Brian Walton has the JC Cardinals roster. Notably absent is their big July 2nd signee Roberto de la Cruz, whom Luhnow was gushing about last fall and had projected he’d very likely skip the DSL, GCL and move right up to Johnson City. Looks like that was a tad optimistic. It does however make the GCL team worth following a lot more. More after jump.
The JC roster itself isn’t too exciting from the standpoint of popular names. Robert Stock is the catcher, after that there’s Anthony Ferrara, their 7th rounder from last year and a bunch of late round, roster filler picks from this recent draft. C.J. Beatty and Rich Rocabaldo could be some semi-interesting sleepers. Catcher Audry Perez led the DSL Cardinals in OPS last year. Yunier Castillo was pointed out by scouts to Derrick Goold last year as a slick-fielding, athletic shortstop. Romulo Ruiz was one of the team’s bigger international signings from 2006.
Speaking of big international signings, I mentioned this in the comments the other day, but Jorge Arangure (ESPN.com, the KLaw of the international signing circuit) believes there’s a 90% chance the Cardinals sign OF Wagner Mateo to a $3M deal. The last time the Cardinals gave a signing bonus of that size to an amateur, it was J.D. Drew. Arangure mused with me that while Mateo is a good player, he’s not sure he’ll stick in CF and that he doesn’t profile to have quite the power you’d want from a corner OF. You can watch Wagner on display, set to some real groovy tunes.
I hope Mateo doesn’t preclude Shelby Miller, that would be a bummer. Miguel Angel Sano, that I could live with a little more. Now netting both, that will give the farm system a nice shot in the arm, especially one that seems to be collectively going bleh, with the exception of a few.
Springfield beatwriter Matt Baker tweets that Eduardo Sanchez is the new Francisco Samuel, only with better command. FILTHY breaking ball, Matt says, to go with 98 MPH heat. Dude has some real helium. Sanchez is just 20 and is already up to AA. He was named to the FSL All-Star team but was promoted to Springfield. He’s striking out his fair share of batters, and better still, unlike Samuel, he seems to have a decent idea of where the ball is going. Baker said NW Ark. hitters were literally ducking Sanchez’s breaking ball. Pretty impressive from a guy listed at 5’11, 155 lbs.
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Sanchez is still raw, don’t get me wrong. His control can still be iffy. But he’s an under-the-radar guy to keep an eye on. I’ll have more on him (and what Luhnow says about Sanchez and Samuel) in the coming days.
6’2″ 190 at 16? You think he would have a frame that could develop some power.
frame is good, swing is more line-drive than fly ball
How about Trey Hearne?
He is looking good.
Can we get a scouting report on him?
thanks, matt. i want to say i love your coverage in the paper and on twitter.
i do think, though, that since we went for the high-risk/reward pitching in the draft, I’d rather see us work on sano or mateo.
Anyone heard what the word is on how the investigation into Sano’s age turned out.
Sano’s good age-wise.
I like the video on Mateo and at the end you get a bit of a closeup, which is important to me to see a guy’s face. He looks like a big, strong kid but he has a young face so I can believe he’s 16. If he has to move to a corner spot, I can see his arm being good enough for Right Field. I haven’t heard what the scouts say on his arm, but it looks like a strong, line drive arm.
In a couple years when I’m living in the DR, I’ll have to work on my prospect eye so I can give you guys some notes.
I’ll definitely be following Ferrara, Stock, and Matt Adams. I guess Adams will be playing first. Would love to see his nasty numbers translate into a solid pro bat.
Does anyone have any idea of what happened to Gerrardo Mannbel?
Here is another video of Mateo.
http://www.vimeo.com/4804359
Also, an interview with Kiley McDaniel on the top Latin America talent.
http://mvn.com/aroundthemajors/2009/06/talking-international-prospects-with-kiley-mcdaniel-part-one.html
So far I haven’t seen alot on where the 2009 draftees will be playing this season. Can we get a list of where all the signed picks will be playing?
sorry, this is the first thing that popped into my brain when i saw danny’s comment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6m7NR6iYjg
This guy looks great! Could even be the next Ken Griffey.
another year another draft another revolving door
any idea how many signees from last year’s draft are still in the organization.
Personally, I loooove Mateo’s swing. I would be willing to lay down good money on him being an impact bat down the road with that swing. He has excellent balance, quick hands, and plenty of leverage. Of course, I’m sure his pitch recognition is rudimentary at best as a sixteen year old, but I’m predicting success for Mateo based entirely on his swing, the same as I did with Descalso. Write it down, so that everyone can rip on me in a couple of years when he gets released as a 22 year old still stuck in the GCL.
@Sportsman- what are you talking about?
where will Virgil Hill Jr. be playing this summer?
GCL
I gotta disagree with Arangure on that one. The kid is 16 and even in that video he has that long lefty pretty swing. It’s a power stroke. He’ll hit his share of HRs.