Cardinals Announce Arizona Fall League Contingent
Posted on August 30th, 2012 by Jeff in Arizona Fall LeagueThe Cardinals announced this week who the players were who will be playing in the Arizona Fall League also known as “Prospect Finishing School”. Names and analysis after the jump.
2B Kolten Wong - The Cardinals are clearly trying to see what they have in Wong for next year at 2nd base. This is a bit surprising considering that he has worn down as the season has gone on. He is clearly a top prospect for the Cardinals and plays a position where the Cardinals have had a gaping hole for many years.
LHP Sam Freeman - Freeman is auditioning here for a spot in the big league bullpen for next year. He’s got the stuff, but he needs to work on control and lowering his walk rate.
RHP Seth Blair - Blair is an intriguing name because he was drafted in the supplemental 1st round in 2010 and looked the part of at least a major league reliever, but had some injuries and has needed a ton more more. He’ll get more work in the AFL.
RHP Boone Whiting - The control righty missed a lot of the season with an injury. He’ll go to the AFL to get his work in going into next year.
C Cody Stanley - Stanley lost time this year due to a 50 game suspension for a banned substance. He’s still got potential and will need to show it in the AFL, where he is going to make up for lost time.
LHP Kevin Siegrist - Lefthanded starters are always in demand and the Cardinals will see what they have with Siegrist against the other top prospects.
OF Colin Walsh - Walsh has put up huge numbers at Quad Cities in a repeat season there this year and it is a big jump from the low-A level to the Arizona Fall League, but Walsh has proved his bat can play. The AFL will show Walsh to be a repeat league flash in the pan or a true prospect going forward. (As T-bird points out in the comments, Walsh is on the “Taxi Squad” so he can only play on Wednesdays and Saturdays.)
OF Mike O’Neill - Andy wrote about Mike O’Neill earlier this year. O’Neill has hit for a high average and gotten on base every where he’s played. He doesn’t have a traditional corner-outfield offensive profile, but there is obviously huge value in getting on base.
* One last note: Keep in mind that the team average was 6 runs a game in the AFL last year as a LEAGUE, the AFL hit .286/.362/.454 last year. Both stats per Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus on Twitter. The environment is terribly friendly to hitters and not so much to pitchers.
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Walsh is a taxi-squad player.
I think Greg Garcia would have been a good choice in the “let’s find out what we have” mode of thinking. I’d rather have seen him than Wong.
O’Neil could start to get some attention for his batting eye with a strong AFL.
Seigrest will be used in relief but not sure whether that means anything other than not every pitcher can be a starter. Whiting and Blair both pitched fewer innings this year so it makes sense for them to start.
Off topic, but I was wondering when you were going to put the “d” back in “cardinal.”
I think it’s only half correct to think of the AFL as a “finishing school.” For position players, it is that. For pitchers, however, it’s more of a meat market. Few teams send their top pitching prospects to the AFL, and the Cardinals certainly didn’t buck that trend. The pitchers that go are precisely the ones like Siegrist and Blair, guys who don’t profile as future stars (or maybe even future major leaguers) but are given a chance to overperform and catch someone’s eye. The Cardinals seem to have chosen well toward meeting that goal, and have avoided exposing the power arms like Shelby, Rosie, etc.
The Cards pitching choices are often determined by who was injured during the year and didnt get in as many innings as the team wanted to see from them, This year’s picks epitomize that.
Agreed, and that too is a good reason for the picks.
I too agree. Moreover, I don’t think the book is written on Siegrist’s role.
That’s my thoughts as well. As soon as I heard that Wong was going to the AFL, I knew the Cardinals were going to give Kolten Wong every chance to win the starting second baseman job.
Excited as I will see these guys. Surprised but happy about Wong. Looking forward to seeing O’Neill & Walsh
Big coup for Beast Walsh to get selected for AFL. We’ll see if he can stay in beast mode this winter. Hope so.
Do you think the cardinals are worried about promoting Wong to AAA next year? You wouldn’t want to overwhelm him, and he’s not demolishing AA now. The AFL is a way to get a little more polish.
While I wonder about whether it’s a good idea to send someone who’s already played a very full season to the AFL, at least this should kill the theory that Wong is tired. If the club thought his issue was fatigue, they wouldn’t be sending him out for more work.
You would think Whiting and Blair got selected because their innings are actually low enough that they can use them as starters. Big opportunity for Whiting though.
Was it me who said last week that Whiting should be moved to Springfield and go to the AFL? Hope I don’t tear an elbow ligament patting myself on the back.
Do any of these guys need to be added to the 40 man roster this off season to avoid the Rule 5 draft? That is always an interesting aspect both as to whom the Cards might protect, but also who might be picked by another team in the Rule 5 draft if not protected.
Siegrest would fall into this catagory.
I have a theory on the Cardinals 2012 draft, tell me what you think.
I think the Cardinals were prepared to take James Ramsey with the 19th pick and Steve Piscotty with the 24th pick if
he was still available and save even more money that they could use in the later rounds. But Michael Wacha was just
too good to pass up. They used some of the money they saved for Carson Kelly, but it would have been interesting to
see who else they might have picked. Don’t get me wrong, after seeing Wacha in Springfield I think the Cardinals got
one of the steals of the draft.