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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.
I think it is a good move. I believe at best Gonzales would be a situational lefty. He often is real good the first time through the lineup and then blotto. We probably have other good prospects to fill the sit lefty role.
On the other hand as much as we pick at the numbers we got a guy that was #2 in the Seattle system and top 50 (actually mid 30’s) in 3 of 4 BA pundits. A guy with the power we have sadly missed in the middle of the lineup. I know we, me probably more than others quibble with BA’s rankings but we have to remember those rankings are due to a lot of scout input.
So we part with a possible back end of the rotation lefty or a situation lefty for a legitimate power hitter and a decent outfielder with plus arm. Also only 22 years old at AAA.
Didn’t mean to offend Brian. I do enjoy your interviews, particularly with the coaches and minor league officials. I am referring to the sideline interviews during the games.
I don’t really care for coaches and players interviews. If you have heard one you have heard them all. And I really don’t like it when they minimize the action and show the interview on half or even all the screen while the game is going on.
the whole world in too much into editorializing today. And ESPN doesn’t seem to be able to cover an event with less than 5 people talking.
Oh for the days of just Chris Berman, George Grande and Gail Gartner.
They probably paid a little extra for agreement concerning the hair issue. Just kidding.
Seriously why do women spend a lot of money to look great and men seem content to look scruffy.
That is like us giving up Reyes and Kelly and two minor prospects. We seem reluctant to give up our prospects for someone that can help.
So what do you think.
1. We don’t feel that Quintana would improve our starting rotation that much
2. We are not in as much trouble with starters as the Cubs so not willing to part with top prospects for the potential return.
3. We are looking more long term and feel that Reyes would be better than Quintana soon.
4. Unwilling to give up Reyes for anyone short of Stanton like players.
5. Weaver and Kelly would not have done the deal. Maybe would have had to throw in Flaherty or Alcantara.
6. Other
