First off, as noted in yesterday’s comments, the Dyar Miller story was broke by Joe Strauss 5 days earlier. Jim Masilik (what where you doing for 5 days???) made it sound like it was Luhnow’s prerogative in making the move but I could be misreading the piece from the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Next, Baseball Prospectus prospect maven Bryan Smith had a chat today. Here’s some Cardinal related tidbits:
Alex (Benton Harbor, Mi.): Thanks for chatting, Bryan. The StL Cards AA team got tons of double plays and very few errors from its keystone combo, Jose Martinez & Jarrett Hoffpauir. Considering how solid-to-outstanding their bats were in ‘07, do they now realistically project as MLB starters in a couple years?
Bryan Smith: I like Hoffpauir some as a guy who could jump in next season if Kennedy continues to not play well. Martinez has solid defense and good contact skills, but he’s a fringe bench guy still.
Me too, Bryan. Martinez seems like Aaron Miles with a touch more pop. Someone that could have some decent years but not someone that you want to hand more than ~200ABs to in the most desperate of circumstances. I like Hoffpauir — alot. Good answer Bryan, I approve.
Justin (Oakville): Who is in the cardinals system right now that’s going to be a major leaguer? Whats the ceiling on Chris Perez? The control issues scare me, but he seems to be the definition of “unhittable”.
Bryan Smith: Yeah, the Cardinals have plenty of guys. Colby Rasmus will be their center fielder soon, Bryan Anderson should be their starting catcher. They have some interesting pitching prospects in Adam Ottavino, Tyler Herron and Clay Mortensen. Pete Kozma should be, down the line, in their infield. Perez is, I bet, going to be one heck of a set-up man or closer for them given his nasty two-pitch combo.
I’ve exchanged a couple e-mails re: Perez with Bryan a while back and he was inclined to label him a setup man rather than a closer. As much as I hate his walk rate, I think Perez has the pure stuff to be a closer if he can learn to command it better. For a draft pick that I vehemently detested, Mortensen continues to get good press. O ya, I hear that Rasmus kid is OK.
- Poor Scottsdale has lost all 9 of their games thus far.
- Mark Hamilton went 0-for-3 with a walk.
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Mortensen is an odd one for you Az. From what I gather you didn’t hate him just how high he was picked, probably the same with Kozma. Assuming Koz would fall to where we got Mort but Mort wouldn’t fall to our next pick how does Porcello + Kozma compare to Kozma + Mort? So while Mort is well worth having in the system and could turn out wonderfully was he really better then Porcello? (I might have spelled the other name wrong but you know who I mean)
Porcello remains the better talent definitely but I might have just completely missed on Mortenson. I thought he was a reach at #36 (and still do) but I really didn’t think he was going to be any good at all. Right now I’m trying to reconcile that initial reaction with what I’ve read. Can’t be right all the time I guess.
The originator of the first question makes it sound like Hoff and MArtixez were turnng double plays together. I’m not sure if Martinez what brought up to actually replace Hoff but they certainly spent almost no time on the diamond together since Hoff went to Memphis at the time MArtinez came to Springfield.
I think Martinez has more potential than you are giving him credit for. He appears to be still improving. I think his current ceiling is higher than Miles but of course that doesn’t mean he’ll get there.
I like Martinez quite a bit, I think his upside could be Placido Polanco, with more power. But that is some wishful thinking on my end. I’ve been hearing from BA now Smith that he’s more of a future utility IF, if so then color me disappointed, at least a little.
he’s still fairly young.. I wonder why they’re projecting his ceiling there. Is it the lack of power? Does he “suffer” from doing most things well but not excelling at anything in particular?
To me Martinez is more than a utility player. I see him as becoming an everday SS. Heck look around at the SS on the 32 teams-having a guy hit .275 with 25 doubles 10 homers and average to slightly above average defense puts you in the higher tier of SS. I wouldn’t be shocked if Martinez could put out an average similar to that. Heck every year someone signs Royce Clayton to be their SS. I am very intrigued to see what people say about the guy when he puts up another really good year.
I think Martinez was initially overlooked a prospect but then he started garnering too much attention. He’s a contact hitter dependent on his batting average. There are questions remaining about his ability to handle SS defensively. He slugged .472 this past year but because his OBP was so low (.337) despite hitting over .300 his wOBA was just average — .347.
He’s still got room for projection and could turn into an everyday player but I think it’s more likely he’s a bench player.
I’ve got a friend teaching in Caracas this semester. He’s going to attend the games when Aragua visits and send me some observations on Martinez.
I’ll pass on anything I get to youse.
Liam- that is awesome.
FYI according to scout.com, Martinez has been getting work at 2B in the winter league. That could be a useful skill to have in the near future…