I have to think the Cardinals could have surpassed the Cubs offer for Rich Harden and still not lost any of their top four or five prospects. I’m not saying necessarily that they should have; Harden is a ticking time bomb. I just hope Mo doesn’t feel any extra pressure to do anything crazy. Anderson for AJ Burnett would be a trade I could probably live with, but like Harden, Burnett is injury prone. I believe JP Ricciardi would jump all over that, considering they’ve had a revolving door at the C position for a while now.
Derrick Goold says Jeff Luhnow still believes there a chance the Cardinals can get Venezuelan OF Yorman Rodriguez. It’s been rumored he’s already agreed to sign with the Reds. What the Cardinals have done already this year in Latin America has already been outstanding…to add Yorman on top of that …that would be epic. Yorman can’t sign until he turns 16, which is next month. He’s drawn some comparisons to Carlos Beltran.
Chris Lambert scoffs at our earlier dismissals of him as a prospect. Scoffs, I say. In a little over 100 innings now, and Lambert has a sparkling 3.30 FIP for the Mudhens. The night before last he threw a 1 run-3 hit complete game.
The ever-insightful Larry Borowsky took us on his own tour of the farm, and it’s followed by some interesting conversation amongst VEB readers.
Only three teams played tonight in yet another abbreviated DFR.
Nick Stavinoha 3-for-4, 2 HR.
Cody Haerther 1-for-4, HR.
Mitch Boggs 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 4 K.
Jason Motte 1 perfect IP, no K.
Colby hasn’t played since the 1st due to a groin injury, but it’s considered minor. He’s not going to be put on the DL as far as I know. I think we’ve said this before, but we keep getting asked. We’ve been saying Nick Stavinoha needs to add something else to his repertoire, because he’s basically a one-trick pony. He responded well by blasting a couple of homers tonight. Now, if he could just draw more than 3 walks a month and we might have something. Cody Haerther was outrighted off of the 40 man roster. Once a well regarded prospect, it seems like his prospect days are officially over. Hello, Quad A.
Allen Craig 1-for-4, 2B, 2 K.
Mark Shorey 1-for-4, 2B.
Casey Rowlett 1-for-3, 3B.
Kyle Mura 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
Springfield was shut down by the A’s 2007 1st round pick James Simmons, who held them to just 2 hits over 8 innings. Simmons didn’t issue a walk and struck out 11. That’s, dare I say, Jess Todd like.
Palm Beach 2, Clearwater 3 Game 1, 8 innings.
Arnoldi Cruz 2-for-4, 2B.
Daryl Jones 2-for-4, CS.
Daniel Descalso 2-for-3, 2B.
Mark Diapoules 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 9 ground outs.
Kenny Maiques 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K.
Elvis Hernandez 1 IP, 0 H, 2 K.
Francisco Samuel 0.0, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB.
Daniel Descalso had himself a good game, which he was long overdue for. His double came in the extra 8th inning (they only play 7 innings in a doubleheader). Tyler Henley was going to bunt him over to 3rd but Clearwater’s P Matt German threw the ball away, allowing Descalso to score the go ahead run. Unfortunately, Samuel suffered a rare implosion.
Arnoldi Cruz 2-for-4, 2 2B.
Daryl Jones 2-for-4, 3B.
Daniel Nelson 2-for-3, 2B, K, BB.
Charlie Kingrey and Tyler Henley both 1-for-4, 2B.
Blake King 3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.
Casey Mulligan 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Davis Bilardello 2 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K.
Cruz has shown steady improvement every month, and now has a .938 OPS for the month of July. Daryl Jones is working hard at living up to the Curtis Granderson comparison, legging out his 4th triple. And I’m digging this crummy catcher turned reliever project so far.
Quad Cities and Batavia both had the night off. Johnson City was postponed. Due to that, it’s probably well past time for a GCL update.
Gary Daley has allowed 7 runs in 3 innings, with 8 walks. He has to have one of the worst cases of Ankielitis I have seen in a long time. Anthony Ferrara made his debut yesterday, throwing 1 inning with 2 K’s and a walk. Eric Fornataro has thrown only 4 innings and has allowed 1 unearned run on 1 hit and has 3 K’s. Ryde Rodriguez has a .288/.323/.356 line; I have to think he’d be hitting for more power if he were in JC. He has only 2 walks to 13 K’s in 59 at bats. Devin Shepherd has only 12 at bats and has 4 hits and a double. 8th rounder Michael Swinson is hitting .276/.344/.414 with 4 steals in 8 games. I have no idea who Yunier Castillo is, but he’s 19, plays SS, and has a .308/.349/.487 line. 19 year old C Ismael Cardona has a 1.269 OPS in all of 14 plate appearances, he’s bears mentioning because he hit .300/.392/.380 on a sorry VSL team last year.
Filed under: Daily Farm Reports
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
that would be unbelievable if they were able to sign yorman. now i don’t know if he is going to be any good, but it would show a commitment to player development i didn’t think they were willing to make.
I’m like you on Hardin. He may be a ticking time bomb, but he would have only been a rental, unless they decided to pick up his 2009 option for $7M. Considering the talent the Cubs used to get him, that option makes him look like a steal. I’m sure there’s a story in there some place, but that seems like the trade we should have made.
Glad to hear about Yorman, though.
Btw, I didn’t like the Lambert for Maroth deal when it happened and I certainly don’t today. Lambert may never make the big leagues, but that was a bad deal all around for the Cards, and, hopefully, one they can blame on Jocketty.
As for Lambert’s recent success, it’s worth nothing that his GB% is down. What that means is up for debate, but it would seem to give more ammunition to those who believe that someone is messing with our pitchers throwing process.
His BABIP was extremely high both years at Memphis as well
Randy Flores sighting…pitched tonight for Memphis, can’t stress enough how much only having Villone scares the you know what out of me!!!
Some people are short changing the value and upside of Sean Gallagher and the intelligence of Billy Beane and his talent evaluators
Its not a stretch for me to believe Gallagher will start more games and win more games over the next 3 years then Harden…all the while making a 1/20th the cost.
If Donaldson hits again, (.281 in June)..this is going to be one of those…..Billy Beane is robbing people blind again.
I do think this is a risk the Cubs had to take, been 100 years and they did a good job of protecting themselves with a reliable, durable and versatile Gaudin.
But I dont think Rich Harden stays healthy long enough to make an impact.
His shoulder has never been fixed..he is just going thru one of the good stretches of health…but it always flares up and it will again.
P’fork - are you saying Harden=Mulder and Gallagher=Haren?
My question on the Harden deal is why did the A’s make it now? I would have thought with Sabathia off the market that they could drive Harden’s price up as available talent gets thinner.
I truly hope that the Cardinals don’t make a similar move. I don’t want AJ Burnett or Bedard unless we get them without giving up one of our top 5 prospects - and that probably won’t happen.
I’m with you pickle but if it was me, the prize would be Patterson. A 2nd baseman who can hit well and is average defensively isn’t easy to find. If that let’s him flip Mark Ellis too you’ve got to think he could haul in a few more youngsters.
I keep waiting for Mura to fall apart because I’m unimpressed with the quality of his stuff but he’s pitched remarkably well this season. Groundballs, middling strikeout rate and very few walks. . .
Does everyone think that the international signings might be the start of trend in the Cardinals player development. It seems like we have developed a pretty conservative draft strategy/budget, but are opening the piggy bank on the international market. Is this a one time blip due to the talent in latin america or is it a trend we should expect year in and out…
Not to be all mysterious or weird, but I was told by one international agent that the Cardinals are in his top 5.
Six Memphis starters right now with Boggs, Parisi, Reyes, PJ, Mort, and Jaime. Which one gets moved?
Agreed, p’fork; when Oakland offers you a deal involving prospects for stars, walk, don’t run, the opposite direction.
Incidentally, I find it interesting that Stavinoha wasn’t showing up on the prospects lists in the previous thread. Do people really think that Jon Jay, etc., are going to be better?
Besides Gallagher, the Cubs only gave up spare parts of their farm system. Patterson hasn’t played much 2nd all year and is horrible defensively at 2nd base…he’ll be an OF. He and Murton are 4th OF’s that are a dime a dozen. The Cubs strongest aspect of their farm system is catching, so giving up Josh Donaldson was fairly easy for them to do. Soto is a rookie and will be a Cub for at least 5 more years, and a kid named Wellington Castillo is at AA and known for his defense - a la Yadi, but is handling the bat decently as well. This is a steal for the Cubs…giving up Gallagher and spare parts for Harden and Gaudin…wow.
I like Stavinoha probably more than most, but he is what he is which is a 4th or 5th OF that would be a decent DH. The comp that comes to mind for him with the bat for me is Millar. I could see Nick being capable of putting up a 280 10hr .780 OPS year in the bigs over a full season. It is also very realistic to say that he is fully blocked and will be further blocked next year. The chances of him putting on the birds on the bat uni again are very very slim. I am very happy for him to get a taste and a hit this year. Maybe somebody will come a calling and he can get traded to another team that could sees him as a solid PHitting option.
erik,
I’m assuming your guy didn’t think Yorman was already wrapped up and going to the Reds?
I would be happy with commitment. I know Pickle brought this up somewhere that unless you’re going to draft your SS from highschool you should focus on getting them from LA. It just seems like every year there is another stud SS coming out of the Dominican or Venezuala (Wilmer Flores anyone?).
I don’t mind the heavy college drafts, but it’s hard to find a stud SS out of college, and if you do he’s going in the top 5 picks and is going to cost you anyway. I say sign as many SS and pitching prospects as you can every year from Latin America, who knows, maybe the Cards end up with their own Hanley Ramirez.
I love lunhow’s comment at the end of the Birdland article.
I read that the Cards saved their money last year and put it into this years crop of players. So this probably wont happen next year to this scale but its great to see us have an interest outside of the states. Were catching up on that front to the premier teams in baseball.
I have seen speculated the reason the A’s traded Harden now, is b/c they arent sure he will be healthy by the July 31st deadline
He supposedly showed some loss of life and velocity in recent starts and this guy again, is pitching with an injured shoulder.
Its never been fixed, he has been on the DL 6 times in 6 season with only 45 starts since 2004
Its a great deal if he pitches..but where is the proof he will and if that is the case…the Cubs gave up way too much for a guy who in my mind..is less then 50/50 chance of making it thru the season.
Read the Jayson Stark article over at espn.com …that might change your mind on if the Cubs gave up nothing.
The Cubs didn’t give up nothing, and Billy Beane always does his homework, but it’s hard to believe that no one else in baseball would have beaten that offer for Harden. Getting Wainwright and Carpenter in August will be a huge boost for this team, but Burnett and Bedard are starting to look really good in their imaginary Cardinal uniforms. Oh baseball spirits grant Mo the wisdom to keep our brighter young’ns!
I read the Stark article and it didn’t change my mind… the article still mentions Murton as a 4th OF, I disagree that Patterson can be useful at 2nd base and I think he is nothing more than a 4th OF, and have been disappointed with Donaldson this year. I realize that Harden could break down tomorrow, but it’s still a heck of a deal to give up those players and get a potential ace and a great middle reliever in return… I think Gaudin makes this a steal for the Cubs because he’s a very useful middle relief guy that can also start without being a liability in the rotation. Anyways, we’ll see how it turns out…
Ryde Rodriguez also has something like 5 outfield assists already.
It didn’t come out this way in my previous posts, but what I’m saying is this…
The Cubs may have greatly improved their team, and what they gave up didn’t hurt their team because they gave up a 4/5 pitcher that is replaceable with Marshall/Hart/Lieber in case Harden gets hurt, 2 4th outfielders that are easily replaceable, and a low-A catcher when the team is set at catcher for the next 5-6 years.
Well I guess is how you look at it…I will give all the credit it to the Cubs if Harden makes it to October.
I dont think he will and Gallagher to me will pitch more games, more innings and compile more wins going forward then Harden.
For all of Harden’s stuff and name…he has never thrown 190IP in a season and has 6 DL stints and only 36 wins in 6 seasons.
What good is all of this, if he spend 75% of the time on the DL?
Arni Cruz seems to be coming to life. If those stats get a little better and the kid takes to catching we might have yet another top catching prospect.
About a month ago, I read a quote from Edmonds where he said Gallagher has Chris Carpenter-type stuff. If that’s the case, nice to see him traded.
The official Memphis website says that Hugo and Nick Webber have been released by the organization, and Scherer has been demoted to Springfield.
Ugh. I still can’t believe Webber was a 2nd round pick.