Willis, Harrison, Savacool, Lin, Salas (I also wouldn’t be shocked to see Ynfante at this level too)
Bling – I forgot to mention Rom. I see him in the Jake Woodford long relief role.
It is possible that Graceffo (and it likely would be only Graceffo here) makes the team as a semi-high leverage right-handed reliever out of Spring Training kind of like Pallante did. In that scenario, then one of Rom or Liberatore likely continues to start at AAA. But this only occurs if both St Louis doesn’t acquire a high level right handed reliever and Graceffo looks better than all/most of the other in-house options this Spring.
I think Rom, Thomas, and Liberatore are all probably just better off as relief pitchers at this point because they don’t have the arm strength or pin-point control that it’s going to take to be a starter at the MLB level. As a reliever, they can amp their fastballs up a couple miles per hour to play off their breaking pitches better. We saw that work out well for Liberatore last season. It doesn’t mean that they can’t ever make it as starters, it just means that it’s time to move on and not clutter up spots for guys who are likely to do the job better.
Makes sense, but we will have to wait and see. There are a lot of names for the slots.
One quarter of the 40 man roster is pitchers acquired pretty recently. That is the mother of all pipeline plugs.
Gray, Gibson, Lynn, Rom, King, Fernandez, Robertson, Robberse, Kloffenstein, O’Brien
Did we ever decide if Riley O’Brien is eligible? He’s on the 40 man. Turns 29 in February. 2 IP in MLB.
All three right handers are interesting for sure.
Jnevel–I think your groupings are very close, but nobody can tell.
My memory says favor was shown to and rewarded by a kid named Arias at PB.I believe Liberatore, Thompson, Graceffo, then Rajic will end up being the next four to start after the current five. The first two will allow the second two time to assert their places.
I’m not convinced they shouldn’t go north as relievers, but they are our second and third most talented starters.
If Pallante ups his spin, velocity, repertoire, and command, where does he rank? His analytics have always pointed to a failure, but the eye test says he could be special. What happens if he fixes those glaring weaknesses?
I’m sure they will all “prepare to start” because who knows what may happen with injuries. I just don’t believe that plan A is to make Liberatore a starter anymore. But plans and players change.
I don’t think Pallante is going to upgrade his spin or velocity much. He already has a fantastic fastball. It’s just that he has almost nothing else. And he does need a little help with his command as you mentioned. He walked too many guys last season. One solid breaking pitch and a little better command could make him into an excellent reliever though.
39. Redmond
40. Alec Willis
41. RJ Yeager. I may be a little early on him, but he’s hit since day 1 in the system. Got some pop, stole 17 bags too, not too shabby for a first baseman. He got promoted to Peoria midseason as well. I haven’t gotten to watch him much, but I think he’s a good candidate for some Cardinal magic. I think he’ll prove it over the first part of the season in Peoria and hopefully earn a promotion to Springfield pretty early. Seems like a solid prospect for top 40ish in the system.Redmond-14/ Dunn-12 / Fernandez-12/ Siani-11/ Willis-9/ Santos-6/ Thomas-6/ Iadisernia-5/ Love-5/ Church-2/ Komar-1/ Yeager-1
#39-Redmond, #40-Dunn, (using a tie-breaker) #41-Fernandez
Running total-
1. Winn
2. Saggese
3. Hence
4. Roby
5. Scott
6. Hjerpe
7. Graceffo
8. McGreevey
9. Davis
10. Bernal
11. Rajcic
12. Robberse
13. Cho
14. Kloffenstein
15. Crooks
16. Showalter
17. Hansen
18. Bedell
19. Mautz
20. Honeyman
21. Rom
22. Pages
23. Baez
24. Prieto
25. Granillo
26. Nunez
27. Matthews
28. Antico
29. Levenson
30. Paniagua
31. Mejia
32. Rincon
33. Gómez
34. Cornwell
35. Svenson
36. Mendlinger
37. Koperniak
38. Baker
39. Redmond
40. Dunn
41. FernandezI have more than 9 players that I think deserve to be in the top 50, but no room! Adding the players from trades and Rule 5 has muddied the waters some, but their abilities on the field will show where they should be ranked. Can’t wait until ST and baseball is back!
If Pallante ups his spin, velocity, repertoire, and command,
In other words, if he gets better at everything that matters in pitching. He was supposed to do that coming up, but instead was beamed straight to the top. I don’t see him as part of a pen built to contend.
Feel a bit snake-bit here as none of my 3 selections made the cut last round. Me having no players selected when making 3 picks has occurred only 3 times(2009, 2013 & 2014), and in each of those incidences, the very next round all 3 of my selections were chosen. So mark my words, if you look below, here are our top prospects for 42, 43 and 44. So I think we can save some time and call this round a wrap and move right along to 45-47, cardsfan64.
42. Siani
43. Ladisernia
44. Willis
The reason I bring up Pallante is the video he released of his off season work at the magic pitching factory. It looked like they were making routes for addressing all four areas. Pallante seemed a little overwhelmed, but weeks later we could see a potential transformation. At least he is doing more than lifting and throwing.
42 Iasdernia
43 Santos
44 ChurchYeager would already be listed long ago if we simply voted according to production, but his lack of power robs him of any potential value. The best-case scenario of him flying through leagues to provide us with a first baseman who hits .270 with 12ish home runs leaves me casting my votes elsewhere even though I consider him each round as a guy we overlook.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.