Comments on: Texas League Top 20

By: azruavatar

azruavatar — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:53:58 +0000

I think Martinez is over-rated among Cardinal prospects. He’s Aaron Miles with a little extra pop and a touch better defensively. He’s extremely dependent on his AVG.

By: cariocacardinal

cariocacardinal — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:58:20 +0000

We easily (and maybe should have had) 3 more on the list. Martinez had a full 0.50 OPS over Sean Rodriguez who made the list at the same position and is a Martinez is a year younger. Hoffpauir had a full .070 OPS advantage over Antonnelli and Duran at the same positions (Hoff even played more games at AA than Antonelli ) The only thing in their favor is Antonneli is 2 years younger and Geer is one year younger. Walters pitched better than at least 3 of the RH pitchers on the list at the same age or younger.

By: erik

erik — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 03:13:42 +0000

No prob at all hugo. I wish i could post it, i really really do. At times i will quote stuff off of ba or bp, but if it’s subscriber only content then it’s actually stealing to post it.

By: Hugo

Hugo — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 02:05:28 +0000

Sorry for posting the q&a but I had seen it posted other places before didn’t know it was copyrighted since I just copied it from another forum. Anyway, game is underway in AFL:

Boggs starting, Hoff batting second at 2B, Mather 4th at DH.

By: fewgoodcards

fewgoodcards — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 01:51:56 +0000

i think so, if someone would have told me at this point last year that anderson would skip high-A, go straight to springfield, and hit .300 i would have said wow what a season. well he did that, and people are thinking his prospect status has taken a hit? i think those people had unrealistic expectations.

if you think anderson had a bad year, jarrod saltalamacchia hit .230/.353/.380 in his first go round in AA last year and he was a year older and had a full season at high-A under his belt. he went out and hit .266/.310/.422 in the majors this year. anderson hit .298/.350/.380. i think he is right on pace.

By: whopperman

whopperman — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:59:15 +0000

Isn’t Anderson holding par in AA at his age after never having played above low-A improving?

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:20:44 +0000

I find it really exciting that the Cards listed 5 players in this league, regardless of how the fact that we may have expected a little more slugging from Anderson. The fact that we had by my count at least 3 players that could provide an arguement for being snubbed (Hoff, Martinez, Motte). To be honest I was shocked that Mather made the list (albeit 20) and Martinez did not. I really think that Martinez really stood out and at a premium position.

As for trading Duncan or Rick Ankiel and moving Rasmus to the lineup…I’m not so sure that is a good idea. Both Duncan and Ankiel could provide the Cards with 25-35 home run production for the next 6-8 years, with Ankiel providing above average defense and a crazy cannon that probably saves 20 or more runs a season (counting guys that don’t attempt to run home or advance that normally would). I would say keep both of them, unless the Cards sign a RH batting power hitter for either corner. Let Rasmus season another year in Memphis and once Edmonds contract/retirement hits then he gets the everyday job. Skip/Ludwick would be serviceable in the games Edmonds doesn’t play.

Garcia’s elbow concerns do worry me. I do think that how the Cards treat him next year will be indicative of how serious they may be. No organization is going to throw out their best starting pitching prospect if they have any inclination that his elbow could be a major issue. I think they may have just played it overly cautious this past season as to he was succeeding at a level higher than his age group anyway. If the minor league seasons start and he isn’t pitching I think that will be a huge red flag.

Anderson’s struggles at Springfield are not that concerning to me. As previously mentioned he did make a big jump and was one of the youngest players at AA. Most players don’t develop their gap power until 23-24, not all players are Pujols or Rasmus. Anderson will develop that power just by his stroke and ability to get the bat through the zone. My feeling is that he will slugg considerably better next year at AA. His defense is the caveot that will keep him blocked by Molina. Unless he develops into a .300 avg and 15 HR guy I don’t see how you can move him ahead of the best defensive catcher in all of baseball (who is still REALLY young too). I think the likelihood of him remaining a Cardinal is slim as he most likely will end up being traded for pitching, unless Mortenson, Garcia, Herron, Ottavino end up being MLB ready quickly.

By: azruavatar

azruavatar — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 22:04:47 +0000

You want to see improvement from prospects. At best, Anderson held par this year offensively. His numbers are down across the board. I’m fully aware that he skipped a level but he didn’t even improve over the course of the year from month to month.

By: fewgoodcards

fewgoodcards — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:54:58 +0000

i didn’t mean that he had a great year, but you talked about how he went from a pitching park to a hitting park and his numbers went down without even mentioning the fact that he skipped a level. do you not think that is a factor?

By: azruavatar

azruavatar — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:51:47 +0000

I’m still high on Anderson. I still think he’s going to be better than Molina in the very near future but his numbers weren’t anything to shout about. Yes, he’s still very young and I recognize that catching takes a huge toll.

I didn’t mean to imply that I’m not an Anderson fan/believer but his season was pretty unspectacular imo.