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Derrick Goold has a great breakdown of every player that is coming to early “prospect” camp before the major league Spring Training gets going.  This is only a few weeks away now, finally.

Here’s the list of players headed to “early camp”.  Hit the link for DGoold’s insight on each and every player on the list.

RHP Carlos Martinez
LHP Anthony Ferrara
RHP Victor DeLeon
LHP Hector Hernandez
RHP Michael Blazek
RHP Deryk Hooker
RHP Eric Fornataro
LHP Justin Wright
RHP Willy Paulino
LHP Tyler Lyons
C Geoff Klein
C Audry Perez
1B Xavier Scruggs
2B Starlin Rodriguez
INF Greg Garcia
SS/2B Breyvic Valera
SS Ronny Gil
SS Kenny Peoples-Walls
OF Kyle Conley
OF Oscar Taveras
OF Nick Longmire
OF Charlie Tilson
OF CJ McElroy
OF Lance Jeffries

This is oldish news (from Friday) – but Matthew Leach the (soon to be ex – don’t leave us Mr. Leach!) beatwriter for the Cardinals on MLB.com sat down with Kantrovitz to talk about his history and his philosophies.  Read the whole thing, it is a good look, but be still my beating heart:

MLB.com: If it’s possible to sum up in a few sentences, what general philosophies and strategies underline your view of drafting amateur players?

Kantrovitz: From a scouting standpoint, we will focus on players with a high ceiling who have a chance to make an impact in the Major Leagues…

His answer continues on to even more territory that would make even the most hard-hearted HPGF member reach for the paper bag.  Read the whole interview it is good insight to the man who will be calling the shots during the amateur draft.

Adron Chambers

Age – 25
Stats
38th Round of 2007 Draft

Adron Chambers got a whiff of the big league club this past year, which was great, but unfortunately, we all got an even better idea of his limitations and ceiling.  Chambers is a left-handed only, no power, lots of speed center-fielder who presents good defense in center and plus defense in the corners.  However, being that his bat does not play in the LF or RF, he is limited to center.

His position, CF, is filled by a similar type player in Jon Jay.  Neither are any longer blocked by Colby Rasmus, but Jon Jay has the a similar profile to Chambers.  Chambers offers more speed, but Jay offers slightly more power and both are lefties.  Jay is prone to slumps and is not in any way shape or form “blocking” center-field for any prospect.  However, Adron Chambers does not have the offensive potential to be a starting everyday center-fielder.

Chambers has dropped off the list as the Cardinals system has improved and Chambers limitations have become more clear.  His current projection is looking more like a 5th outfielder/bench/pinch runner/defensive sub role.

The Cardinals have seven minor league free agents and the highest profile of them all, DJ Tools, Daryl Jones has already been claimed by the Cincinnati Reds. Check out the minor league free agent tracker here at Baseball America.

Jones’s OPS by year: .597 (2005), .745 (2006), .600 (2007), .889 (2008), .738 (2009), .696 (2010), .760 (2011).

One of these things is not like the others…

The full list of Cardinals minor league free agents are:
Freddie Bynum, Eric Duncan, Daryl Jones, Jeff Lyman, Rich Rundles, Donovan Solano, Nick Stavinoha

Source

Alternately titled, “How Sweep It Is” or some sort of Mary Poppins allusion that I can’t quite put my finger on right now.

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This one is a little more cut and dry than the pitchers.  Let’s go over the top 3 hitters at each club by wOBA.  (100 PA required)

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Since this is Quad Cities week as the team is up 1-0 already in the Midwest League Championship Series, let’s rank some pitchers.  If you were handed a prospect ballot, how would you rank RiverBandits’ starting rotation:

RHP Boone Whiting
LHP Anthony Ferrara
RHP Trevor Rosenthal
RHP Zach Russell
LHP Ryan Copeland

The Midwest League Championship starts today and Derrick Goold has the drop on the pitching match-ups.

Game 1, Wednesday in Lansing:
LHP Sean Nolin (LAN) vs. RHP Boone Whiting (QC)
Game 2, Thursday in Lansing:
LHP Justin Nicolino (LAN) vs. LHP Anthony Ferrara (QC)
Game 3, Saturday in Davenport, Iowa:
RHP Trevor Rosenthal (QC) vs. RHP Marcus Walden (LAN)
Game 4, Sunday in Davenport, Iowa:
RHP Zach Russell (QC) vs. LHP Egan Smith (LAN)
Game 5, Monday in Davenport, Iowa:
LHP Ryan Copeland (QC) vs. RHP Aaron Sanchez (LAN)

Hit the link for dgoold’s short paragraph on each pitcher for the QC.