Future Redbirds

Sorry to interrupt the regular scheduled programming. Just a couple of items I wanted to cover quickly today. You may have noticed the ‘Marti Watch’ on the the left side of the site. I’ll be tracking Marti’s progress in the Mexican League all season, and will try to have it updated weekly. Chris Kline of Baseball America is of the opinion that the move to the Mexican League does not bode well for Marti’s future as a big leaguer:

Cuban defector Cazana-Marti was the club’s 18th-round pick last year. Marti first played independent ball when he arrived in the States, then left to become eligible for the draft. The Cardinals claimed at the time the Cuban defector was 28 years old, though records from the Cuban League show he was actually 32. St. Louis showed they wanted him on the fast track last season, sending Cazana-Marti to the Arizona Fall League, but putting a player on loan to the Mexican League doesn’t usually bode well for their future. Especially if the player is a 32-year-old who hasn’t played about Double-A.

And for the fast-forming cult of Jose Martinez, here’s a blurb from Chris Constancio at THT on why he likes him as a sleeper:

Martinez was largely overlooked last year despite striking out in fewer than 8% of his plate appearances at Class-A Quad Cities. Most players with that kind of contact rate are one-dimensional singles hitters, but Martinez drove 30 extra-base hits including eight home runs last year. The strong defensive infielder doesn’t possess the raw power to become more than an average power threat in the upper minor leagues, and he will certainly have a hard time hitting many home runs at Palm Beach of the Florida State League this year. But his exceptional ability to make good contact could lead to some well-deserved attention in the near future.

So far Martinez has a .500 (!) GPA. If there is a red flag, it’s that he still hasn’t drawn a walk in 25 plate appearances.

One last thing, and I don’t know how I missed this, but you have to head to Fritz’s blog to see the Adventures of Time Traveling Juan Encarnacion right now.

Back to your regularly scheduled prospect report from Azruavatar, which is still in progress.