The Surprise Rafters will open their Arizona Fall League play this week on October 12th. The team features 8 Cardinals prospects:
- Brian Broderick
- Ramon Delgado
- Blake King
- Jordan Swagerty
- Tony Cruz
- Zach Cox
- Pete Kozma
- Adron Chambers
Obviously the big name there is Zach Cox as his performance in the AFL could have a direct impact on where he starts his 2011 play. Keep an eye on Brian Broderick and whether his one-dimensional pitching repertoire can handle more talented hitters. Jordan Swagerty also gets his first taste of professional baseball. Swagerty will be blogging about his experience here.
We’ve also got a slew of Baseball America Top 20 Rankings to catch up on. The first is the Appy League featuring the Cardinals Johnson City affiliate.
- Oscar Taveras, #4
- Cody Stanley, #14
From the chat about the Appy League Top 20, Matt Eddy had some comments on both Taveras:
More concerned with his funky hitting mechanics and probable move to right field, but I’ll give Taveras a pass for his walk rate this season.
and Stanley:
If he can become just an average catcher, he could have a long career in the big leagues.
Those are just a taste of the chat (subscribers only) but the Stanley conversation consistently feels like the same one we’ve had since 2005 about Bryan Anderson. Unless the Cardinals change their predilection for great defensive catchers with little consideration for their offense, Cody Stanley could become a frustrating point of contention for fans. I’m getting ahead of myself though.
For the NY-Penn Leauge, only one player makes the list:
- Nick Longmire, #8
From the NY-Penn Leauge chat, Aaron Fitt name dropped Justin Edwards (not positive), Zach Russell (positive but very raw) and John Gast:
He has a 50 or 55 fastball and showed good feel for his changeup this summer, but I’m not as sold on the curveball or the projection.
Personally, I’m a believer in Nick Longmire. I’m encouraged by the reports on his centerfield defense and I think concerns about his arm strength are overblown. (I generally find outfielder arm strength to be overvalued.) He’s got power but he needs to remain patient at the plate and not go after bad pitches. Of the short season position players, Longmire might be tops on my list.
The Midwest League is home to the Cardinals current crown jewel of the minor league system: Shelby Miller. He didn’t disappoint on BA’s Top 20 List for the Midwest League:
- Shelby Miller, #2
Jim Callis has some words about a recent topic here, Matt Adams, in his MWL chat:
He has a legitimate bat but the rest of his tools are well below-average. I think he can hit his way to the majors, but probably won’t hit enough to be a regular.
The Cardinals Palm Beach squad failed to crack the Top 20 for the Florida State League. JJ Cooper in his chat on the league had a question regarding what Palm Beach players received consideration:
The Cardinal who got the most mentions was Kevin Thomas. He sat at 90-92, although he touched 94 while showing a nice sinker he could work to both sides of the plate. But he needs to improve his command and refine his secondary pitches.
Other names that come up include Casey Mulligan, Niko Vasquez and Tommy Pham.
Kevin Goldstein takes a look back at his 2010 Top 11 lists and notes that “omitting Matt Carpenter was a flat-out mistake.”
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I wonder what position Cox will play in the AFL, 2B or 3B? The choice is interesting as the organization is weak at both positions. His bat plays better at 2B so I hope they start him there in the minors and give him a chance to show he can adequately defend the position. Now that TLR thinks Descalso is a 3B maybe it lessen the perceived immediate need for depth at 3B. Any thoughts Azru on why Kozma is going to the AFL? Given that T. Greene is out of options, I would think Kozma is slated to be the starting SS in Memphis in 2011. The organization wants to find something out about Kozma by sending him to AFL but am scratching my head to figure out what it is. If the Cards acquire a SS in free agency or via trade, it may be that one of Kozma or Greene gets left off the 40 man roster.
i suspect they are trying to accelerate the decision making on koz, including whether they can stir up some trade interest
They probably just feel the AFL is the best place for Kozma to be this offseason. He can continue to get some ABs, and it lets him get his feet wet against some AAA pitchers before the AAA season starts.
I think the org wants Kozma to work on some specific things. The AFL gives gives him game time experience to do so prior to next year. I don’t think they’re trying to find out anything.
Any idea why Matt Carpenter isn’t going to the AFL? I’d have thought they’d want to get the guy as many ABs as possible so that he can hit the ground running at AAA, and potentially be ready to play in St. Louis if the 3B situation goes to crap again.
If Shelby was the #2 Midwest prospect according to BA, who was #1? #3?
#1 was an easy choice in Mike Trout, and #3 was Wil Myers. I’m pleasantly surprised that BA liked Shelby so much. I thought that I had about as high an opinion of him as was possible, but even I wouldn’t have rated him above Wil Myers.
It says something that BA rated our best prospect as better than the best prospect in the best system in baseball.
Umm…Shelby WASN’T rated ahead of Mike Trout and rightfully so. Trout’s got A LOT going for him and looks like a true five tool player. Angels got themselves a good one for years to come IMO.
Understood, but the Royals have the best system in baseball and Wil Myers is their top prospect. Of course Shelby wasn’t ahead of Mike Trout because Mike Trout could be closing in on 1# prospect in baseball.
Relief pitcher Ramon Delgado has done well for several years. In the AFL, Delgado can audition for a spot on the 40 man roster.
Encouraging words about Kevin Thomas. Seems similar to Brandon Dickson and Brian Broderick.
In what universe is Wil Myers KC’s #1 prospect over Moustakas and Hosmer? I know Myers is good, but he’s probably KC’s #3 prospect.
Royal Review Community Prospect Rankings:
http://www.royalsreview.com/2010/10/9/1737693/royals-review-community-prospect-rankings-whos-14
Another good ranking from minorleagueball.com:
http://www.minorleagueball.com/2010/10/3/1726727/my-kc-top-20
It really depends if you think that Myers will stick at catcher (and I do).
BA’s rankings were from last January and had Montgomery, Crow, Myers, Moustakas in that order. Kevin Goldstein’s ratings were from last December and had Montgomery, Crow, Moustakas, Myers. It looks like the “experts” agree that Myers is ahead of Hosmer, but I would think with the year Moose had this year, he will be #1 or #2 (behind Montgomery) for KC when the new rankings come out. Having said all of that, Myers is an excellent prospect and I wish we had him in our org. From everything I have heard and read, there is little chance of Myers staying at catcher.
If you like Moustakas over Myers, it would be solely because of proximity to the majors. Moustakas isn’t exactly a lock to stick at third either and the bat isn’t quite as good. Even if Myers doesn’t stick at catcher, he’ll go to the outfield, whereas Moose would go to first.
AFL seems fascinating in the selections
draft picks: 1, 1, 2, 21, 26, 38, 41, 44
what happened to all those guys and $ that fell in between?