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Who do we really have that could help land an impact player or top prospect. Really not many except our top prospects. I do agree that getting even a mid level prospect is better than non-tendering.
We must protect O’Neill, Bader, Sierra, Alvarez, Alcantara, Machado, Weaver. I don’t believe we have to protect Flaherty and Sosa could slide by because of serious injuries two years in a row.
Pearce, Gomber, Morales, Gant and Wick may be exposed.
I believe that we lose Mejia, Martini, and Valera to the 6 year free agency route. If we call up Valera I doubt that he would get much playing time and we will probably remove him from the roster. I like Voit but I think the jury is really still out on him and we don’t need a second first baseman. Would not be surprised to see him dropped from the 40 man roster. I think there are teams out there that would risk a rule 5 on several of these guys.
Our problem may be that our less than high ceiling depth would just create the same problem for another team that we would bundle a bunch of guys for.
The problem I have is I don’t know who other teams are even interested in and what other teams needs are.
Bottom line is we have to do the best job we can at addition by subtraction.
We were really put out because we lost Cordoba last year. Think how we would feel if Sosa, Alvarez and Wick or all of them were claimed. Teams are smart enough to look past injuries, particularly position players.
Also, Alvarez is swinging the bat much better since his return and Wick is pitching well as well. Sosa just played his first rehab game. Not in favor of that move.
But we are going to have to make some tough decisions. I expect to see a fair number of 40 man roster guys non-tendered, up to and including guys like Greg Garcia.
One thing critical with Leake is the umpire’s strike zone. Last night it was a tight one with a lot of pitches in the edge of the zone called balls according to the square on the screen. Leake needs the low strike to survive.
Each umpire has their own strike zone and most are consistent with it. I really don’t like the arrogance of some umpires in that they have their own strike zone regardless of the rule book. But it is what it is.
Not defending Leake. We probably would have done better accelerating one of our youth than paying all that money for a 50/50 pitcher. Couldn’t have hurt as we didn’t do well last year and Leake was not good.
Going into tonight’s games the Cardinal minor league teams are 70 games over .500. This includes the 7 games under .500 by our very young DSL team. Of course Memphis is 40 games over.
If you go deeper in the stats Alcantara has six consecutive quality starts, 36.2 innings, 29 hits, 6 earned runs, 21 bb (ouch) and 25 ks. He is a model for the Cardinal philosophy in developing prospects. Challenge them with a level above their current development, give them around a half season to catch up.
I have never cared for MLB’s lists. Seems that Baseball America is better. Weren’t they the ones that had Vaughn Bryan as a top 10 prospect in the Cardinal system.
We went for offense in the 17 draft and some of the guys are hitting well. Mendoza, Hurst, Pinder and Robertson at times. Also other less publisized.
So many of the international pitching prospects we picked up are still very young and we probably are expecting too much too soon of them.
Interesting item. Schlessenger has been real hot lately after a serious bout with control last season. 54 K’s in 33.2 innings and a strong start in the cancelled game last night. Still only 20.
Diaz is still struggling at times for production at Memphis but from what I can see in their games he is hitting from a much more stable base and is not lunging as much as he was. Still swinging at too many pitches out of the zone.
Not an expert but from my untrained eyes DeJong appears to be a tad better on defense than Diaz. Certainly more accurate on his throws and maybe a stronger arm. I think I would put Diaz at third.
Don’t want to give up on Diaz yet. Ball really jumps off his bat when he takes a good swing. Not quite as much as Grichek but similar.
Pinder is also hitting very well.
Mendoza already up to Palm Beach. Faster than DeJong and Bader moved in their first season.
Actually both have had their good outings. Oviedo moved up to State College. He has 3 quality starts and Seijas has 4.
Just read Brian’s article and generally agree with him. Wonder if he considered Mike Mayers, if he has not had too much major league experience.
He has just been converted to relief and so far looks good.
July 31 Update
Total 266
14 Flaherty, Hudson
13 Gallen, Helsley
11 Gomber, O’Reilly, Jones
10 Hicks
9 Weaver, Marco Gonzales, Woodford, Oxnevad
Alcantara 8 and picked up his 9th on August 2. Has Had 5 consecutive quality starts.Short Season
4 Castano and Pereira (DSL), and Ventura (DSL)
3 Cordero (DSL), Seijas, Oviedo, MulfordSeferina is making a good splash at Springfield. And he has made some eye popping plays on defense.
Also I think I heard Selby say on the Memphis broadcast last night that Caldwell had been called up.
DeJong appears to be a guy who makes good adjustments. This is a guy who struggled to get above the .250 mark at AA last year albeit with some power. And for the most part he has had good at bats in the #3 spot.
he seems to be making the plays at shortstop and I didn’t realize how strong his arm is. I think the Sabermetrics guys like him too.
I think some are being pessimistic about him. Maybe the Diaz think is bleeding over here. And I’m not ready to give up on Diaz. He showed good plate discipline late in the season last year and should be able to recover that. And I love the way the ball comes off the bat when he takes a good swing. I do believe that he has lost the shortstop job permanently to DeJong so a change in positions may be in store for him.
I would be disappointed with any trade with Kansas City. I have no interest in any of their minor leaguers including Mondesi who had stalled out at the major league level. The only regular major league player I would like is Hosmer so we would have to do something about Carpenter.
Duffy appears to be the strongest starter but I don’t see any advantage in picking him up. I don’t know the contract status of either Duffy or Hosmer and I know that would play a role in any deal.
I would rather count on our scouting department to select a better second round draft pick any minor league guy we could pick up from Kansas City.
O’Neill hit a two run homer to tie the game tonight against Salt Lake. Redbirds win 3-2 for their 6th straight.
Actually Ozuna’s defensive numbers were about the same as Fowler’s last year and below Grichuk. Guy can really hit though. But a left fielder not a center fielder. Blackmon also did not have good defensive numbers.
I have to add the bullpen as a huge disappointment. I never saw Oh as a permanent closer. Rosy has been brilliant at times and awful at others. Bowman is a Maness type guy and like the little girl with the curl. When he is good he is very, very good and when he is bad he is awful.
We may be too hard on Piscotty. Not sure he has been 100% any time this year. Fowler hindered by injuries as well.
Yadi has slowed a little on D. He doesn’t block the balls in the dirt as as well as he used to and his throws to second are often of the left side of the bag. Still one of the best catchers around.
Could tell we won by the small number of posts. Just kidding.
I thought DeJong did an excellent job in the 3 hole. Good plate discipline and hit the ball hard. Also excellent play on defense.
Big K by Brebbia of Aredondo and Siegrist of Parra. I was hoping they would have left Brebbia in to see how he handled the pressure. We need a reliever we can count on and he looks like just as good as any of them.
Diaz got a couple of hits tonight including a long home run. Selby reports that the Buddah (Mark Budaski, Memphis hitting coach) is making good progress with Diaz.
My biggest disappointment is Diaz. He really progressed during the season last year and had good at bats. Even improved his defense. But this year he is swinging the bat wildly and lunging after almost everything. I am not advocating that we dump him. Wouldn’t bring much now anyway. You can’t teach his bat speed and potential power. Beginning to think that we may not be able to teach him good batting fundamentals either. If anyone can it will be the Budda (Mark Budaska, batting coach at Memphis).
Second is both Fowler and Cecil. We have a lot of money committed to them with abysmal results. We probably have at least 4 center fielders in the minors who are better defensively than Fowler. I may feel better about them later in the season as it often takes some time for a player to settle down and produce after a big transaction bringing them to a new team.
I am disappointed on our base running, particularly Carpenter. When he is on base and a ball is hit he usually ends up one base short of where I expect him to be at the end of the play. Yadi trying to steal a base with arguably our best home run hitter batting and one who is likely to strike out if he doesn’t hit a home run.
I am most disappointed at our lack of focus at times. How can a veteran pitcher fail to cover first base in a crucial situation. That is a Class A or rookie league blunder.
You are right about a lot of games that could have been won with more power and a better bullpen but I don’t think any of those guys would help except Cozart. We would have to send Wong because we should not even think of getting rid of DeJong without getting something pretty substantial in return. I could live with Cozart at shortstop and DeJong at second but I can also live with DeJong at shortstop.
I think the price for Cozart would be very high. And no guarantee that he would extend with the Cardinals. He is coming off an all-star campaign and probably would go very high in the free agent market.
We dabbled with Neshek at closer when we had him with poor results. I don’t see him a better closer than what we have.
