Azruavatar: A few years ago, we saw Allen Craig start to make the transition in the minors from third baseman to outfielder. It appears that Matt Carpenter may be on the brink of a similar transition. Skip Schumaker made a positional transition in the majors from the outfield to second base. Without commenting on a specific player, under what circumstances does the club try to broach a conversation like this with a minor leaguer?

John Vuch: We always encourage versatility among our minor league players, simply because we don’t always know where the next opening at the Major League level is going to occur. If there’s an injury at the major league level, if a minor league player has had some experience at that position, he’d certainly get more consideration for a callup than somebody who had never played the position. Obviously, it’s not going to be a daily game of musical chairs at the minor league level, as we still want players to have a primary position, but especially as players get further up the ladder, it makes sense for them to at least get some exposure at other positions they could potentially be asked to play at the major league level. A good example of that is somebody like Ryan Jackson, who played in a utility role in the Arizona Fall League. We certainly still consider him a shortstop, and somebody who will play the bulk of his games at that position. But the experience of playing some 2nd base and 3rd base in Arizona can only help him in the future if a major league utility role opened up before a shortstop opportunity. So that’s how we portray it to the player – it’s usually not that we don’t like him at a given position, just that it opens up more avenues for him to get to the major leagues if he at least has the ability to play multiple positions.

AZ: Similarly, we’ve seen pitchers in both the minors and majors move between the bullpen and the rotation. I want to turn that previous question around a bit though. Are there circumstances or qualities that would lead the organization to be disinclined to try a hypothetically struggling starter as a reliever? Just to show how much a farm geek I am, I’m thinking back to Eric Haberer who was a lefty starter that was released after 2007 despite the system being very light on left handed relievers.

JV: I think for relievers, there is typically less emphasis on the ability to throw a changeup, and more emphasis on velocity and breaking pitch. In other words, repertoire for relievers is less important, but the quality of the few pitches they can throw becomes more important. That’s magnified for lefties – the first thing you look for with turning a lefty starter into a lefty reliever is whether he has a killer breaking pitch to use for those lefty/lefty matchups. While there’s always exceptions, if he’s a fastball/changeup kind of guy, he’s more likely going to sink or swim as a starting pitcher.

AZ: There was a renewed focus, or at least public comments from the front office, in recent seasons to get back to fundamentals at every level of the organization. Do you feel like the organization has been successful in that effort and what is your vision for the farm system in 2012?

JV: After the changes to our Player Development department following the 2010 season, fundamentals became one of the first things that we wanted to improve. It’s not a glamorous aspect of the game, and it may not always be exciting to watch bunt plays, cutoffs and relays, and other fundamentals, but that is something that defined the Cardinals for years when George Kissell was coordinating things for our minor leaguers. In this era, we realize that we’re never going to have the highest payroll club, and there will occasionally be times where other teams have more pure “talent” than we do, so it’s vital that we maximize our talent and avoid making fundamental mistakes.

Part of that goal was to ensure that we were doing things in a consistent fashion from top to bottom throughout the organization, so that as a player went from club to club, he wouldn’t have to relearn fundamentals for any individual manager. Obviously, that starts with the understanding how the major league club does things and then implementing that program throughout the system.

When I moved into this role, Tony LaRussa and his coaching staff were incredibly generous with their time, and spent many hours with me and our coaches as we put together an organizational instructional manual, which documented how everything was to be done from St. Louis, all the way down to our Dominican program. That really set the tone for the 2011 season from the minor league perspective and I think we went a long way towards achieving our goals in that area.

With Mike Matheny coming on board, one of the first things we did was have him review the existing manual and let us know the areas where he’d like to do things differently. He’s been tremendous in terms of communicating his vision for how he sees the majors and minors working together. Since Mike had previously spent many years in the organization and had spent time the last few years working with our minor league catchers, he didn’t have sweeping changes, but we’ve updated our manual to reflect the way he wants things taught, and looking forward to continuing to improve fundamentally as an organization.

Over the years, quality fundamental play has been the Cardinals identity and it’s our job to make sure we uphold that legacy.

AZ: Any prospects in the system that you think the public should be paying more attention to than they are now?

JV: I think with the level of coverage devoted to the minor leagues through websites, blogs, newspapers and magazines, some players who might have gone relatively unnoticed in the past are now more well-known. I’m always reluctant to get too specific about how we view individual players for several reasons – some competitive, some motivational – but we’ve got quite a few guys that I would at least consider “chance” prospects. Some of them are players with “tools” that haven’t yet had their performance match their athletic ability, while others are guys that have had success beyond what would be expected from “limited” tools that we’ll continue to give chances to show us that their success is legitimate. We’re excited to see which guys make big steps forward in 2012, but by this time next year, I’d be surprised if we didn’t have a couple names pop up on people’s lists that aren’t currently there.

AZ: Do you think the increased coverage (be it traditional media outlets or more contemporary ones) is something that is beneficial for the minor league players or is it an added level of scrutiny that makes adjusting to professional baseball more difficult?

JV: If handled properly, I think there’s generally more positive than negative associated with the increased media coverage. It allows the player to familiarize themselves with what is expected of them from reporters, how to handle being interviewed, and the importance of making themselves as available after poor performances as they are after good outings and to gain that experience on a much smaller stage than they will encounter when they reach the major leagues. At our early camp last year, we had several of the reporters that cover our major league team spend time with our minor league players in order to give them the perspective from the media, and I think that session was beneficial for both the players and the media. It’s important for the players (and staff) to realize that the media has a job to do, and that there’s a professional obligation to be cooperative with reporters. Interviews, especially those of the postgame variety, are typically very brief, so if a player doesn’t make himself available for comment (particularly after a bad game), it doesn’t take long for a player to get a reputation for not being a stand-up guy. It’s better for the players to learn those lessons while coming through the minor leagues, than to be completely unfamiliar with media protocol while simultaneously trying to adjust to all of the other differences that come with being in the major leagues.

I suppose one danger from the increased coverage can potentially come from players getting an overly inflated opinion of themselves, or thinking they’re already “big leaguers” based on the amount of media attention they receive or their status in various prospect rankings. But ultimately, that’s up to us to make sure we keep our players grounded and focused, and avoid letting the attention be a distraction.

From a front office perspective, the effect of increased minor league media scrutiny should be negligible, as you can’t effectively run a farm system while being overly concerned with how your organization is being portrayed by publications or websites. Obviously, it’s impossible to be unaware of how various publications rank farm systems or prospects, but it’s important to avoid letting 3rd party opinions affect your decision making. Sometimes you’ll see clubs overhype marginal prospects for media purposes, but in the long run I think you jeopardize your credibility by habitually portraying fringy players as major prospects.

AZ: Thanks for your time, John.

azruavatar: There were obviously a lot of changes to the Cardinals this year not only on the field but in the front office. Notably, Jeff Luhnow, who had been heavily involved in both the amateur draft and the minor league system since 2005, left to become the Astros’ general manager. Last offseason you were promoted to the title of ‘Farm Director’. Can you tell us a little more about what your day-to-day responsibilities entail after the new title and Luhnow’s departure?

John Vuch: From a Player Development perspective, the bigger change actually came at the end of the 2010 season as Jeff focused his efforts on Amateur Scouting and I was given responsibility for our Player Development department. So in that respect, while the Amateur Scouting Department is experiencing major changes with the departure of Jeff (and Sig Mejdal [ed. note: Sig Mejdal left to become the Astros Director of Decision Sciences under Jeff Luhnow]), and the arrival of Dan Kantrovitz as Amateur Scouting director, there will be little effect on how we do things in player development, since we already began implementing a lot of changes when I moved into my new role for the 2011 season. I had good relationships with both Jeff and Sig and always enjoyed discussing players, theories and different ways of making evaluations with them, so I certainly don’t want to minimize the effect of their departure or their role in helping to provide talented players into the organization. But the vast majority of our scouts in the field are still with us and Chris Correa does a phenomenal job from the analytical side of things, so I’m confident that Dan and our amateur scouting department will continue to provide our farm system with the raw materials we need to develop players for our Major League club.

When I shifted into the role of Farm Director, that allowed me to focus more on the actual decisions that we make in terms of building our minor league rosters, making in-season transactions and ensuring that our players are being taught in a manner that is consistent with the expectations of the Major League club. Although I had many years in Player Development, it was a different experience last year being given the autonomy to make those decisions and implement changes to the way we develop our players. Fortunately, John Mozeliak gave me the resources necessary to succeed in the new role, and a big part of it was having Gary LaRocque spend the majority of his time with our minor league clubs. Gary has a wealth of experience as a former Farm Director and Scouting Director, so he was (and continues to be) a huge resource for me. I’m able to bounce ideas off him and get honest feedback, which is vital in helping me in the decision-making process.

Although the role of Farm Director puts me ultimately responsible for the productivity of our farm system and in charge of making the decisions associated with that department, we’ve really made an effort to involve all of our field staff in the decision-making process. Much of my time, especially in-season, is spent on the phone with the managers/coaches/rovers that are seeing our players on a daily basis. It’s vital to get the staff’s input on player decisions, as they should be the ones that know their own players better than anyone. While it’s not a strict “democracy”, and there are times where unpopular decisions have to be made, whenever possible I try to avoid simply making unilateral decisions without getting as much input as possible from people who can provide helpful insight. So the way I look at it is when our farm system is going well it’s absolutely a collective effort involving everyone in our department – conversely if the system isn’t going well that should fall on me, since I’m ultimately the one who put that staff in place. But I’ve got a lot of confidence in the group that we currently have teaching our players, and we’re always looking for ways to make ourselves better.

AZ: You’ve been with the Cardinals’ organization for a long time. Long enough that I feel guilty asking exactly how long that’s been but, if I recall correctly, it’s been since you were a teenager. I doubt that anyone considers the major league baseball business to be one that is a 9-5 work schedule or low stress. What helps to keep you motivated after working in a front office for as long as you have?

JV: That’s correct – I started working for the Cardinals as a 16-year old High school junior in 1979. (No need to do the math – while I don’t feel old, I suppose the calendar doesn’t lie!) After graduating from college, I finally became full-time in 1985 and moved over to the Baseball Operations department prior to the 1988 season. Motivation has never been an issue, as I can honestly say there’s never been a day where I woke up and said “I don’t feel like going to work today”. I know I’ve been extremely fortunate to be given the opportunity to have a career in an industry that I love – being able to attempt to make small contributions to the team that I grew up rooting for makes it even better.

The hours can be long – during spring training it’s 7 days a week, starting every day before 7:00 am and in-season we roll up a lot of 15+ hour days, but when you’re doing a job you enjoy, the hours aren’t an issue. While the advent of email, cell phones, etc make you accessible and “on-call” 24 hours a day, it also makes it much easier to work away from the office. There’s no doubt that there is stress associated with the job, but really the only negative aspect is the demands it makes on the rest of my family and their events that I miss when I’m traveling. They’re incredibly understanding about it since it’s really always been that way, and they have adapted to it – but it still doesn’t make it any easier when I have to leave!

Ultimately though, the motivation simply comes from enjoying what I do for a living.

AZ: You and I have corresponded some in the past about the club’s desire to teach minor leaguers about their off the field “responsibilities” as well as on the field ones. Specifically, I’m curious about the club’s approach to twitter. There are a lot of players with public accounts and, at times, they share some very personal information. What’s the club’s approach to twitter given how accessible and popular of a technology it is becoming with young people?

JV: Social media is something that we’ve already addressed with our players in the past, but we have plans in place to spend more time discussing it with them this spring. If used properly, Twitter and Facebook can be a positive way for players to connect with fans and the media, as well as begin to create a “brand” for themselves. If used improperly, players can embarrass themselves and the organization and cause damage to their public image.

I’m sympathetic with our players at times because I remember being young and doing dumb things at their age and, I’m very grateful that the internet wasn’t around to memorialize some of those things for posterity! But the big difference is that in 2012 everyone has the ability to take pictures/videos of them with their phones and, while I was an anonymous college student at their age, as professional athletes and public figures, they don’t have the luxury of doing some of the things their peers can do without it becoming public.

We have had conversations with a few players about “tweets” that don’t put them in a good light, and once we discuss it with them individually, the vast majority of players we’ve spoken with seem to have gotten the message. However, there are still a few “tweets” that get brought to my attention that, although they may not be atypical from a young man in his late teens/early twenties, aren’t consistent with what the Cardinals stand for.

To me, the key is not banning them from using a technology that is only going to become even more prevalent, but instead to educate them on how to use it properly as a public figure. The best analogy I’ve heard is to equate it to sitting in an auditorium with a microphone in front of 100 people, or 1,000 people or 10,000 people (depending on how many followers). If it’s something you wouldn’t be comfortable saying it out loud in front of a crowd of that size, it doesn’t belong on your Twitter. I anticipate that social media will be an issue that we continue to address and educate our players about in the coming months and years, and hopefully our players will continue to improve on using those forms of communication in ways that benefit their image rather than making them and the club look bad.

AZ: We’re coming up on Spring Training and there will be a lot of minor leaguers who will head to Florida to take part in both the major league and minor league camps. Statistically, it’s not a lot of time to judge a player on the numbers. What are some things, outside of the quantifiable results and performance, that the club wants to see from prospects during this time?

JV: You hit the nail on the head – spring training is an awfully small sample size to simply look at the stats they compile in March and use that as the sole basis for deciding what club they make. We can’t ignore a player’s prior history, especially for those that have been in the organization for years. That said, we’re looking for improvements in comparison to the prior year. For pitchers – is he throwing harder? Is he exhibiting better command? Throwing the breaking pitch more consistently for strikes? Similarly for hitters – Has he gotten stronger, better conditioned? Exhibiting better plate discipline? Has his defense improved? Those types of questions frequently play a role in determining whether a player gets moved up or whether he tops out at his prior level.

AZ: The Cardinals farm system is regarded as a top 10 system right now. While there will likely be prospects who contribute to the Cardinals, there’s a real possibility for the club to use some of these players as trade pieces as well. As the farm director, what is it like to watch players you’ve helped usher through the system switch affiliations via trades?

JV: Our goal in player development is always very simple – to do anything possible to contribute to a championship caliber club. Whether that’s “graduating” players to the major leagues, as we saw last year with Lance Lynn, Eduardo Sanchez, Fernando Salas, Adron Chambers, etc, or it means trading Alex Castellanos in order to acquire Rafael Furcal, both methods are part of accomplishing the larger goal in player development. From a selfish standpoint, it’s always fun and satisfying to watch the young guys come up and make an impact, but especially when it turns out like 2011. I’m just as happy to see a minor league player turn into immediate major league help through trade. Ideally, the key is to know your own players better than anyone else, and perhaps move a guy that the other organization values more highly than we do.

Note: My thanks to John Vuch for his time in answering my questions. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the conclusion where we’ll discuss player’s transitioning positions and the implementation of the player development system with a new manager.

In 2009, Schneider began at Batavia where he overmatched the young hitters striking out nearly a third of the batters he faced. He was quickly promoted to Quad Cities where he would again strikeout batters at an excellent clip, generate impressive groundball rates and display above average control. In 2010, Schneider returned to Quad Cities (joined in the rotation by Shelby Miller) and was promoted to Palm Beach at mid-season.  After moderate success at Palm Beach, Schneider’s peripheral statistics (K-rate, GB rate) have both rebounded nicely as he begins the year in AA Springfield.

I had the opportunity to exchange some questions with Scott and his answers follow below.

Future Redbirds: I’d like to start back when you were drafted as a junior out of St. Mary’s College in California. The Cardinals selected you in the 20th round. Was it a hard decision to level college a year early to play professional baseball?

Scott Schneider: When my name was called on draft day I was very excited.  Playing professional baseball had been a childhood dream and being given that opportunity would have been hard to pass up.  My experience at St. Mary’s couldn’t had been better.  I had great coaches, great teammates, and a great education.  That being said, not everyone is given the opportunity to play pro ball.  Although I knew I’d miss playing my senior year and finishing my degree, I knew that this was my chance to follow my dream of playing Major League Baseball.

FR: You’re in Springfield now and this has been a heck of a storm season for Missouri — do you miss the weather in California?

SS: You’re right.  The weather so far has not been great.  There has been quite a lot of rain, and cold weather.  Not what I had expected, especially considering we are already in May.  I wouldn’t mind having a few days of Southern California weather.  Soon enough it will be hot and humid, so hopefully in between now and then the weather settle somewhere in the middle.

FR: After being drafted you began your pro career in Batavia. In 2010, you started at Quad Cities and were promoted to Palm Beach. You had good strikeout rates in the low minors but it seemed like the nights you were pitching well, it was when you were getting consistent groundouts rather than just racking up strikeouts. Is that a fair characterization of your success?

SS: I don’t think anything can prepare you for your first full season.  It’s a long year, full of ups and downs.  Last year, I started the season well in Quad Cities.  I had a good feel of all my pitches and as a result I was able to maintain a decent strikeout rate as well as keep the ball on the ground.  At the time of my promotion, I had been going through a little rough patch.  I think my mechanics were a little inconsistent and I lost my feel of my slider.  Fortunately, even though my command wasn’t as good as it was earlier in the season, I still had my sinker.  I didn’t have my strikeout pitch, but I trusted my defense. [FR Edit: Schneider has had the good fortune of Ryan Jackson as his primary shortstop who might be the best defensive player in the Cardinals minor league system right now.]  The hitters are more advanced in AA.  They don’t chase as many pitches out of the zone so I rely on throwing my sinker to induce ground balls.  When I get 2 strikes on a batter, I try and go for the strikeout, but I’ll gladly take more groundballs to go deeper in to games.

FR: I’d be skewered if I didn’t ask you to describe your pitching repertoire for us. So what’s the mini-scouting report on Scott Schneider — what types of pitches do you throw and what do you think is your best pitch?

SS: I throw a 4-seam fastball, sinker, slider, and changeup.  Being able to throw all these pitches in any count has given me the chance to be successful.  I don’t have a Shelby Miller fastball, but I try and pound the bottom of the zone with my sinker.  My best pitches can vary from game to game.  I typically say whichever pitch gets me the most outs is my best pitch, but sometimes that is my sinker, sometimes it’s my changeup, and sometimes it’s my slider.

FR: You were a two-way player through college so you’ve got experience as a hitter. Do you miss hitting at all? [FR edit: The Texas League in Double A utilizes a DH when the affiliates are interleague.  Scott has only had 5 ABs thus far in 2011.]

SS: More than hitting, I sometimes just miss playing everyday.  As a pitcher, in between starts can be kind of boring.  Half the time, we are in the stands charting so you aren’t as involved in the game.  I also think there is a little more anxiety as a pitcher just because there is so much time in between starts.  It can be a long 5 days before your next start if you had a rough outing before.  I do miss taking BP.  That was the highlight of my day in college.  We get BP before a start against a national league team, but when i saw (more like barely saw) three 97 mph fastballs go right past me against Tulsa, I was quickly reminded why I’m pitching instead of playing shortstop or third base.  I’ve accepted it, but I’ll be a little disappointed if i don’t get a couple knocks this year.

FR: Who is the hitter you’d least like to face as a pitcher on your own team?

SS: That’s a tough question.  Our team has some pretty darn good hitters and anyone of them can be a threat especially when they are hot.  Obviously, Matt Adams is a big power threat.  Alex Castellanos can be pretty dangerous up there too.  Not to mention, when Tommy Pham and Ryan Jackson are going well they are tough outs.  I can’t really tell you who I’d least like to face but I can tell you that I would most like to pitch against Ryan Jackson.  We have a little history going back in to our college days and we are always going back and forth about how I know how to get him out and how he knows how to hit me.  It would be a good battle to pitch to him again.

FR: The 2009 draft class started off with the Cardinals selecting Shelby Miller. You both played together at Quad Cities to start the 2010 season before you were promoted to Palm Beach. QC had a DH too but I’m assuming that you still had pitcher batting practice sessions on occasion. Who was the better hitter – you or Shelby Miller?

SS: Unfortunately, the one day we were scheduled to take pitcher BP in the Quad Cities, we had rain so it was canceled.  If i were to take a wild guess, I’d say Shelby has me in a homerun derby.  He only has about 50 pounds on me.  However, I have more experience against better competition so while he may out-slug me,Ii think I could take him in batting average.

FR: Fans sometimes treat baseball players like baseball robots that just turn off after the game. So the next couple questions don’t have as much to do baseball as they do with just you. If you’ve got an offday during the season, what are you most likely to spend your day doing?

SS: If we can get an offday with some good weather, I will definitely be playing golf.  I’ve be trying to get out with Tyler Henley and Casey Mulligan, but every chance we’ve had there’s been thunder and lightning.  Other than that, I may spend an off day relaxing.  Maybe playing some video games or playing my guitar.

FR: Read a book, play a video game or watch a movie – which do you pick?

SS: I’d probably choose to see a movie.  I actually can’t remember the last movie I saw, but the last book I read was The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell.

FR: At St. Mary’s you were a pre-med major, do you ever wish you’d had an opportunity to complete your degree and if you weren’t in the minor leagues right now would we see you in med school?

SS:  Absolutely.  I’d love to have my degree finished, but this is the path that I have chosen for now.  If/when the time comes when I have to move away from the game, I will have to evaluate my situation.  Medicine is still something that I’m interested in and I’m pretty confident if I wasn’t playing baseball, I’d be trying to get in to med school.

FR: The last song you listened to off a playlist was . . .

SS: Run Me Down by The Black Keys

FR: Obviously you enjoy baseball to have played it for so long on such a high level. Do you follow or play any other sports?

SS: I’m a big golfer in the offseason.  I fool around with my parents saying baseball is my plan A, med school plan B, and professional golfer plan C.  It is something that I’ve always loved to do and when I get the opportunity I try to get out and play.

FR: Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions, Scott. We’ll be looking forward to seeing your name in the boxscore for Springfield each week. Best of luck during the rest of the season.

Scott Schneider’s next start (depending on when/how Maikel Cleto slots into the Springfield rotation) is Thursday, May 12th when NW Arkansas comes to town.

FR: How much will your role change from your previous job as Minor League operations to now Farm Director?

JV: Well it will change quite a bit, because now I kind of have more direct input as far as what the moves will be, the staffing, and that sort of thing. Obviously, I’m still going to lean heavily on our field staff and with Gary LaRoque who’s going to be serving as an advisor to me, as well, but the main difference is I will kind of have the decision on player moves, and that type of thing.

FR: When you go into player moves, how much time goes into the decision to promote or demote a player?

JV: Most of the time it’s done long before you actually see the move,  because lots of times moves are reactions to injuries, so my goal is, when there’s an injury, we already know who’s going to take the place of somebody should something like that happen. A big thing is talking to our manager and rovers to get a feel for who is playing well, who might be in over their head at a level, but really our goal is to be a little on the conservative side, and not, you know, rush guys into a position where they aren’t ready.

FR: The minor league teams had a ton of success this year, how much of a value do you place on team success compared to maybe individual players progressing more in a process, or statistically?

JV: I think definitely there are two functions: developing the player, and the other is winning. Developing the  player is always the priority, because I mean our main function in player development is to produce major league ready players, so you never want to do anything to stop the development of a player. That being said, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Winning is an important thing, as well, in terms of learning how to play the game the right way, doing the things that it takes to win a ball game, whether it be hitting behind a runner, or situations where you’re playing as a team. The other benefit of playing for a winning team is, a lot of times when a team is out of the running, you get guys trying to pad their stats, where as when the team is playing for a playoff spot, that kind of keeps the team together and has players playing team baseball. That said, the main function is developing players, and you never want to have winning superseding that. Sometimes you’ll see  guys that might not be as polished of a player, but he’s a better prospect, so you might have a guy who on paper appears to be a lesser player who gets more playing time over a guy putting up good numbers.

FR: When you compare players with the numbers they have to what you’re hearing from the coaches, how much of a focus do you guys put on the numbers you see compared to the process that’s taking place?

JV: It’s more of a balance, because you’ll have guys that put up good numbers. One of my goals is, you know, you’ll have guys where coaches say ‘this guy may be an a-ball tops guy’, or ‘this guy may be a double-a tops guy’, you never want that to become sort of a self-fufilling prophecy. If the guy is producing, even if the coach doesn’t think he can get out of A-ball, if he produces, give him a chance. There’s guys who play in the big leagues like David Eckstein who came and talked to our minor league players three or four years ago, and he was pretty honest about how every level he played at, his coaches thought that’s where he was going to top out, so you never want to right a players career out before it actually happens. So in that regard, if the player keeps producing, we’ll let him prove that he’s not capable of playing at the higher level. That being said, there may be guys that are putting up poor numbers, if has ability, if he has talent, you may see him getting more chances based on the coaches recommendation.

FR: The fans are pretty familiar with the top guys, it’s changing a bit, but obviously Miller, guys like Cox, now Martinez, but in the lower levels of the system, there’s a very young group of prospects, talk about a few of those guys that the organization and the fans can get excited about?

JV: Well one of the top guys, and I know you guys who do a good job keeping up with your site may know is Oscar Taveras, he’s a guy at Johnson City, he’s 18-years old, had a really nice year. He’s got good power to all fields, even though he’s only 18 he’s a very polished hitter, he runs fairly well, solid defensively, got a nice arms. So he’s one guy, and you know, I hate to rank guys at that stage in their career, but he really stood out in his first year over in the United States. A kid who really stood out at the end of the year is Rainel Rosario at Quad Cities. He was really kind of under the radar, not many of our guys knew much about him because he had an injury earlier in his career, but he really opened some eyes as an offense player in the second half. Michael Swinson’s got a lot of ability, a lot of tools. It hasn’t really translated into statistical success yet, but he’s a guy that our managers and coaches are impressed by his tools. He’s still very raw and young so we think this could be a big year for him to translate those tools into success.

FR: What’s the Player Development department’s role one we get into the end of the Major League season here?

JV: One of our roles is to talk to Mo, talk to the staff in regards to potential promotions. This time of year, once the minor league season is over, we’ll sit down and talk with the Major League staff to get a feel for what they’ve seen from the guys that have come up, and see if there’s something that they see on the fundamental basis that we need to do differently on the Minor League side. If there’s a group of guys and they’re all doing something in a way the Major League guys don’t like, that’s something we need to correct. One of the things we really try to focus on is doing things in the Minor Leagues the same way we do on the Major League side.

Kary Booher left some big shoes to fill, leaving the News-Leader to a full-time gig at Baseball America. Is it exciting, nerve-wracking, stepping in his role covering the Springfield Cardinals?

It’s definitely exciting, regardless of whose shoes I’m filling. I’m a youngun a year out of college, so I’ve been excited to show what I can do. I’ve been a lot more places than you’d expect for someone my age, and I’ve enjoyed my time on the beat so far, breaking news, finding stories and watching prospects develop.

Kary’s a good guy and a great reporter. He set the bar high for our readers in Springfield — and all over Cardinal Nation, for that matter. His work speaks for itself. As for following in his footsteps, I’m going to sum that up with my all-time least favorite sports cliche: It is what it is. I’ve just got to go out there and do what I do, and the rest will take care of itself.

But seriously, it’s been awesome.

You had a strong opinion on why Wallace not only doesn’t belong in the majors this year, nor AAA. Care to elaborate on that a little?

For the record, I only said that Wallace doesn’t belong in St. Louis this year – not Memphis. I received a little flak about it from people afraid I was bashing Wallace. That’s not the case at all. I saw him start the season with two massive home runs…and hit walk-off home runs on back-to-back nights. He’s got a tremendous amount of talent. With Rasmus in St. Louis, I think Wallace is the top prospect in the system.

That said, he had holes in his game during the time I watched him. I thought the promotion to Memphis was too soon, but Freese’s injury forced it. That’s a moot point.

His defense remains an issue. And his swing had flaws when Texas League pitchers threw around him. If he couldn’t pull the ball, he wasn’t as effective. Pitchers threw him outside or wayyyy inside, and, based on what I saw, he hadn’t figured out how to get around that.

A few days before the promotion, Wallace apparently found problems with his swing. And he’s fixed them. The numbers in Memphis show that. But he’s not ready for St. Louis. He needs to struggle. He needs to go through slumps. And he needs to learn from them. Slumps happen to everyone, even Pujols. It’s better for him to go through them in the minors where the pressure (and money) aren’t as big. If he found the flaw in his swing and corrected it, then I’ll give him props for that. It’s a sign of maturity and shows that he’s closer to St. Louis than I thought.

There’s also the money aspect. I think the club would like to keep him off of the 40-man roster this year and give him the chance to compete for the starting 3B job in spring training.

Wallace is an extremely hard worker. He spent a lot of time with Derrick May and others working on his swing. And he’s put in time working on his glove and range, too. Because of his body type, he might not ever become an average MLB defender. If that’s the case, it won’t be because of a lack of effort. I just think he needs a full season in the minors before he’s in the discussion to replace Troy Glaus.

There are some pretty impressive offensive numbers we’re seeing from some of the S-Cards. Since you get to see the team play more than any of us probably do, how much of this would you say is Hammons Field/Texas League-inflated and how much of this would you say is the real deal?

It’s a little of both. When Curt Smith hit his first home run here the other day, he only got one arm on it. But, with the wind blowing out of Hammons Field, it carried over the left-field wall. “Welcome to Springfield,” Steven Hill told Smith after the game.

But this lineup definitely has some pop. Hill, Smith, Henley, Jones and Descalso have powerful bats, as does a healthy Mark Hamilton. Tyler Herron told me this spring that he knows the team’s offense will be there. If its pitching is solid, there’s no reason to think they can’t compete for the Texas League title. I agree.

What have you seen from the Cards’ supplemental first rounder Lance Lynn so far? What do you feel his upside is?

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen very much. He’s only pitched one game at home, so I’ve only seen that plus a few bullpen sessions. His fastball is solid (up to 93), and his curve is better than I heard. Didn’t see enough of the change or slider to give a scouting report.

One thing I did see: composure. The defense collapsed around him when Hamilton didn’t charge a grounder and Pete Kozma made an error. Lynn kept his cool and pitched 6.2 solid (but unspectacular) innings. Plus he’s a fellow Indiana boy. Nice to have another native Hoosier around.

Best-case scenario: No. 3 starter. Worse-case scenario: A bulldog in the bullpen, capable of spot starts.

Daryl Jones has been viewed with some skepticism because of his previous struggles, but it seems to me he’s now doing it two years running. Give me some of your impressions of Jones.

Last year definitely wasn’t a fluke. His bat is definitely there, although the power is down from last season. He said that’s because he’s shortened his swing, which means fewer strikeouts but also fewer home runs. That’ll help him as he continues to move through the system. His glove is fine, and I do think he has a below-average LF arm.

He’s a little flashy with a great personality. One of the best guys in the clubhouse to talk to and a pretty hard worker who puts in the swings he needs to. The front office is very high on him, and I expect him to be in Memphis after the All-Star break, if not before.

The biggest question from scouts is about his speed. Most scouts I’ve talked to have him at average or below-average speed from home to first. That’s a major problem for a guy with a game built around his wheels. He can turn his speed off and on. I saw him sneak into home Monday with a great heads-up play, so I know he has wheels. It’s just a matter of using them — and the rest of his tools — all the time. But consistency is the biggest thing most guys need to work on in the minors, so let’s put that in proper context.

Trey Hearne was the Viva El Birdos approved sleeper prospect a few years back, and is back putting up some strong numbers in AA. What’s been the key to his success?

Throwing strikes, plain and simple, as he’s told me repeatedly. He locates his fastball well, and he’s got a plus curveball. One scout told me that’s been the biggest reason for his success — not a lot of hitters at this level can hit really good curveballs. And he has a really good curveball.

A better sign — he’s put his team in a position to win even when he doesn’t have his best stuff. See, Sunday: 6 IP, 4 H, 4 BB 2 ER and only 2 K. He didn’t look great, but he left with the team was in a position to win. It helps that Hearne doesn’t get flustered and doesn’t sweat the small stuff. He’s a very laid back guy, which helps him on the mound.

I didn’t see Hearne’s breakout coming. I thought that when Mura came back from the DL, Hearne would go from the rotation back to the pen. But the way Hearne is pitching, I think it’s more likely for him to earn a promotion to Memphis than a trip back to the bullpen.

Mark Hamilton looked poised for a break out and before hitting the DL. What’s his status?

He’s on the DL, obviously, after pulling a muscle running out a grounder Friday. Which means I regularly get to ask the most awkward question in all of sports journalism: So, how’s the groin?

Hamilton said he’s felt better each of the last few days and will be back in about a week. The rest also gives him time to heal a foot injury that’s been nagging since spring training.

I think he’s figured out Double-A pitching. He was great in his first game here after extended spring training (2 for 5 with two doubles) and hasn’t slowed down (7 home runs and a .333 average in May). When he comes back, he’ll be fine and continue to hit well until he gets a chance to move up.

I’m going to go all James Lipton on you (hopefully sans the freakiness) and just say a name, and you give me what pops into your head.

Daniel Descalso. Scrappy. Hard worker, blue-collar ball player with a plus glove and a much-improved bat. Some scouts wonder if he can be an everyday second baseman in the majors…and I think he can.

Steven Hill. Chicken-fried. Hill is one of the many Texans in the clubhouse, and he looks and acts just like you’d picture someone from Stephen F. Austin State. His walk-up song is “Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown — a stark contrast to the rap that guys like Rapoport and Descalso prefer. As far as his game? Good bat (although he’s been struggling over the last week or so, hitting .178) with plenty of pop. He’s got work to do behind the plate, but he’s making progress.

Tony Cruz. Steven Hill’s alter ego. Lame, I know. They entered the year with similar enough scouting reports: good bats trying to find a position. Now they’re opposites. Hill’s bat is definitely there (overlooking this mini-slump), but the glove needs work. One scout told me Cruz has the defense to become a backup catcher, but his bat hasn’t been great this season.

Tyler Herron. Improved. He struggled here last year and, from what I’ve heard, wasn’t impressive in spring training (I didn’t get to see him pitch much when I was in Jupiter, Fla.). Now he’s looking like a first-round pick with four ER in his last four starts. Average to slightly above average fastball and a plus curveball.

Kenny Maiques. Oy. One scout used the dread four-letter word — wild — when he saw Kenny up here. He struggled, to say the least. I saw him face two batters one game, throw eight consecutive balls — including a pitch-out that sailed into the backstop. Obviously he’s going through a tough time right now with his drug suspension, and I wish him the best.

Curt Smith. Hitter. Dude can hit, plain and simple. Lightning-quick bat with some power. Fielding needs to improve, but his bat can play. Plus, the major leagues need more Curacao natives who became 39th-round draft picks out of Maine and speak four languages. Right?

Tyler Henley. Football player. He looks, acts and talks like a running back from a big high school in Dallas, and that’s the mentality he brings to the ballpark. I’ll add another thought: Underrated. He’s hitting a very quiet .333. But after his grand slam and a 3-for-4 game this homestand, he’s not under the radar anymore.

Francisco Samuel. Good Sammy/Bad Sammy. One game, he’s lights-out. 100-mph fastball. SICK 90-mph slider. Unhittable.

The next? He’s all over the place with no command whatsoever. And, dare I say, that four-letter word. Wild.

I will say this about Sammy: I think he’s the best prospect in Springfield. One scout said he could be a major-league All-Star closer. Others willingly and easily project him as an MLB closer. I’ve heard that one scout said he’d take Sammy on his major-league club by the end of the year. If he gets his fastball command down, he’s got the stuff to be a star. And I think between guys like Dyar Miller and (eventually) Duncan, he’ll iron those problems out.

Eddie Degerman. Catapult. Or someone throwing a grenade. Or someone giving someone a pie in the face. Take your pick. But he’s looked better in his last few appearances, regardless of what you think about his motion.

Jeff Luhnow. Northwestern Wildcats. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. Luhnow got his MBA at Northwestern — my alma mater. Regardless of how you feel about his number crunching, draft picks and willingness to take players like Degerman and Joe Williams whom others wouldn’t touch, the guy’s brilliant. I don’t think anyone will argue that.

Ron Warner. Competitor. Winning is something that gets overlooked a lot in the minors, where developing prospects is (understandably) the goal. Pop is a good teacher and can help young guys along the way…but deep down he’s a competitor who hates to lose.

Can you tell me why Pete Kozma is in AA?

I can try. This organization believes in promoting top prospects aggressively, and the front office thinks Kozma is a top prospect. The Cardinals have already invested a lot in him ($1.395 million signing bonus), and they want to see what kind of return they’re going to get on their investment. That means moving him up and letting him struggle, if that’s what happens.

Kozma’s numbers haven’t been great, but he’s not a lost cause, like some fans seem to think. He’s made some sensational plays in the field, and he’s got a good arm — once he settles down, takes a breath, sets his feet and fires. When he rushes his throws and tries to force things, he has problems. He said that was his biggest problem in the field in Palm Beach, and it’s been an issue here in Springfield, too. His bat is OK, but he hasn’t always been able to find holes in the field so far. It’s a long season, so that’ll balance out. There’s also the age factor: Koz just turned 21 and is in Double-A.

Kozma is certainly taking his lumps (.214 average, 7 errors). But he’s struggled in the past, too. He hit .130 in Palm Beach last year, worked in the off-season and boosted his average to .315 there to start this season. Who’s to say he can’t do the same in Springfield this year?

Players will struggle, either in the course of a long season or in a long career. That goes for first-round picks and for undrafted guys, for All-Stars and for players who won’t make it out of A-ball. The key is to see how they react when that happens. Do they try to force things (as Kozma said he’s done in the past)? Do they try to fix things that aren’t broken? Do they learn from their mistakes?

I expect him to spend the full year in Springfield with the expectation that he’ll be in Memphis at the start of next year (or shortly thereafter). It’s fine for him to make mistakes now. As Pop Warner said recently, you’ve got to make mistakes in order to get better. If he’s making these same mistakes in two months, then it’s time for Cardinals fans to worry. But not yet.

Any passing thoughts on the Joe Williams experiment?

I respect anyone who bar tends to pay the bills and refuses to give up on his/her dream. Extra props for anyone who gets a baseball contract just before they were supposed to ship out with the hopes of becoming a Navy Seal. Too bad he couldn’t cut it on the field. So it ends with this epitaph: It was fun while it lasted.

Shameless plug — make sure to check our Cardinals blog at the News-Leader and you can follow me on Twitter (MattBaker31). I’m always happy to hear from readers, and I answer questions as quickly (and honestly) as I can.

First of all, congrats on winning the Harry Mitauer Good Guy Award at the Baseball Writers Dinner. That’s one award I’d say the writers got right.

Thanks Erik. As I mentioned the night I received it, with so many good people working around the stadium, I would have been flattered merely to have my name come up in the discussion, let alone being named the recipient. But it’s easy to be in a good mood when doing something I love on a daily basis.

Baseball America ranked the Cardinals’ system the 8th best in baseball. What is your take the ranking?

We try not to get too wrapped up in what others say about our system, since there are so many variables that can affect a ranking. Even when our rankings were not as high, we were able to have players like Albert and Yadi come through the system, and turned other of our younger prospects into Major League talent through trades. But I think the feeling is universal within our organization that we have much more depth and significantly more players that can be realistically projected to have a Major League future than we had in prior years. I think the rankings are probably a reflection of that. But I don’t want to sound disingenuous by saying that I agree with the rankings when they rate us highly and disagreed when we were ranked lower!

The organization has not been shy about promoting players as of late. What are some of the factors that go into determining whether or not a prospect is ready to be moved up to a different level?

A lot of different things go into making that determination. Obviously, success at a lower level is often a big part of it, since if a player is struggling at a lower level, moving him up likely would just make it even tougher for him. If it’s a player that we consider one of our better prospects, then making sure that there’s an opening where he’ll get ample playing time is another priority, especially if we’ve already got a prospect playing the same position at that level. Almost every time we make a decision about moving a player up (or down), it will involve not only Jeff Luhnow and me, but also the managers for the teams involved as well as our hitting/pitching coordinators. Getting the perspective of our guys in the field is critical, since there’s often something that they’ve picked up on that could affect that player’s chances of success at the next level that isn’t necessarily reflected in the stats or in our game reports.

How long does it take to go about making roster assignments for the minor league teams to start the season?

It’s a lengthy process, and one that involves a lot of people. All of us have our “projected” rosters, and many of us were already projecting 2009 rosters while the 2008 season was going on, but there are so many variables that the actual rosters can often wind up bearing little resemblance to the projected rosters. Ideally, it’s because a player shows up being greatly improved over the prior year – however, other times it may be due to injuries or under performance. But we’ll have two days of meetings with our staff prior to the start of camp to discuss players and rosters, and then we’ll have numerous meetings throughout spring training, making decisions about who makes which club, who remains at Extended Spring Training, and who ultimately gets sent home. Oftentimes, we’re in a holding pattern with our rosters depending on what happens at the Major League level, so occasionally there are times where we have to react quickly to an unexpected player dropping down to our AAA roster, but there are many hours spent making the decisions that go into forming our opening day rosters.

We’ve seen a lot of positional movement with players lately, whether it be a no-hit catcher moving to the bullpen, or a certain scrappy outfielder moving to a spot of real need. Is this a paradigm the Cardinals are going to continue utilizing, heavily moving forward whenever there is a surplus at one position or a deficiency at another?

I think it often makes sense for a player to at least explore anything they can do to give themselves as much versatility as possible, especially since it’s often impossible to project where an opening may suddenly occur at the major league level. If a player has at least shown the ability to adequately handle multiple positions, it allows him to be considered as a candidate for a variety of roles, rather than being locked in exclusively at one spot. Additionally, if a player was drafted at an “offensive” position such as LF or first base, if it turns out that he has the ability to play a more challenging defensive position, that can turn him into a much more valuable commodity. One example of that is Tony Cruz, who is a solid defensive third baseman, but has impressed with his ability behind the plate. It’s much tougher to find catchers with Tony’s offensive capabilities than it is to find similar hitting third baseman, so by having Tony working on his catching he is able to make himself much more valuable, as well as giving him multiple ways to move through the system.

What do the Cardinals hope to improve on in terms of managing the minors in 2009 compared to 2008?

It’s hard to get into too many specifics, but our goal is to always have somebody ready within our farm system when there’s a hole or a need at the Major League level. There’s nothing wrong with signing players from outside the organization at times, but we always want that to be something that is done by choice, and not due to a lack of internal options. Ultimately the goal of the farm system is pretty simple – to continue to increase the quantity and quality of players making their way to St. Louis.

I’m sure you’re going get asked this a few bazillion times this spring, but how is Brett Wallace looking at the hot corner?

Brett may be unlikely to ever look like a prototypical third baseman, but the bottom line is that he makes the plays, has good hands, and despite an unusual throwing motion his arm is ML average at worst. Pop Warner, who was his manager both at Springfield and in the Arizona Fall League, was pleased with the progress that Brett made during his time in Arizona and at this point there’s no reason to believe that Brett couldn’t remain as a third baseman in the future.

Daryl Jones and Jess Todd won the organization’s pitcher and player of the year award, taking two different paths. Jones languished Low A before coming on like a house of fire, while Todd just rocketed through the system in his first full season. Please give me your thoughts on those two, and do you have a prediction as to who could be this year’s Daryl Jones (breakout hitter) or Jess Todd (fast-moving pitcher)?

Daryl really wasn’t a big surprise to me, as he’s always been a very coachable, intelligent kid, who really just needed to continue to get experience playing baseball. He’s always had the tools, but was a bit raw, having played multiple sports in high school. It’s always important to be patient with young players whenever possible, as evidenced by guys like Joe Mather and Chris Duncan, who both had their share of struggles in A-ball.

Jess was much more polished coming into pro ball, having had three years of college experience, but I don’t think anyone expected him to wind up in AAA by year’s end. He’s a good example of what can happen when a pitcher has excellent command of his fastball and breaking pitch, and pitches with poise. While he moved rapidly through the system, he proved at each stop that he had mastered the level, and once a player has accomplished that, we’re not reluctant to give him new challenges.

As far as names for this year, guys like Tommy Pham, Jon Edwards and Beau Riportella have shown flashes of their ability in the past and certainly have ample tools to make big jumps once everything clicks for them. Again, patience is key for those type of guys – even though they’ve been a part of the organization for several years, Pham and Edwards will play all year at age 21, while Riportella doesn’t turn 21 until August.

For candidates for fast-moving pitchers, guys like Lance Lynn, Adam Reifer and Sam Freeman come to mind, but there’s quite a few potential candidates that could fall into that category. We don’t set out with the intention for guys to make huge jumps within one season, but if warranted, we wouldn’t shy away from it either.

Letting Luis Perdomo go unprotected from the Rule 5 draft left a few of us fans scratching our heads. Can you help us understand the rationale behind that decision?

John Mozeliak uses a lot of different sources in making the final determination about who to place on the 40-man roster, including internal scouting reports from our own staff members, as well as weighing areas of organizational depth and weakness. We place more weight on the likelihood of a Rule 5 eligible player actually sticking with the drafting club than we do on the chances of selection alone. While it’s certainly understandable how Perdomo would be attractive to another organization, we faced the same questions a few years back when Tyler Johnson was selected by Oakland from us in the Rule 5 draft after pitching the entire year at AA. We felt that Perdomo was more like Juan Mateo, who we selected a few years back in the Rule 5, in terms of being a future major leaguer, but not quite being ready at this stage of his career.

With right handed relief being one of our biggest areas of organizational depth, placing Perdomo on the 40-man roster would have meant starting the clock on his options this spring. With the RH relievers we have ahead of him in the organization, it likely would be a couple years before he’d be in the majors with us, and saving an option year could turn out to be necessary down the road.

Jon Jay fascinates me. He’s done nothing but hit, and according some of the new  metrics available, he’s also an excellent fielder. What do you feel his upside is?

Jon has somewhat quietly moved through the organization, in part because much of the focus has (deservedly) been on Colby Rasmus, but he’s a very polished hitter, who has always hit for average and has a little more pop than people give him credit for. Defensively, he’s got the range and hands to play CF if needed, however if there’s no opening in CF, he could adequately handle a corner spot. As far as upside, there’s nothing that I’ve seen that indicates he couldn’t be a solid major league outfielder in the future.

Tyler Greene had an excellent showing the AFL. Do you believe has turned the corner?

I think so – the one thing I’ve noticed about Tyler is that he now plays with much more confidence than he did earlier in his career, and that he realizes that he’s capable of competing and succeeding against quality competition. He’s not a finished product yet, but he’s made big strides in the last year and offers an exciting blend of power, speed and defense.

I know it’s extremely early in his career, but how excited should we be about Roberto de la Cruz?

I think he’s a very exciting prospect. I haven’t seen much of him yet personally, but our guys who got to spend a lot of time with him during Instructional League came away very impressed. He’s our highest profile July 2 signee, and by all accounts, he seems to be worthy of that billing.

We try to assume that no news is good news with injuries, but can we get an update on Jaime Garcia’s rehab?

Saw Jaime playing catch the other day, and he’s right on schedule with his rehab. It’ll be awhile before he’s throwing off the mound, but fortunately, he’s had no setbacks at this stage.

What can you tell us about minor league free agents Joe Thurston and Ian Ostlund?

We’re really happy to have both of those guys in the organization, and despite signing as “minor league” free agents, they have the potential to make contributions for our big league club. Thurston is a guy that we were familiar with, and it seems that he’s had the misfortune the last few years of being blocked by MVP caliber 2nd basemen (Utley and Pedroia). He’s performed very well at AAA, and played winter ball in Puerto Rico. Our interest started heating up based on reports from Eduardo Perez and Jose Oquendo, and fortunately I have a good relationship with Joe’s agent and we were able to work out a deal to make him a Cardinal, as there was heavy interest from multiple clubs. Joe’s always been a guy that managers love to have on their clubs, as he plays several positions very well defensively, handles the bat well and plays hard all the time.

Ostlund was a guy that we targeted, literally from Day One. Prior to the first date of minor league free agency, we always put together a target list of players that interest us, and Ian was one of about 3-4 guys that was at the top of our list. We contacted his agent as soon as the bell rang, and Ian was excited about the opportunity for him here with the Cardinals, and we actually were able to wrap up the deal the very first day. The thing that stood out to us about Ian is that he throws strikes and comes after the hitters. While he has success against lefties, he has ample weapons that enable him to get righties out as well, and he’s capable of pitching an inning+ at a time, rather than solely being a LOOGY. He’s got outstanding makeup and we’re excited to have him.

George Kissell, a Cardinal lifer and a mentor to just so many, passed on this last October. Do you have a memory or two of Mr. Kissell that you would like to share with us?

I could go on for hours about the effect that George had on all of us with the Cardinals. For me personally, the first few years I was in player development I would just sit and listen to him talk with our coaches, and try to soak up as much as possible. I was always appreciative that he’d take the time to talk with a young kid like me, as I was beginning to learn how much I didn’t know about the game. The thing to me that stood about George was how he was always learning, and despite probably being as much of an “expert” as anyone could be when it comes to baseball, he was always looking for ways to improve his teaching methods. While he knew there were certain “iron-clad fundamentals”, he was also flexible enough to evolve as the game changed.

As many of you know, Tyler Henley was an 8th round pick out of Rice in the 2007 draft. Rice players can be tough signs, but Henley signed for an above slot bonus of $150K and has since made his way onto the FR radar in a major way, ranking as our #16 prospect. For the first half of last season at Palm Beach, Henley hit .313/.370/.531 but broke a finger and landed on the disabled list. When he came off the DL he had a couple of slow months, but he finished the season with a strong .299/.372/.458 line for the month of August.

We like him around these parts for his all around solid skill set as a CF, and for his hard-nosed style of play. Henley was nice enough to take some time to answer some of my questions over email.

This past season you were hitting the ball pretty well, and then broke your finger. Are you fully recovered yet, and how disappointing was it to have your season interrupted like that?

I am fully recovered. As disappointing as it was to have the interruption due to injury, it was just as encouraging to know I am capable of coming back. Through my entire career I have never had a serious injury that kept me out of multiple games. Baseball is all about building confidence and consistency and I think my broken finger actually helped more than it hurt.

Give us a scouting report on yourself as a hitter.

I would say that I am an aggressive hitter. I’m sometimes too aggressive, and that is something that will be worked on to find a balance of aggression and patience. I think one of my strengths is my ability to hit to all fields and one of my weaknesses is my patience and pitch selection.

How would you rate where you are as a center fielder right now?

I would say that my play in the outfield is always improving and that’s about all anyone could ask for. I spent a lot of my time last offseason working on my arm strength and I feel like it really paid off. This offseason I’ve spent a lot of time invested in my strength and speed. We’ll see how it translates into running down fly balls.

What about as a person? Are you more laid-back, or more intense?

I think I have an uncanny ability to relax. Although, my wife will get onto me about getting too intense or competitive during what should be friendly competition. When it comes to any form of competition it is tough for me to take it lightly.

One thing your scouting report at MILB.com says “If Henley were to try and hit for more power, I believe he could. But as a leadoff hitter, he has honed his skills to focus on putting the ball in play to all fields.” Are you ever tempted to alter your approach and start swinging for the fences?

I don’t think I have been tempted to try to hit more homeruns, because I’ve focused on being a good leadoff hitter. I think I will continue to do what has got me where I am until they tell me a change needs to be made.

In your opinion, what are some of the characteristics of a successful leadoff hitter?

I think the biggest asset a leadoff hitter has is his ability to get on base. That is something I struggled with at times last year because I was too aggressive, but something I am planning to work on this year. The other important aspect of a leadoff hitter is his ability to perform on the basepaths. Whether that means stealing bases or taking the extra base when the opportunity arises.

You’ve been compared to Lenny Dykstra by more than a few scouts. What does that mean to you?

It’s a huge compliment. Along with being a great baseball player he also played the game full tilt all the time. I would love to be known as someone who not only played the game well but also played it hard and right.

There are a lot of good outfield prospects in the Cardinal system right now-Colby Rasmus, Daryl Jones Jon Jay.. Does that put any extra pressure on you to go out there and perform?

Not really, because I can’t control what those guys do. All I can control is how I play so the only pressure I’ll put on myself will be based on my own goals and expectations.

What do you feel you gained from playing three years at the Rice program?

I think I gained a lot of hands on coaching in all aspects of the game. Hands on coaching was extremely important for me because I had not played a whole bunch of baseball during my high school summers. While most baseball players were playing baseball I was getting ready for the football season. Perhaps even more important than the baseball side of my time at Rice I gained a lot of real life knowledge and experience that is invaluable for my baseball career and relationships.

What is it about Rice recruiting football players to play baseball? You and teammate Aaron Luna both were very successful running backs back in your high school days back in Texas.

I know the Rice coaches like to have former football players on their baseball team because they like guys with a football mentality. They like the mental and physical toughness that typically comes with a former football player.

While we’re on football, just for fun, give me your prediction:  Who wins the Super Bowl?

It’s a good thing I’m not a gambling man because I would have picked the Eagles and the Ravens to be playing in this game. And since I did such a poor job of predicting the conference championships I’m hesitant to make any guess on the Super Bowl, but I will say that I will be pulling for the Cardinals. I think it would make a great story if they were able to pull it out and they also have a pretty cool mascot.

What has been the baseball life story of Chris Swauger?

I started playing baseball when I was 4 years old. My step-dad, Jim Parrish, got me started and coached me until high school. I played 4 years at Tampa Jesuit High School for Coach John Crumbley, making it to two State Finals. I accepted a scholarship to play at the Citadel and played out my four years there. I was lucky enough to get selected by the Cardinals in the 26th round after my senior year and played my first summer of professional baseball in Batavia.

Why did you choose to go to The Citadel?

I chose the Citadel because I felt going there gave me the best chance to succeed in baseball and life. I earned an academic scholarship that covered all my expenses, which pretty much made my decision for me. In hindsight, it was the best decision I could have ever made. While it was not always the greatest place to be at because of the military aspect of the school, it has become a great place to be from. The intangible lessons I learned there were as valuable as the classes I took. Another big reason I went to The Citadel was the chance to play as a freshman. From the day I stepped (or marched) on campus I was a starter and it stayed that way until the last game I played. No other school promised me that kind of opportunity. I’m glad I took that opportunity.

Congrats on winning the NY-Penn League championship. What was that experience like for you?

Winning the NYPL championship was by far the best experience I’ve had in 18 years playing baseball. In little league, high school, and college I was fortunate to play for many championships however my teams never could win one. Being so close so many times makes finally winning a championship that much sweeter. This team (Batavia) was as close as any I have ever been on which is strange considering the nature of professional baseball. It was a pleasure coming to the field everyday and working and playing with the players and coaches on the Muckdogs. Since I was a kid, I dreamed of dog-piling on the mound and celebrating in the locker room like you see on TV. To be a part of something like that was almost surreal and it is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life.

You started slow but your numbers improved dramatically as the season went on. Is there anything to which you would attribute the gains you made?

I just worked as hard as I possibly could everyday. Working with Jeff Albert, our hitting coach, I made some adjustments to my swing and when I got an opportunity my swing just clicked. It was hard to get in a rhythm at the beginning of the year because we had six outfielders and we were all splitting time. Later on in the year, I began to get comfortable with the wooden bat and my swing so my numbers improved. A lot of the credit has to go to my teammates getting on base ahead of me and putting me in position to be successful. As our team was successful later in the year, so was I.

What was your experience working with Jeff Albert like?

Jeff was the best hitting coach I have ever worked with for many reasons. He knew what he was talking about, having been a player and a background in bio-mechanics. But more than that, he took the time to learn my swing and work with me on improving it. Every day we would go to the cage and work to get my swing going for the game that night. He helped me with my approach to hitting and as we made adjustments my swing and production got better. I give him the credit for making me the hitter I am because I learned more from him than from any other coach I have ever worked with.

How would you describe your hitting mechanics?

My hitting mechanics are very simple now that I have worked with Jeff. I keep my hands loose and start from a comfortable position with my entire body. I have a slight leg kick which works as my timing mechanism. Once my foot hits the ground (the ball is being released at this time) my weight is slightly shifted to my front leg, which helps me stay closed as my hips and shoulders begin to rotate. As I rotate my hips and shoulders my hands stay cocked. My head stays still so I can see the ball and recognize the pitch, its speed, and location. Finally, in the split second I have to decide to swing, my hands release last and I try to finish my swing high to produce line drives. This is my ideal hitting sequence but honestly it doesn’t always happen the way I plan.

Baseball America recently graded the Cardinals draft and noted that you along with Brett Wallace have the best power in the draft. Do you consider yourself a power hitter?

I have never considered myself a power hitter. I try to hit line drives and sometimes they carry out. If you watched me take batting practice you would never think I was a power hitter because I just try to hit the ball hard and most of the time I work to hit it to the opposite field (left-field for me). I have had pretty good power numbers throughout college and my first pro season but I still don’t consider myself a guy who swings for the fences. I just try to hit the ball hard.

What part of your game you would like to improve upon most?

I would like to improve every aspect of my game. I feel like in this game you don’t stay the same, you either get better or worse. If I had to pick one area, I would say defense. My strength in this game is my ability to hit but I feel like if I could improve on my defensive skills I would be a more complete player. I am definitely working to improve them and will continue to do so, but if I could magically make myself better in one area that would be the one. I say that because some days it is tough to be a hitter, but I can be a good defender everyday no matter what.

I know it’s pretty early in your career, but who is the toughest pitcher you’ve ever faced, including minors and college?

It’s hard to say because I have faced so many new pitchers. Some of them have owned me and others I have had success against. I think the best pitchers are the ones who can get you out even after you have seen them a few times in different games. The one pitcher who was able to get me out consistently during my college career was a right-hander from Elon named Steven Hensley. He was a 4th round pick for the Seattle Mariners this year, and I faced him four separate times in college, none of which I had any success against him. He threw four pitches for strikes, a four-seam, a two-seam, a change-up, and a slider. He mixed his pitches well and was not afraid to throw any of them in any count. He was also a fierce competitor and I have more respect for him as any pitcher I have ever faced. I hope I get to face him again sometime in my career, because I love to compete and would enjoy the challenge of facing him.

Growing up, who were your favorite players to watch?

My favorite players to watch were Tony Gwynn and Chipper Jones. I liked Gwynn because he was such a good hitter and made it look so easy. I liked Chipper because growing up in Tampa the closest team to me was the Braves and we used to get all the games on TV. He was their best player and so he kind of became my favorite.

Anything you’d like to tell us about Chris Swauger, the person?

I’m just happy to be a player. It’s been my dream for my whole life and I want to say thank you to everyone who reads your blog/website for supporting me. Go Cardinals!

Justin Fiske has enjoyed quite a rise in his stock this past season. After having his contract purchased from the independent league Joliet Jackhammers just a little over a year ago, Fiske to now pitching in the Arizona Fall League, which is considered to be the “finishing school” for a professional club’s top prospects. During the regular season, Justin pitched in relief for the Quad Cities and Palm Beach and was moved to starting for AA Springfield. Cumulatively he averaged over a strikeout per inning and posted a 3.20 FIP, impressive for someone who throws a mid-eighties fastball. He has only thrown two innings so far in the AFL due to a sore shoulder, but has kept busy with a number of baseball activities, including a little blogging on the side. Justin kindly agreed to answer some of my questions during his down time.

Is Justin Fiske your stereotypical off-the-wall left-hander?

I like to think I’m pretty normal. I would have to say that I do some goofy or off-the-wall things sometimes, but over all I’m just a laid back and easy going guy who loves the game of baseball. I do have a few superstitions but nothing too crazy. For example, I always jump over the white line. Simple things like that, but I don’t have very many.

Is pitching simple, or is it complicated?

To me, pitching is both. Pitching is an art at times. Just like anything else you can feel great about what you are doing on the mound and then all of a sudden you hit a wall and can’t get guys out. I think sometimes people make it more difficult than it has to be. There is definitely a difference between being prepared to perform and face hitters, and over thinking and trying too hard to pitch to a hitter’s weaknesses. The idea behind pitching is what seems to be simple. From an outside view it’s just getting the sign from the catcher and then throwing that pitch. A lot more goes into each pitch than what the average fan sees. Usually hitters will tell you what they are looking for or what they are gearing up to hit. So it’s the job of the pitcher and catcher to work together and see these things and pitch accordingly.

What does the term “pitch to contact” mean to you?

Pitching to contact is more like pitching in a way that you get the hitter to make “weak” contact. If you just throw the ball up there to get contact, you won’t be in the game long. Hitters will take advantage of those pitches. To get weak contact, a pitcher simply wants to throw a lot of strikes low in the zone. By keeping the ball down you force the batter to hit balls into the ground resulting in a lot of ground outs. When you pitch to contact in that way, you can certainly help yourself out by keeping your pitch count low and keeping the pace of the game up.

How would you describe your pitching style? Give us a little scouting report on yourself.

I would definitely say I am a backwards pitcher. Most people pitch off there fastball where as I pitch off my change up. My change up is my best pitch so I’ll use it to get ahead in the count and even to strike guys out. My fastball does come in handy when hitters are looking for my change up. Running a fastball up and in will get them off my change up. Sometimes I’ll even get swing and misses on those pitches. Not many hitters go up to the plate looking forward to hitting an off speed pitch. So when they see a fastball they like to jump on it. Because I don’t throw very hard, my off speed pitches are my go to pitches. That allows me to use my fastball more effectively.

How different is starting from relieving? Do you prefer starting?

Starting and relieving are very different. To be honest, I really like both roles. When I’m a starter, I have a set schedule during the week to get myself prepared of the next game I throw in. It also gives me 4 days in between starts to fine tune a pitch that I have been struggling with. As a reliever, you have to be ready everyday. There are situations during every game that the manager may want you in so you have to be prepared for that. Because relievers have to be ready everyday, they aren’t able to work as much outside of the game on pitches. But, because they throw more often, losing control of a pitch doesn’t happen as easily. Also as a reliever, there are some intense situations that I may be put into, and personally I love pitching in those situations.

Prior to the season, did you see yourself moving up the ladder as quickly as you have with the Cardinals, going from Low A all the way to AA and now to the Arizona Fall League?

Certainly there was no way for me to expect this to happen this year. This was my first full season in pro ball and I was just excited to make a full season team. When I got the promotion to Palm Beach I had reached my goal for the season. If it weren’t for the injuries that we had throughout the system, I don’t know if I would have had the opportunity that I got this year. But when I did get the call up to AA, I wanted to stick. I just thought to myself, “It’s the same game, just different hitters.” That seemed to help me be confident that I could still throw my game and be successful.

What is your experience been like working with Bryan Eversgerd?

It was a great experience because he too was a lefty pitcher. He helped me tremendously with the sinker that I was trying to develop. He was also able to give me a ton of insight on what to expect as I continue to play this game. He was a great pitching coach because he would tell you when you’re doing good, but at the same time he would point out what needed to be worked on. It’s always a great opportunity to get advise from people who have made it to the big leagues and who have seen what it takes to stay there.

With an obvious need for left-handed relief for the big league club, do you see this fall league as an opportunity for you to garner some attention?

I think everyone who is a Cardinals fan knows about the lefty problem we have. I certainly see it as the biggest opportunity I’ve received since becoming a cardinal. Being out here in Arizona with 2 other lefties means I’ve still got to perform to get the job. I’m not going to assume what they have in store for us, but I would be dumb to think I can just sit back and relax because I was chosen to pitch in the AFL.

Having played in Davenport, what was your experience with the flooding this year?

That was certainly a once in a life time event for me. We had to walk through the water and get our equipment out to play the next 3 games at other parks. The craziest thing about it is it was snowing on our way out. So imagine walking through flood water and getting hit with snow at the same time. I never knew that was possible. Sure it was an inconvenience, but we certainly didn’t have it as bad as those people who had to worry about their houses flooding. I was there only for the first flood so I don’t know how bad the second one was. I heard it was pretty bad as well.