Surprise! We’re coming a day early.  We’ve hashed out our just misses and felt that they deserved a little attention too.  In no particular order, here they are.

Steve Hill
Rank: erik – N/A, roarke – #15, azruavatar – N/A
2008: (A+) 189 PAs, .285/.339/.529, .367 wOBA
(AA) 103 PAs, .303/.330/.505, .358 wOBA

Player Comment:  I can completely understand why the other guys left Hill off of their lists.  His holes are glaring: he takes very few walks and he doesn’t have a position.  But his power is very real and I can’t help but to love a guy that is only 23 years old and has the ability to hit the ball 600 feet.  I suspect that his average will drop as he reaches higher levels and pitchers realize that they don’t need to throw him strikes to get him out, but his power should remain.  Hill probably fits better on an American League team where he might have an opportunity to do the 1B/LF/DH thing, with an emphasis on the DH portion.  He reminds me a bit of Jonny Gomes with fewer walks – and while that may not seem like a very optimistic comp, remember that Gomes had back-to-back 20 HR seasons in the majors, which is a valuable commodity.  If he could project as even a below-average defensive catcher, he would be extremely valuable, but he is apparently much worse than that.  His road to the big leagues does not seem to be with the Cardinals, but he could be valuable in trade if his bat continues to play.  ~roarke

Adam Reifer
Rank: erik – #15, roarke – N/A, azruavatar – N/A
2008: (A-) 29.1 IP, 40K/15BB, 56% GB, 3.61 FIP

Player Comment:  Reifer is high on my list because his scouting report nearly perfectly embodies what you look for in a closer. He has a 94-98 heater, a wipe-out slider that at times rates a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale, and a “hatred” for his opponent that Cardinal fans haven’t seen since the days of Al Hrabosky. He should fly through the system, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as one of our top ten prospects next winter. Health is the only concern, he missed 2007 recovering from having a bone spur removed in his throwing elbow. ~erik

PJ Walters
Rank: erik – N/A, roarke – N/A, azruavatar – #15
2008: (AA) 36 IP, 34K/8BB, 51% GB, 4.18 FIP
(AAA) 122 IP, 122K/62BB, 44% GB, 5.04 FIP

Player Comment: His pure stuff is uninspiring, which burned me on Tyler Herron’s ranking last season but Walters has held par moving up the ladder.  The control issues in AAA seem like an adjustment time quandary as a result of being rushed.  He’s got back end starter written all over him with multiple average or slightly above average offerings and good command.  Even if he becomes something of a flyball pitcher, Busch III plays as a pitcher park and is certainly capable of sustaining a Jarrod Washburn type pitcher.  The fastball speed and how it will play at the major league level will be the single most important question moving forward.  ~azruavatar

Francisco Samuel
Rank: erik – #20, roarke – #20, azruavatar – N/A
2008: (A) 7.1 IP, 9K/5BB, 53% GB, 2.90 FIP
(A+) 56.1 IP, 85K/48BB, 53% GB, 3.65 FIP

Player Comment:  He made the bottom of my list because the strikeout rate intrigues me and if he can reign in his walks he could be the next in line in the category of high strikeout, righthanded relievers - something the Cardinals seem to be getting good at producing.  ~roarke

Samuel can match Reifer in terms of pure “stuff”, but obviously his control is pretty disconcerting. He weighs only 150 pounds, so maybe he could add even more velocity as he fills out. ~erik

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 21st, 2008 at 8:00 am and is filed under Prospect rankings. 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.