Archive for August, 2009

Shelby Miller rules the day; the post on him is below.

On to the DVR! DFR!

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I hope none of the other mods mind, but I thought I would throw up this post to congregate the Shelby Miller signings announcements, rumors, prices, links etc.

Here’s the tip of the iceberg from Jonathan Mayo:

Source tells me Shelby Miller has indeed agreed to terms with Cards.  No. 19 pick in #mlbdraft will indeed get $2.9 mil as I guestimated.

UPDATE It’s official, if it wasn’t already:

Per BA

The Cardinals have signed first-round pick Shelby Miller for $2,875,000. His bonus is the highest in the first round this year, the second-highest for a drafted player in club history and well over MLB’s $1,386,000 recommendation for the No. 19 slot.

First off, a round of internet applause for Matt Baker who so capably took over some big shoes of Kary Booher (now at Baseball America) writing about the Springfield Cardinals.  Matt is headed for sandier pastures (Oklahoma) and FR wishes him nothing but the best.  Thanks for all the insights into our AA prospects this year Matt!

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This DFR is brought to you by a Colby Rasmus walk off and a volleyball thumb injury. (Amazing how often I want to use my left thumb to type.)

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From BJ Rains on twitter:

Shelby Miller is on his way to St. Louis tonight for a physical tomorrow morning….Mozeliak ‘optimistic’ that a deal will get done.

I don’t have inside info to share but, personally, I’m less concerned about this signing than I have been about any in recent memory.  I’d be very surprised if this doesn’t happen.

Update by Erik, 8/17/09, 10:15am. Jonathan Mayo on Twitter.

Hearing reports on Shelby Miller and Cards deal are accurate, but not quite for the $3.25 mil being reported. My guess: $2.9 mil.

This deal is 99.99% likely of getting done, I’d think. Pretty significant stuff, if the Cardinals do end up signing two teenagers for $6M.

This DFR is brought to you by a replay of UFC 100 on Spike TV. I’m glad I didn’t buy that one on PPV as UFC tries to counter the first event by rival Strikeforce on Showtime. Can’t wait to watch the Lesnar-Mir fight.

Rough night for the farm system as only the Quad Cities are able to eek out a win.

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This DFR is brought to you by “District 9″. The movie isn’t at all what I expected it to be. It was both a better movie in aspects and worse in others than I thought it could be. At 2 hours, with a relatively simple portion of the plot taking way too long, it was a test of my attention span. The special effects are understated but effective. The allegory is neither subtle nor particularly well done but the ending is pretty much what you want it to be.

Also, for those of you who have motion sickness like I do, from about minute 70 to minute 100, the camera shots become very shaky. It’s not quite “Cloverfield” style filming but it was more than enough to make me nauseous and force me to look away during part of a critical sequence in the movie.

While I enjoyed “District 9″, it’s more of a wait for it on DVD in my opinion. Solid-B movie.

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Today’s DFR is brought to you by the In Plain Sight season finale, the most contrived storyline to create drama I’ve seen on a television show in a while. That is, of course, outside of your traditional series finale that creates a storyline completely out of nowhere and leaves the viewer feeling cheated of one last good episode.

PitcherHits8 has a great blog entry about a Night With Quad Cities.  Not sure how he got to a baseball game since that would require leaving his mother’s basement. Hmm.

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When last we spoke, I told the tale of the great Edgar Renteria acquisition. I would be remiss if I didn’t feel somewhat responsible that on that very day, Pablo Ozuna was released from his current employment.

With Allen Craig continuing to rake at a clip that mirrors his numbers at just about every level since T-Ball, the organization finds itself in a place going into next season where they have two options of guys who likely can hit but play very stationary 3B defense. One will be 35 years old on Opening Day coming off wrist surgery and costing a sizable amount over 2 or 3 years. The other will be 25 (going on 26) without any MLB experience and not having been a QB in college nor ever had Bobby Cox specifically point him out to Joe Morgan.

Allen Craig’s MLE right now (according to minorleaguesplits.com) comes to you at:
15 2Bs
17 HRs
.270 BA
.315 OBP
.434 SLG

Derosa in both leagues combined this year:
14 2Bs
21 HRs
.259 BA
.329 OBP
.466 SLG

Now, I’m not saying DeRosa won’t be a better player than Allen Craig next year but will he be the following season, when we are still paying him (probably more than the year before)? DeRosa is a serviceable utility defender at 3B, meaning if it is hit right at him he can make the play and the throw. Anything in either direction and he either can’t catch it or can’t throw it. His ability to play 2B not withstanding, defensively he doesn’t provide the Cardinals that much more flexibility than Craig would who has played 3B, 1B and LF over the last two years.

The thing is, Mark DeRosa cost us two RH reliever prospects at the upper levels of our system.  Think of them what you may but they had value both to this team and in the market.  If that value was Mark DeRosa, perhaps we spent on something we already had.  That’s spilt milk and I like the DeRosa signing.  The point is, going forward, DeRosa would take more of an investment, financially this time.

Where as just calling up Allen Craig next year would be like trading for a Mark DeRosa, without giving up anything at all…

Just food for thought.
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Jaime Garcia makes the minor league update at BP from Monday:

Garcia has now whiffed 11 in his first seven shutout innings while giving up just three hits. Just as importantly, command is often slow to come for elbow surgery survivors, and Garcia has yet to walk a batter.

Derrick Goold at BA recaps what the trading of prospects means for the system.

Mozeliak and others did not see the trades as a departure from their larger plan. Rather, they said it was a chance to outfit a contender today. Farm director Jeff Luhnow said the system’s depth helped make the trades possible.

Allen Craig, one of my favorite bats in the minors, shows up on Baseball America’s Hot Sheet with some strong offensive numbers.

Matt Baker checks in on a Nick Additon start.  My money quote:

With a fastball that topped out at 87 miles per hour on the stadium radar gun and a change-up that dipped as low as 59, Additon cruised through his first six innings, issuing two hits and hitting one batter.

There are 6 qualified major league starters with fastballs that sit at or below 87mph.

Meet the new Memphis GM.  He’s only 31!