Future Redbirds

erik’s got the Daily Prospect Report below.  He’s also got a great poll posted in the righthand sidebar. [update AZ 2:28 - Dognnt is winning in the poll currently.  Also, for the person who voted other. . .you kinda have to comment on who the other person is.  There isn't actually a baseball player in the Cardinals system called Other.  Although, uses for a player named Other are now springing from my head like Athena from Zues.  (Learn your Greek mythology, kids.)]  [2nd update AZ 2:30 - Upon further inspection of the poll, I'm curious where the textbox below other goes.  It appears to suck your text down into a vortex of nothingness in the internet and not post it anywhere.  Polldaddy, that's pretty effin lame.]  erik’s always thinking about you readers — check out the prospect tracker link he added at the top of the site.  Here’s what I found interesting in my monday morning meanderings of the baseball prospect internet world. 

Remember the Sizemore comparison without the defense.  Read this – I know it’s an isolated incident, but I think Colby will be at least average in CF. 

Here’s a Baseball America write up on Mike Stutes’ (repeat) National Champion Oregon State team. Congratulations Mike!  Hope you bring your A-game to Redbird nation (once you sign).  

erik referred you to the article that included Pete Kozma but let me refer you to the latest Carlos Gomez article (we can commiserate over what the Cardinals could have picked and be thankful about what they didn’t pick).  Gomez is open to suggestions for reviews in the next couple of articles and his e-mail is at the end of the Hardball Times article.  Couple things I notice from the videos:

22: I keep watching that video of Tim Alderson from the front and everytime I watch it, I expect the ball to be coming out of a high-3/4 slot (a little more over the top) rather than the lower slot that he’s using.  I’m not sure what it is about his arm level that keeps deceiving me but I actually try to place the tip of my pen where I expect the ball to be released from and it took me 5-6 times to get it right. 

23: I didn’t like Schmidt on draft day.  Still don’t like him.

27: [AZ is weeping silently in his cubicle]

28: As much as I didn’t like Schmidt, I would rank Revere as easily the worst pick in the first round.  Watch the swing that Carlos has posted in his article before you read what he has to say.  Just ask yourself if that looks like a good swing.  He has zero ability to transfer his inertia in the lower half of his body.  I hate the way that he plants his front foot and seems to almost lock that front knee while pushing himself taller on it.  That’s not the most articulate description of Revere’s swing but if you thought Kozma had an ugly swing, Revere’s is worse in my opinion.

29: Look at Fairley compared to Revere. Not only does he have better hand/wrist action but watch the weight transfer.  I’m not that high on Fairley. . .but after watching his swing again, I’m more impressed.

30: Brackman’s ‘tall and fall’ mechanics don’t bother me as much as they do Carlos, but I wish he’d keep that left shoulder closed longer.  His right shoulder looks like its under tremendous strain.  Just one more frame before he opens his shoulder and I think he’d be better off for it.

Again, fantastic work by Carlos.  Rob Neyer called him the “most important baseball writer on the Internet” and while I certainly make no claim to be even worthy of standing in Neyer’s midst, I’ll echo those sentiments after another incredibly interesting article.