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BHC, are you suggesting that the Cards added Sosa to the 40-man too soon or that he was ready for MLB earlier and was passed over?
Brian, I’m not sure if they added him too soon but I know they’ve passed over him the past couple of seasons when he probably should have gotten a call-up.
Well, they did not add Sosa to the 40-man too soon. They had to when they did because of Rule 5. Here is the link to his minor league stats.
https://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=624641#/career/R/hitting/2019/ALL
Sosa had some injuries two years ago, but moved very slowly through the system and his results were good, but never great. He slid down in our top prospect rankings for the each of the last four years, when guys who are getting close to the majors should be moving up. He hasn’t been a league all-star since 2016 at Peoria.
I can tell you that I have never written that I felt he had been passed over. Maybe others have, but I haven’t seen it. At the end of 2017, he was still at Palm Beach, so he was not a candidate. By the end of last season, he had about two months of Triple-A experience and he still got called up. I cannot see where he has been passed over.
Having said that, he is off to arguably his best start ever and hopefully they will give him his shot in 2019 before rushing to the new infield favorite, Edman.
Brian, its your opinion he wasn’t passed over. It’s my opinion he was passed over and no he didn’t have to be added to the 40-man roster in November 2016. The Cardinals could have risked the chance. Yes they could have lost him in the Rule 5 draft (only speculation) but its not like they would have missed him when they didn’t promote him and in my opinion passed him over. He has no more option years remaining and will 100% be DFA’d in the offseason.
Instead of blaming the organization when a player doesn’t play up to his potential, please be specific about when Sosa should have been promoted and wasn’t, because I did not and do not see it. Thanks.
Perhaps the organization should be blamed for poor talent evaluation? There have been numerous times they’ve either over evaluated or under evaluated players. And perhaps you could address the reason the Cardinals felt like they needed to protect Sosa in 2016 and then use up all 3 of his option years? Thanks.
BHC, I will answer your questions, but they have nothing to do with my single question, which you dodged totally. You want to know why Sosa was put on the 40-man and his options were then used.
To suggest Sosa might not have been taken in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft is highly, highly, highly unlikely. I’d give it less than 1% chance.
Sosa was coming off an All-Star season at Peoria. He was in the top 8 in every national Cardinals prospect ranking that I track annually. That includes BA, BP, ESPN and BaseballHQ. His best ranking was no. 5 by MLB Pipeline. His worst was no. 8.
A top 10 prospect in the system would be taken. As a point of reference, I am sure you remember the public outcry when Allen Cordoba (who played the same position) was taken in THAT SAME Rule 5 and was not returned. At the time, Cordoba was ranked no. 20 in the system and had not played above Johnson City. The two shortstops are the same age.
Imagine the fan revolt had Sosa been left unprotected instead of/along with Cordoba!
Now, why were all of Sosa’s options used up?
Because there is no choice. Once a player is on the 40-man, an option is used each season, unless he remains in the majors. Sosa was clearly not ready for that. So, one option was used in 2017 (while he was at Palm Beach), the second one last season (while at Springfield and Memphis) and one this year. That is the way the system works.
Now that I have answered your questions, in return I expect the same courtesy from you. Again, when was Sosa passed over for deserved promotion(s) to St. Louis? This is what you asserted and what I disagree with.
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