Author Archive

First off, I would threaten to beat up every other GM in baseball unless they passed on Strasburg. I figure those guys are just a bunch of older business types, so I’ll bet I could scare ‘em. I’m a pretty intimidating guy.

On the other hand, if I were running the Cardinals’ draft, and local laws had some sort of prohibition against racketeering, I might go with something like this. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey y’all. Nope, still can’t pull it off. Oh well. I thought I would give it a shot, seeing as how I haven’t been around here much at all for quite a while.

You know, I was actually planning a post today taking that long-promised look at the Cincinnati farm system, but something erik put in his GCL wrap just a couple of days ago changed my mind. And I quote:

I don’t want to pick on Gary Daley any more than I already have, but when was the last time you’ve seen a 5/32 K/BB ratio? From a 22 year old in rookie ball? From a third round pick? That’s just…wow.

That got me to thinking. Over the past few years, the Cardinals have shown a proclivity for drafting a certain type of player, a certain draft demographic, if you will. I’m speaking, of course, of the raw college pitcher. A bit of an odd breed, to be honest. Traditionally, teams would draft one of two ways. If they wanted upside and talent, they would draft a raw high school kid. If they wanted experience and polish, they would draft a guy out of college, who was much closer to being a finished product. The Cardinals, however, have bucked that bit of conventionality by taking pitchers out of college programs who have had relatively poor results, often are considered very raw, and generally just need quite a lot of work.

Anyway, I immediately decided that, rather than discuss the Cincinnati Reds and their prospects, I would take a look at some of the pitchers that the Cardinals have taken out of this specific segment of the draft, and see if they’ve had any success at it. Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of weeks ago, I broke down the Brewers’ system in the wake of their deal for one Mr. CC Sabathia. I’m hoping to make my way ever so slowly through the entire NL Central in the coming weeks; I thought I would continue on with the other divisional rival to make a big time deal at the trade deadline: the Chicago Cubs. Read the rest of this entry »

We all know what the Brewers received when they traded for CC Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians earlier this month. They received an ace pitcher, a consistent performer, a Cy Young candidate. But what does a deal like this do to a farm system? Where do the Brewers sit now, after going out and adding a player of Sabathia’s calibre? Well, lucky for you, I’m here to break it all down.

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Howdy, all you happenin cats and kitties out there in Future Redbirds land. You probably all know me already, from my other gigs, but I’ve got a serious thing for the minor leagues and I rarely get to write about them, so Mr. Erik Manning was nice enough to offer me a platform from which to do so. I’m not going to be a regular contributor around here, just an occasional guest star sort of situation. Hopefully I can add a little something and not gum up the works too very badly. Thanks to erik for the invite; I’m excited to be on board.

Anyway, back when all the draft talk was still purely hypothetical, fewgoodcards, this site’s resident draft and college baseball expert, and I debated the merits of Brett Wallace, who of course eventually became the Cards’ pick in the first round. FGC was very high on Wallace, believing that he had as good a chance of becoming a major leaguer as anyone in the draft; I wasn’t a fan, believing that a draft pick as high as the one the Cards had this year should be spent on a more athletic player, a pure ceiling sort of talent. After watching the Super Regionals of the CWS and seeing Wallace play for Arizona State, I have to admit I’m coming around on the Walrus. Let’s take a look at what Mr. Wallace brings to the table, shall we?
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