The Cardinals shuffled their minor league rosters today, moving 1st round pick, Zack Cox up to AA Springfield per PBCardinals Twitter. Cox has burst out in Palm Beach with a wRC+ of 123 (100 being average for both league and park).
In a corresponding move, Niko Vasquez was moved from Springfield down to Palm Beach per Kary Booher of the Springfield News-Leader. Vasquez has a wRC+ of 85 this season after two seasons in a row of over 100 in Quad Cities and Palm Beach.
What do you think? Discuss below.
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Cox was going to get pushed fast anyway with his contract but I love John Vuch’s aggressive style of promoting.
Yes, and he certainly hit well in pitcher friendly Palm Beach.
Actually he didn’t hit that well in PB. He hit over .400 with better power on the road which goes to show what a hitter’s hell Palm Beach is. I’m very happy about the promotion. As I stated in a previous post I think he’ll put up great numbers in Springfield and either increase his trade value or let us look at trading Carpenter and or Freese for help next year.
I think it’s more of a serious need for quality hitting in Springfield.
Your serious? Springfield probably has the better offense in our MiLB organization.
Actually the bats are just coming around , but the run support has been tough.
Pop said in an article that some were not making the needed adjustments, who was that directed to?
Really? Jackson started off on fire but has cooled. Matt Adams is tearing it up and Castlellanos has been Texas League player of the week multiple times. That and Pham came on really strong in the last month after a slow first few weeks.
I watched at least 5 springfield games this year, trust me they struggle
And you don’t promote someone ahead of schedule in order to improve a team’s offensive output. Cox is being promoted b/c they think he’s ready to be promoted.
should be very fun going to springfield games watching Jackson,pham,adams, castallanos and cox.
Wait ’til Shelby gets promoted in the 2nd half.
Idle thought: could this promotion be a sign of pessimism about ever getting Freese back on the major-league diamond?
I would doubt it. I think it is directly related to (1) his performance over the last month and (2) need to be challenged at a higher level to aid his development.
The promotion does seem slightly premature however and its worth noting the possibility of alternative explanations.
castellanos, pham, cox and adams.. they should be able to score some runs.
I agree with you Matt. Lets hope Springfield improves and moves up on the win column.
Glad to have Niko in Palm Beach. Honestly he did play well on 3rd base and he didn’t do that bad in Springfield.
Some mentioned that this promotion seems a little premature. That makes me wonder: how much does his status of being on the 40 man roster come into effect with this decision?
I would hope that they are doing this based on his talent and his success thus far. However, part of me thinks that the front office may be slightly more aggressive with Cox because he has less “time” to spend in the minors. Maybe it is a little of both. Either way, I like aggressive promotions when players are performing well. Keep it up!
I think being on the 40-man did influence this decision, but I also think the Cardinals were okay with putting him on the 40-man because they felt they could push him aggressively given how advanced his bat was supposed to be. So, while the contract is a factor, it’s hand-in-hand with his talent.
Good analysis. I don’t think it’s premature either. His performance after a slow start in the FSL has justified their faith in his bat. If they’re not going to try the 2b option they might as well promote him as fast as his performance warrants.
If his performance history is an indication, he might start off slow in AA anyway. As I recall, it took him a while to get going in the AFL (after a summer layoff) last autumn. And it took him a few weeks to get going at PB this spring. It will be interesting to see how his hitting advances.
Since we are throwing 2 outfielders (Schumaker & Craig) and 2 shortstops (Greene & Kozma) at 2nd base at the major league level, why are they not having Cox play 2nd in the minor leagues?
With Freese and Matt Carpenter, it seems like we have 3rd base somewhat covered for the near future. If we are willing to give up defense at 2nd (which we pretty obviously are), they why are we not having Cox play 2nd.
Well, technically Craig was a third baseman who was moved to the outfield because of concerns about his defense, but there are also concerns about his arm being strong enough. Craig was thrown in there because of the vast amount of injuries that have hit the main club.
Second base is frequently the refuge of infielders who can’t cut it at short or, in some cases, third. That’s why Theroit was moved there last season in Chicago and then Los Angeles, while Eckstein extended his career by moving there. Cox supposedly can play 3rd base, so it would seem premature to move him to second, especially with Freese’s questionable health (the latest freak injury not withstanding, there are still concerns about his ankles) and Carpenter not making the transition yet (don’t count your chickens before they hatch). If one of Freese and Carpenter solidifies himself at the hot corner in St. Louis, then you can make the move with Cox. But moving an infielder to second isn’t something you really need to give a whole of time for adjustment.
Besides, we’re talking about a club that moved a guy who spent the majority of his minor league career at second base to third as soon as he stepped foot in Busch.
I think alot of that is a disconnect between the Major League Club and the minors. You would think at this point the guys in the managing in the minors know that Tony likes who play multiple positions and get people work in multiple positions. That said maybe they just assume TLR will be gone soon and the next manager won’t move people around so much. Cox needs to get some time to transition to 2b and not just be thrown into it.
Because he’s not a 2B’man, and will never be a 2B’man.
Hoping that after another couple of good starts we’ll see Mr. Miller in Springfield as well.
Not that I think Shelby M. needs to be coddled or anything, but the bump from Palm Beach to Springfield is a MUCH bigger step for a pitcher than a position player—tougher league for pitching, and a thornier home park, as well.
Congrats to young Mr. Cox!
That;s right and yes, good luck Zach!
I would have waited until late June before I moved Cox. He started poorly and its only for the last three or weeks that he has been hitting. Moreover its only in the late 10 days that he has shown any power. I think it was more in his interest to have
a solid couple of months showing consistent hitting before he was moved.
It’s his lack of walks that bother me. I’d like to see more walks before he gets promoted. I’m ok w/ the power numbers considering the park and the league in which he plays but the dearth of walks bothers me.
Even though I thought this was a little premature I am not that surprised by the move. Cox has hit well in a pitcher friendly league and showed more power over the past number of weeks. I really thought this wouldn’t happen until mid-June but hey…why not! I expect him to get off to a semi-slow start for the first few weeks and then turn it on and figure it out.
Just an additional thought but if he has a great rest of the year in Springfield we might have a heck of a 3B battle in ST in 2012. Cox, Carpenter and Freese. Could get interesting. But first lets go 1 step at a time. Get him comfortable in AA
I think they envision Carpenter as a utility guy, bench bat, more than they envision him their starter at 3B. Don’t be surprised if Carpenter doesn’t win the job in spring training next year to see him start working on the OF and 1B etc.
I really can’t believe that people think this move could be related to 1) his contract, 2) any “need” of a minor league team, or 3) the current health/prognosis of Freese. Cox is a serious prospect, not an organizational guy. If they do anything with him that is not 100% driven by his development then it would be a dumb move. Do people think the organization is dumb or can not evaluate the proper time to move up a prospect?
Kozma was moved up repeatedly for reasons other than his development at certain levels. I’m not saying it’s a major factor (and I generally agree with you) but it’s entirely possible his contract is relevant to the speed of his promotion.
The reason Cox was promoted is really just this simple: We have professional scouts, managers and coaches that watch the guy regularly and believe he is ready to make the jump. That’s what they do for a living and they have tons more info at their disposal than all of us combined. No mistery to me. No Lee Harvey Oswald. The guy is rerady to test doule A ball. His stats the past 15 or so games will verify that. I believe the plate discipline in those last 15 games vs. the previous games is dramatic.
Exactly.