The AFL begins today and contains several Cardinals propsects — and it appears there have been some changes since the rosters were initially announced. As a refresher:
Pitchers:
- David Kopp (Palm Beach)
- Lance Lynn (Springfield)
- Mike Parisi (rehabbing from TJ surgery)
- Adam Reifer (Palm Beach)
- Gary Daley (Springfield)
- Scott Gorgen (Springfield)
Position Players:
- Bryan Anderson (rehabbing from shoulder surgery)
- Daniel Descalso (Springfield/Memphis)
- Daryl Jones (Springfield)
- Tyler Henley (Springfield)
Daryl Jones is the name to watch here. If he shows that he’s returned to some modicum of health over the last month, it would go a ways to allaying fears regarding his overall ceiling. Leg injuries (allegedly) sapped his power and speed leaving a hitter with decent plate discipline but someone who was reliant on their ability to hit for average due to a lack of secondary skills.
I don’t know what to say about Bryan Anderson. There’s a healthy contingent of disbelievers in the once highly-touted catching prospect. After choosing to rehab a shoulder injury rather than elect for surgery, he watched the punchless Matt Pagnozzi collect major league at bats and praise. To be clear, my issue with this arrangement is not that the Cardinals called up a punchless catcher for a handful fo meaningless at bats. It’s that the Cardinals have routinely and continually seemed to undervalue the ability of Anderson to actually hit due to concerns (which are probably well placed) about his defense. Anderson is only 22 and still young enough to force his way back into the discussion as a offense minded backup to Yadier Molina.
Daniel Descalso would like to show us all that his Springfield numbers are more pertinent than his Memphis ones after being promoted and benched in favor of Jarrett Hoffpauir. Tyler Henley, a personal favorite, continues to make his way up the prospect ladder of left handed outfielders.
Mike Parisi is being sent to get innings, plain and simple. There’s a possibility that the Cardinals could use him out of the major league bullpen next year but right now they’re just trying to get a feel for what they have in Parisi. It’s a similar scenario for Gary Daley who gets some put up or shut up innings to try and claim a 2010 job in the Cardinals system, wherever that may be.
Scott Gorgen and Adam Reifer are the more pertinent arms to the long term outlook of the system. After seeing the former in person, I came away moderately impressed with the arsenal employed. Watch and see if Gorgen fairs well against lefties with a changeup that, at times, looked very good in Springfield. He’s another back end rotation style pitcher when projecting to the majors. Reifer was much lauded for velocity and stuff with his fastball/slider combination heading into 2009. He turned out to be extremely hittable and lacking in refined control of the strike zone.
The Cardinals aren’t sending anyone that would qualify as a “blue-chip” prospect to the AFL. They’ve got a group here that represents a lot of role players with the possibility of one or two becoming league average everyday players in the majors. We’ll have updates of the Cardinals prospects from the AFL periodically to keep track of how the AFL Surprise Rafters fair.
Entries (RSS)
Any word on why Kopp and Lynn aren’t going to Arizona?
Maybe concerns about workloads, injuries? Or that it’s more important to see Gorgen and Daley?
Yeah I’m wondering about Lynn too. It’s funny that usually they send a bunch of guys to the AFL that we know aren’t going anywhere and then this year, when they have no blue chip prospects, they’re actually sending several guys than I’m interested in. I’m pulling for DD to show that his problems in Memphis were do to the poor way he was handled. Like you said, DJ tools could reignite our enthusiasm with a good showing. Anderson could maybe plow back into my top ten with a good showing and it will be really interesting to see what Reifer will do against better competition.
Hope to hear a lot about these guys this fall.
I’m not as high on DD and DJ as some of you are. I doubt they will ever match AFS or EBS.
Kopp had another shoulder surgery.
Lynn pitched a lot of innings this year and his control towards the end of the season makes it look like he might be tired.
Where was Jones’ power before the leg injuries – is that really the reason?
CC — look up the numbers. Jones power has been down compared to last year and significantly. I’m not calling for him to be a 30 HR guy but the leg was bothering him for the better part of the season: fielding, swing, baserunning.
Brian Walton and I pretty much agreed with Lynn’s workload he wouldn’t be going, the day they announced the roster.
He doesn’t need a showcase (which the fall league is) to show anyone he can pitch.
any chance henley is there somewhat to bolster his resume for spring training? he could be an outside shot for a 5th OF/LH PH position.
Highly skeptical that Henley gets a look in ST. The org is too reluctant to walk away from guys like Shane Robinson, Nick Stavinoha, Joe Mather, Jon Jay, etc. There’s too much filler between him and the majors this year.
I’m psyched to be discussing the Arizona Fall League. Something, anything to ease the grinding pain in my gut. That’s the beauty of baseball. Always there is the pretense of hope bubbling up through the system … even if turns out to be fools gold (see Pablo Ozuna).
Don’t know why everyone is so high on dj. He does not run that well and has no power. Has been in the system 5 years and only showed a glimpse last year.you can have him. Give me guys who can hit and stop dreaming so much.
Actually, DJ’s power outage was almost certainly due to his (misguided, in my opinion) shortening of his swing to cut down on strikeouts–Daryl talked specifically about that early in the season.
Whether he decided on his own to shorten his swing that worked so darn well in 2008, or at the behest of a coach/manager, it didn’t work. Let’s hope he goes back to his previous swing in 2010. ;)