Poised For A Breakout
Posted on January 5th, 2011 by Jeff in Pete Kozma, Tommy Pham, tags: john gastLet’s throw this one out to the Future Redbirds community. Who do you think is poised for a breakout this season and why? Don’t forget to show your work. I’ll give you a few of mine to get the exercise started.
Tommy Pham - This is an easy one because he is “poised” to break out every year. We thought we were seeing it last year after his impressive Spring Training, but it has not yet come together for Pham. He hit well in Springfield in 121 at bats after finally graduating from the pitchers-haven of Palm Beach. He ended the year on the DL, which also did not help him. A full year in Springfield in his age 23 season should assist Pham’s break out in 2011.
Pete Kozma – Kozma’s jump to Springfield for a full season did not bring much success, but he is in line to repeat AA as a 23 year old. If he is going to have any success at the major league level, he will need to break out this season when he repeats in Springfield. That’s more of a “must break out” than “poised”, but I think it still applies.
John Gast – Gast put up great numbers as a lefthanded starter in Batavia. This season, I think he will take those great numbers up to Quad Cities and possibly Palm Beach. In Batavia, he increased his strikeouts and limited his walks compared to his college career. He should have a break out season by continuing his good numbers at higher levels and against better competition.
Who do you think is ready for a break out season?
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Fun fact about Kozma: He led Texas League shortstops in assists for the second straight year. He also led in putouts, DPs, and, yes, errors.
He had 420 assists in 132 games. For comparison, Brendan Ryan had 430 assists in 139 games.
I don’t know how the ground-ball rates compare between the AA and MLB staffs. But I was surprised to see that Kozma makes so many plays.
If you go to baseball reference, Kozma’s and Ryan’s minor league defensive numbers at SS are very similar too.
Careful about counting stats. He also led the Texas League in games played at short, and few others were close, so the fact that he also led in the other stats is hardly unexpected.
That said, if you believe in the more “advanced” defensive metrics for the minors (I’m honestly not sure whether I do or not), according to baseball-reference, Koz looks good there too — RF/9 of 4.70 places him in the upper tier of TL shortstops, although not at the absolute top. All indications are that his glove will play in the bigs, if the high error rates are not symptomatic of Ryan-like weirdness between the ears. The question is: will his bat?
>>break out this season when he repeats in Springfield<<
They should move Kozma to Memphis to start 2011. 2010 was already a repeat of AA for him. You have to find out what he is made of in 2011. If he improves at AA in 2011, that really doesn't answer the question for us. Sending B. Ryan to Seattle for a bag of Doritos makes no sense at all unless the organization feels Kozma is close to the majors. T. Greene has flailed during his MLB stints to date. Theriot has declining defensive skills, especially at SS. They have to find out how close Kozma is.
I agree here. Jackson is moving up fast behind Kozma and may be ready for SPringfield to open the season. Kozma needs to be at AAA. If he struggles and needs to go back down we can deal with it. Besides, unless they sign a minor league FA, Memphis will need the body. Right now it looks like Kozma, Solano, and Garcia for MI there (assumes Greene and Descalso in STL).
Ryan Jackson had only 148 ABs at Palm Beach last year. I think it’s safe to assume that the Cardinals will start Jackson in Palm Beach and Kozma in Springfield to start but with an eye to move up based on their performance. Remember that Kozma was aggressively pushed initially, which probably hurt his development; next year, he’s the average age of prospects at AA. Since then, the Cardinals have been slower in promoting players.
Player development is about the player, not what he can do for the main club in the short term.
Just put a placeholder in AA @ SS if Jackson isn’t ready but Kozma needs to move up to AAA. He can’t play a 3rd season in AA. Agree he was pushed too aggressively to AA but that is water under the bridge now. There is pressure on the Cardinals 40 man roster with so many intermediate to low level prospects that the painful process of weeding out the chaff must happen. Kozma is on the 40 man roster. We’ll burn an option year in 2011. He has to move up.
If we made the mistake of pushing him too aggresively once, why is it so important we make the same mistake twice. He won’t even turn 23 until April. Why don’t we let him for once play at a level where he is the appropriate age. If he starts out hitting well, then move him up. We need to let the kid have some success and get some confidence.
The answer to your question is that part about the option year. If he can’t become major-league-ready NOW, he’ll become an unsustainable burden on the roster in no more than one more year. I do not see Koz as “poised for a breakout,” although I very much hope he is. Rather, he’s in a “sink or swim” situation, because continuing to tread water at AA hurts the franchise.
Agree with Grunto. He’s already on the 40 man. After the 2011 season, there will be another big crunch on the Cardinals 40 man roster and tough decisions will have to be made on players to keep and players to jettison. If we let Koz tread water again at AA while burning an option year, we learn very little about whether he is ready to make the jump to the MLB. Keeping Koz at the end of next season means someone has to go. For an example of this dynamic, see the case of D. Jones. He was allowed to tread water in AA for a 2nd season (as opposed to a third season in the case of Koz as you suggest) even though he was on the 40 man in 2010 and burned an option. For whatever reason, the organization elected to keep Jones on the 40 man after the 2010 season and jettison Joe Mather who was claimed by the Braves. It’s not a free pass keeping a player on the 40 man.
Boone Whiting….just look at his numbers last year….incredible
Trevor Rosenthal….the kid throws 98 mph and just turned 20 last May.
Rosenthal could be invited to big league camp actually and made John Sickels to 20 list of prospects.
Anyone know how hard Whiting throws? Is he blowing it by them or fooling them with junk?
http://stlcardinals.scout.com/2/975960.html
Not much out there, but this says high-eighties fastball with “swing-and-miss” slider. Mid-size RHP with high eighties fastball and good slider….Jess Todd redux?
(Unfortunately, I was never a Jess Todd fan and think he’ll top out as a middle innings reliever who sticks for a couple of years in a ML bullpen, at best)
Whiting doesn’t have great stuff. I’m not sure I would call him a junkballer, though, as most reports I’ve gotten my hands on don’t have him tossing a lot of breaking stuff. What he does do very, very well is throw strikes. Lots and lots and lots of strikes. He has one good breaking pitch, his slider, and basically just gets hitters out putting the ball where he wants.
To me he looks a bit like P.J. Walters, only with a slider instead of a changeup as his out pitch.
And I see Carioca already made the P.J. Walters comp below. I should read the whole comment section before jumping in.
I agree with the other two, but I’ve given up on Kozma, he should have shown us something by now. My three that I see breaking out are.
Carlos Martinez – He’s still kind of an unknown, and he’s either going to rise fast and be one of our best prospects, of fall off a cliff and take his 1.5M and run.
Bryan Martinez – A 19 year old from the Dominican who put up decent #’s in the GCL. He’s not Carlos, but he’s a very promising Martinez to watch.
Rainel Rosario – He had somewhat of a breakout 2010, but hopefully he continues his success in 2011
Daryl Jones is going to BREAK OUT! (Am I late to the DJ Tools party?)
Isn’t he much closer to DJ Tool now?
Is this discussion limited to minor leaguers? If not, then I think Colby is due to bust out this year for the Cardinals. It will be his 3rd season, so hopefully he will find some consistancy. When he is hot, he is very hot. Maybe with the veteran Berkman joining the lineup, he can help Colby some because other than Skip, the Cardinals haven’t really had any left-handed bats in their lineup (Berkman being a switch hitter).
I see Colby spending a lot of time in the 2-hole this year, with occasional starts hitting 5th. With the increase in fastballs, I could see Colby hitting .280 with 25 HR’s and 80 RBI’s.
Would have to go with Mike Swinson here. Put up some good numbers in short season ball and got to experience some full season ball at Quad Cities. Combine his nice set of tools with the fact he saw full season ball at what its about last year, he could be poised to have a breakout year and hopefully move up to Palm Beach by the middle or a little after that part of this year.
I agree, 99. I saw Swinson play for QC and was impressed – some pop in his bat, good defense, and good speed – he’s someone I’ll be following.
Joe Kelly, he started out pretty decently last year, but seemed to run out of gas his first year as a full-time starter. Watching him early in the season of television, he looked pretty damn good.
For the sake of the system, I hope it is Oscar Tavares.
I love this question and I feel for once we have a TON of potential breakout players. I like the Pham note but I think word is out on him so that is an obvious choice. Here is a short list of players I like:
Hitters:
Niko Vasquez – Not giving up on him living up to his potential. He made progress last year which is a good sign of a potential breakout. I see 25HR’s, 30+ doubles with a .285 avg this coming year. That would be HUGE!
Virgil Hill – Extremely athletic OFer that made more strides in 2010 than I expected. Still fairly raw so his future could be very promising. I see more SB’s (and a much better success rate) with a .300+ avg, .400 OBP and 25+ doubles.
Reggie Williams Jr – Another extremely athletic and raw OF. I’m looking for a bit more power (mostly gap power) and start utilizing his speed more. May not have great stats at the end of the year but I see a breakthrough in his raw talents starting to get a bit more refined.
Nick Longmire – One of, if not my fav, pick of the 2010 draft. I project him as a rock solid RF with all above avg or better D tools for RF. He has speed and power and will hit plenty of extra basehits. Maybe not a breakout since he came out of the gates with a bang but I see him continuing to refine his skills and show he was a great pick in the 5th Rd.
Audry Perez – I think people know who he is but I still think he is just scratching the surface of his talents. Look for a significant increase in doubles and HR’s to go with his .315 avg in 2011. To me the most promising C talent in the system.
Pitchers:
Hector Hernandez – Not sure why but I loved his when we picked him in the 10th Rd of the ’09 draft. He has struggled but I see him having a K/IP avg with significant improvement in his control and hitability. Would be nice to see a solid LHP develop in our system to follow Garcia.
Trevor Rosenthal – For some reason he gets no press when discussing Cards pitching prospects. I think he has some of the highest upside of any pitchers in our system. FB that he throws in low-mid 90s and flashes a plus slider…if he refines his slider more he could be in for a great season.
Justin Smith – Another guy that doesn’t get enough credit. His K rate last year was crazy good (102K in 80 IP). I have high hopes for him in 2011.
Ben Freeman – My wildcard for 2011. He had an unbelievable K rate coming out of HS (something at or just over 2K’s per IP!). I see him progressing and coming out of nowhere to impress this year.
Also how about a bounceback category! Don’t forget about Tyler Henley in 2011. I liked him for a big breakout in 2010 but injury derailed him.
I also have taken Audry Perez as a player to watch. Have not seen anyone mention Phil Cerreto of Johnson City. He sure hit well there. Looks like he’s a little older than some of the others in that league. There is very little information on him. Anybody know anything about him. He plays 3rd base. Can he catch the ball as well as he hits it?
Here is what I know about Cerreto. This was info I gathered leading up to the draft so not sure if anything has changed since entering our system.
He has an above avg bat with great raw power. He is an avg runner and shows good contact skills and pitch recognition more times than not. Little too aggressive at the plate which on occasion got him into trouble and out of his game at the plate. Overall a very promising hitter. Defense is another story though. He struggled at 3B in college and is most likely destined for 1B as he progresses in the minors. I would be curious to here someone that saw him a decent amount at our JC affiliate to confirm that his D was rough at 3B. His range and instincts are lacking even though he has an above avg arm. His hands are also below avg. I haven’t read anywhere that anyone thinks he can make it at 3B or LF. With all that said if his bats continues to develop it won’t matter what position he plays as his bat will play well enough to play in the bigs.
Not much time to do whole lot of research (bath time for the kiddos!!), but off the top of my head the first two names that come to mind are Lance Lynn and David Kopp. I’m not sure if either will have a breakout season, but I can see two very solid, productive years out of both.
One guy I really hope breaks out is Roberto de la Cruz.
Drew already mentioned a guy I’m excited to follow this season in Trevor Rosenthal.
I like Keith Butler to have a break out kind of season. Big K ability: 50 K in 30.2 IP last season. I’d like to see him start out in full-season ball. Could become one of the better young relievers in the Cards’ system.
I nominate Rosenthal for the Amuary Marti Mythology Award – even in this one thread, we see widely varying reports of his stuff, the suggestion that he may get invited to big league camp (from rookie ball, as a 21st round pick?), what he needs to do to succeed (refine an already-plus slider?) etc. Not poking fun at any posters so far, it’s just that we obviously don’t really know much about this guy. Can anyone here give the full lowdown? I sure don’t know it, and have been curious for awhile now. The comments so far are just a tease!
Yeah, I can give you the basics on Rosenthal. The 96-98 is for real. The plus slider is for real. His stats are outstanding and that is with coaching insisting on throwing high % of fastballs. Granted, 32 inning sample size last summer raises questions. He tweaked an elbow and they slow played him back. He was working on a split finger fastball, and the thought was he may have been releasing it wrong. That’s what kept his innings down. Otherwise, statistically he was the 2nd best starter at Johnson City. SO’s to BB’s of 4.5, WHIP of 0.94 He is 3rd round talent that the Cards got lucky on. 21st round was indicative of perceived character risk. Thrown off HS team for having Skoal Bandits in his bag. No joke. Since it is unbelievable, I think a lot of clubs figured it had to be something worse. Also suspect his junior college coach wanted him back for his sophomore year and talked him down trying to push him low enough in the draft to get him back. At the Juco WS, scouts were clocking him at 94. You tell me. How does a kid who throws 94 with control just turned 19 last until the 21st round? A whisper campaign is the only thing that makes sense to me. Told the Royals to draft this kid. They blew it.
Long way to go, but I suspect the only thing that could keep him out of St. Louis is if he fails to develop a reliable change. He needs to slow it down more and maintain control. Kid is talented.
I suspect to address a post above that Rosenthal doesn’t get the press simply because he was a 21st round selection. If he had been taken in rounds 3-5 where common sense says he should have, he would have all kinds of “press”. He has a big year coming up. I would expect him to start in Quad Cities this year. If he does what I think he will, Springfield in 2012 and St. Louis in 2013.
Good luck to him and the Cardinals. He may be the second lightning in a bottle St. Louis has captured out of Kansas City’s own back yard – Albert Pujols the other.
I will go with Michael Swinson and D’Marcus Ingram among the hitters, Ingram showed some improvement last year and Swinson has a ton of natural talent that I hope to see produce results very soon.
Among the pitchers I put my money on Sam Freeman to break out and make his major league debut by September at the latest. If not for the injury last year I believe we would have already seen him in STL and Brian Tallet would have been looking elsewhere for a job. Also I think Francisco Samuel may finally get it together, although that may be more hopeful than anything based in reality.
I like a lot of the guys already mentioned.
Freeman and Henley to come back from injury (I’m hoping Freeman comes back even better).
Rosario fan.
I was going to mention Virgil Hill myself – really busted out in the playoffs for JC.
Hector Hernandez pitched a couple of really strong games in the PR league (against generally much older and experienced competition) so he may have cured what ailed him last year.
I like Juan Castillo better than Perez as a breakout Latin catcher. Better defensively and hit better at a younger age.
Some other that I like to break out:
Johnny Rodriguez had a big second half after fighting injury the first half.
Could this be the year Ferrara puts it together?
Frederick Parejo – I’m not expecting a monster year as he will still be young for his league (may open the year at PB as a 20 y.o) but he is showing increasing power and if he can get his K’s back down to a more reasonable level could really put himself on the prospect map.
My dark horse candidate is Ronnie Gil (Gabrial Hernandez) — His DSL numbers aren’t quite as impressive as a 19 y.o. as they were as a 17 y.o but it was still his first year of organized ball. If he can shake off the rust, I think he may still be a solid player. He was signed for his glove anyway and that shouldn’t change much with age.
And my really, really dark, dark horse candidate is Antonio Dejesus. Our best defensive outfielder. Struggled early last year but OPS’s over .850 the 2nd half. OPS in the PR league would have placed in top 5 if enough AB’s. Going to be a dogfight for OF spots in AA and AAA but I think his defense gives him a leg up if he can hit.
Several guy who may not have true breakout years but may start to get noticed with just solid years like last year –
Zack Russel — K’d a batter an inning and had the lowest BAA in the NYPL as a 19 y.o.
Geoffry Klein — I think he is going to be a solid offensive/defensive catching prospect
C.j. Beatty — solid year as a 21 y.o. at QC/PB
Did Ronnie Gil (Grabiel Hernandez) play in 2010? Couldnt find him on any of the usual stats websites
I agree with the original three listed but I’d argue that Pham already had a mini break out last year. HIs stats in the FSL showed that he’d really progressed from the previous year and he was creaming the ball at AA when he was hurt.
Sam Freeman and Virgil Hill are my next choices. I also think one or two guys from the gaggle of catching prospects will rise to top ten status. Perez is probaby the best bet.
i pick edgar lara i think he but very good number for a power hitting. i think he gonna have a very good season in this year. he maybe start at Pam beach
A couple late round types I could see breaking out this year are Colin Walsh and Steven Ramos. Walsh is a switch hitting 2nd baseman that can play some short and 3rd and started to develop some power his jr. year at Stanford and could continue to get better. Ramos stole 15 bases out of 17 attempts, not completely sure how quick he is, but evidently has some stolen base capability as well as hit for a solid average in short season ball, so could see both of those guys breaking out and putting themselves more on the radar this year.
I am hoping that Blake King has his best year to date. His velocity has increased and he has developed a very solid change-up to compliment his slider and fast ball. His control has been an issue in the past and I feel like he will improve his control and have a break out year. He has major league ability once he decreases his walks.
unfortunately, your last sentence describes too many of our prospects
Here is the low-down on Trevor Rosenthal.
He was a SS in a small community college. He was barely 19 years old when drafted. He swithched to closer at the end of his freshman year at CC. He popped a few 96 mph pitches….That got him drafted.
He threw hard, but his secondary stuff needed work. He went to the GCL after the draft and thew about 25 innings, striking out more than a batter per inning. To keep his innings down last year, they left him in extended spring training. He then got assigned to rookie ball in June. At that point, everything started to come together for the kid. I physically watched him throw 96 to 98 regularly….His slider started to pick up more bite as well…He has to work on his changeup and split finger. Once he does that, the sky is the limit. He is about 6’2″ and 200 lbs. Trust me, this is one of the best prospects in the Cardinals system, that NO one knows about. As long as he stays healthy, you will see this year. And yes, there has been talk about a Big League invite. Just because he gets invited, it doesn’t mean he is big league ready…the teams just want their young prospects to be around the big league guys. They want the big league managers to work with them a little bit. So, it is not a leap for him to be invited.
Thanks. This sounds like a very interesting guy, and perhaps not as far under the radar as one might think; I have heard him praised in places other than here.
I note one curious trivium on his baseball-reference stat sheet. In an admittedly small sample size, he has averaged over 1 hit-by-pitch per 40 batters faced. That is a higher frequency than the notoriously violence-prone Brad Thompson (don’t let the baby face fool you, that guy was *mean* when he got on a mound) or guys like Marmol, Burnett, Wood, etc. Heck, it’s almost as high as Jason Marquis was this year, and that seems unsustainable on a big-league level. What was going on there?
Bryan Martinez is much the same way. Ditto Carlos Martinez. You see elevated HBP numbers in the low minors sometimes as guys struggle a bit with their command, and I know the Cards emphasize pitching inside throughout the minors. (One of those philosophical things I agree with Dave Duncan on.) I would imagine the high HBP numbers you notice on Rosenthal is just a kid working on his command and also trying to get used to coming inside on guys. What little video I’ve seen of Rosenthal also looks like he has nice movement, so I’m sure it’s just a situation of pitches getting away from him to the third base side a bit.
Those minor league hitters just don’t have the reflexes to get out of the way.
Good question on the HBP. I suspect it is due to working on the secondary pitches. However, he is a tough kid. He won’t shy away from the inside just because a hitter is trying to force him outside.
The low down on Boone Whiting’s stuff….
He is not a flame thrower…but he has enough velocity to work off his incredible arsenal that he throws. He sits about 90-92. He is only 20, so he is expected to sit 92-94 at some point. I watched him hit 93 a few times.
The thing about Boone, is he knows HOW to pitch. He has about 7 to 10 different variations of pitches he throws. He throws 3 different sliders, depending on the hitter. He has a VERY nice curve. I’m talking, 12-6 curve. He is not a big guy…about Anthony Reyes size. 6’1″ maybe 190 lbs.
He just knows how to pitch…he modeled his game after Greg Maddux and he studies his opponents. He’ll be a top prospect at some point as well.
Sounds like Walters with possibly a little more velocity.
Thanks for the info
I will throw out the name of Jean Mijares that they took in the Rule 5 minor league draft from the Twins. His numbers were excellent and combined with what I have read about his stuff and the fact that he is a lefty reliever, like his brother Jose with the MLB Twins, means that he (and Freeman) have a chance to move up quickly, since the MLB Cards could need two lefties in the bullpen by 2012.
It looks like this exercise is drawing a lot of enthusiastic responses for the farm system for St Louis. There seems to be a large number of prospects or at least hopeful players who look like they should advance and help the parent club. Does this mean that Luhnow has done a good job with the drafting of the young players?
I think Luhnow has got more intriguing players that have a chance…but still too many safe picks overall IMO. I think he is making strides with the farm system for sure and since we have depth now I would expect more upside/risky picks this year. At least I hope so!
Agree with you JC, think a few too many safe picks in the first 10 rounds in the 2006-2009 drafts, but thought we took a good step with this past draft starting to take a few more chances ex. Jenkins, Tuilavila, Longmire, etc, and also hope we continue that trend this draft and only pick safe players when you can make a good case for atleast enough upside there to be a major league regular.
I just wanted to add that I follow Kevin Goldstein on twitter and somebody asked him “thoughts on Oscar Taveras?” Kevin replied with “I am a huge fan; one of my favorite Cardinals”
I’m down with the Sam Freeman breakout prediction. My sleeper pick for breakout in 2011 is Seth Blair.
I’m going with the following in order of their bigger break-out. SHORT SEASON: 1. Roberto De La Cruz, 2. Virgil Hill, 3. Luis Mateo, 4. Diemer Bier, 5. Sam Tuivailala, FULL SEASON: 1. Juan Castillo, 2. Casey Mulligan, 3. Bryan Anderson, 4. Jose Martinez, 5. Boone Whiting, LATIN AMERICA: 1. Juan Bautista, 2. Arturo Toribio, 3. Ronard Castillo.
I think Adron Chambers. He’ll be playing AAA at 23. Two straight years with an obp over .370 and he did very well in Arizona. I don’t follow the minors as closely as many of you, but it seems to me that if he can run more and steal 30 bases give or take he should have a legit chance to make the majors in ’11. Am I completely wrong?
Well. “slightly” wrong maybe, but not “completely” wrong. :-) Chambers has the misfortune of playing at one of the positions where the big team is so well stocked that it would be very difficult for him to make the Show without having had a big breakout in the minors. His excellent performance in the AFL, combined with hitting well in 2001, is a step in the right direction, but it does not yet qualify as a breakout.
I agree with you, however, that his AFL performance suggests that a breakout might conceivably be right around the corner, and he would be one of my top “poised for a breakout” candidates. If he goes something like .310/.380/.430 at Memphis, he’ll get a cup of coffee and be in the mix for a roster spot in 2012. If instead he goes .330/.400/.460, a major-league appearance is a near certainty, with a strong possibility of a very productive MLB career. The latter would be a “breakout” season, and while I don’t think it’s likely that he’ll break out to that level, it’s not impossible, and one can always hope.
I think the surprise breakout will actually be aaron luna. While he hasn’t shown outstanding power, he has a good history on OBP at every level. I think he hits well enough at springfield to earn a promotion to memphis and get taken seriously as a prospect.
If you don’t believe me, make a list of every prospect who’s managed a .425 or better OBP in the texas league.
Not sure he even sees Springfield this year.
The loss of Mather and the third-baseification (and graduation) of Craig may create enough room in the upper-level outfields for him. I too would like to see what he does at Springfield or even Memphis, once he’s ready.
I’m not asking anybody to drink the luna-aid with me, but how do you think somebody can hit better than anybody at springfield (really, with maybe one or two exceptions, better than anyone in the texas league) and not get invited back at least to the same level he was at before?
I think what they’re getting at is that Luna will be in Memphis and never see Springfield.
I’d have to agree that Gil will have a breakout year as well as Rosenthal. Someone posted some Youtube videos of Johnson City players last year and he did look pretty good. Don’t want to repeat what everyone else has said but it does seem like we have alot more exciting talent in the system than we have in a long time. Look for Anthony Ferrera to breakout. He was pitching well last year before he hurt his groin and put him out for the year. This HAS to be the year that he starts at Quad Cities. Itreally woul dbe a waste for him to spend another season at short season. I also find it interesting that no one mentioned the guy we got for Ryan. I don’t even remember his name but mabe the pitching coach at QC or PB can help corral his talent.
Cueto (the guy we got for Ryan) is already on the 40 man roster and has pitched in the AFL. If he starts below Springfield he was more of a waste than I thought.
How did he do in the AFL and how did he manage to get on the 40 man roster? Guess I haven’t been paying attention. enough.
First the guys name is Cleto (my bad)
His stats in the AFL were pretty bad but he must have shown enough that Seattle was worried about losing him and placed him on their 40 man roster. Since he was on the 40 man roster when we got him we had to keep him there or try to pass him through waivers.