Future Redbirds

It’s been a little while, so I thought now would be as good a time as any to take a look at what some of the Cardinal affiliates in the Dominican and Venezuela are doing.

Before I do that, Scout.com has the scoop on the Cardinals July 2 international free agent signings.

…the Cardinals have signed ten players to 2008 contracts, have offers pending to several others and expect to land at least one more top prospect before the end of this signing period.

While bonus amounts were not divulged, Luhnow was quick to point out the Cardinals should be considered serious players in this process. “We made offers on several players that received top bonus amounts, including three players that ultimately signed with other teams. In all three cases, we were either the highest or the second highest bidder,” he said.

To cement the point, Luhnow closed with a general statement to reaffirm the organization’s commitment to remaining competitive in the July 2nd process. “We invested more money in Latin America this year than any year in the past.” It is worth noting this statement was made even prior to knowing if this year’s signings are complete.

That’s great news to see they are using their resources to pull from more of a wide pool. Romulo Ruiz and Frederick Parejo are a couple of the free agents signed from last year, they are the youngest players on the GCL Cardinals right now.

In a tough division, the DSL Cards are 20-19, 5 games back from the lead. As a team, they have a .222 batting average and are near the bottom of the pile in slugging %, with .274. Zounds. And I won’t get into their pitching, it’s pretty near the bottom of the pile in categories like K’s, ERA, and near the top in walks allowed.

19 year old SS Juan Mosquera is leading the league with a…get this….497 OBP. He’s walked 41 times, for a rate of 27.5% of his plate appearances. He only has 3 extra base hits in 108 at bats, though.

19 year old CF Edwin Gomez is leading the team in slugging % .431 and OPS .878. He also has a nifty .446 OBP.

19 year old RHP Angel Tapia RHP leads the team in K’s with 36 in 40 IP. He has a 2:1 K/BB ratio and a 2.00 ground out to fly out ratio. Opponents are hitting .211 against him.

19 year old RHP Arquimedes Nieto has the best name on the squad, and also has shown the best control with allowing only 6 walks in 32.2 IP. He has a 5:1 K/BB ratio.

It’s a pretty grizzly team, with few bright spots. The team record is 17-40, 2nd last in the league. As a team they have hit only 7 homers and a collective .284 slugging percentage. Their .225 team batting average and .617 OPS is dead last in the league.

17 year old RHP Richard Castillo is still the man, leading the league in ERA 1.20 and is 4th in WHIP with .93. He has 51 K’s in 52.2 innings.

On the offensive side, there’s not much to see. 18 year old lefty “third baseman” Kleininger Teran (of moniker madness fame) leads the team with a .763 OPS. He has a 16.8% walk rate and 40 walks to 30 K’s, which is nice and all. But he also has 26 errors in 57 games.