Suffice to say Luhnow sounds pleased with his new acquisition from Latin America -

“Originally, the conversation was that he was a Dominican Summer or Gulf Coast League player, but now he (Roberto De La Cruz) is a Johnson City or Batavia player, to be honest,” Luhnow said. “A lot can change between now and when he shows up next spring and by the time we make decisions. But Johnson City could be where he starts if I guessed now.

“He was a little banged up during instructs, but even with that, he was the most impressive player there offensively and defensively. He looked like he belonged. His talent was well ahead of his years. He showed a combination of patience at the plate and an ability to attack the ball when it was in the hitting zone. He got a lot of hits.”

Luhnow also raved about De La Cruz’s play at third, citing good footwork and hand coordination. The club also was more than pleased with his first-step reaction, the smoothness he displays on the transfer and his ability to start a double play.

“De La Cruz is certainly capable of staying at third base. There’s no reason to think that he couldn’t. Long-term, I think he’s going to go pretty far in the organization. Both these guys impressed people during their time here. Obviously, their stock didn’t go down during instructs.”

To have a 17 year old playing in either the Appy or the NY – Penn is pretty exciting stuff. Luhnow also cited Gerardo Mannbel as another player that was impressive coming out of the instructs. Mannbel had the most impressive stats of any VSL Cardinal, with a .302/.401/.421 line.

Derrick Goold chats with Sam Freeman, who also I got the chance to interview over the weekend. Not trying to sell myself short, but these pros know how to ask some good questions.

Would you part with Colby for Jake Peavy? He’s definitely on the block, and the Cards are said to be one of the many suitors.

Onto the DFR’s. I’m no longer going to post the scores, as these are mixed squads and who really cares who won or lost? We just wanna know what our players did. I’ll just say who did what to save some time.

• David Freese went 2-4 with a double for Caribes. Box.
• Brett Wallace doubled, walked and struck out twice for the Saguaros.
• Shane Robinson went 1-4 with an RBI. Box.
• Whither Justin Fiske?
• James Rapoport went 0-3 with a K for Honolulu.
• Amaury Marti went 1-4 with a strikeout for Licey (DR). The sweat from his brow can cure AIDS, too bad you’ll never see Marti sweat. Box.
• Jose Martinez went 0-3 for Aragua.
• Luke Gregerson pitched a scoreless inning, with 1 BB, 1 K. Box.

More as it comes available.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 at 11:57 pm and is filed under Daily Farm Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.