On Tuesday, the St. Louis Cardinals announced the signing of 29-year-old infielder Joe Thurston to a minor league contract and invited him to their 2009 major league spring training camp.
Thurston spent the 2008 season in the Boston Red Sox organization, the majority at Triple-A Pawtucket. The second baseman led the International League with 160 hits and ranked third in batting with a .316 batting average. It was the second straight season that his batting average eclipsed .300.
Thurston is currently playing winter ball for Ponce in Puerto Rico and is batting .298 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 104 at-bats. The left-handed hitter has appeared in just 59 major league games in his ten-year professional career and owns a .227 (15-for-66) batting average.
The Dodgers’ fourth-round draft pick in 1999 used to be a top prospect way back when. Then known as “Joey Ballgame”, Thurston was ranked as the #5 Dodgers prospect by Baseball America in 2003 and was being touted before the season as a Rookie of the Year candidate. Instead, he gradually played his way into becoming the non-prospect he is today.
Thurston has seen MLB action for the Dodgers (2002-2004), Phillies (2006) and Red Sox (2008) and played in the Yankees system in 2005. Thurston appeared in three games for the Red Sox from April 18-21 last season after having his contract purchased on April 16.
Walton’s take: I don’t get it. I thought the Cardinals were done with this type of minor league veteran fill-in signings for Memphis. Thurston is primarily a second baseman and can play shortstop and outfield.
Memphis already has Brian Barden, Tyler Greene, Jarrett Hoffpauir and Jose Martinez up the middle, with the first three already on the 40-man roster. And we already know how crowded the outfield is at the top of the system, even before we might see Allen Craig and/or David Freese out there for the Redbirds.
Bottom line, this seems like a wasted signing. If Thurston sticks with Memphis, he will just take away at-bats from legitimate prospects with little chance of a call-up. Think of it as the 2009 version of D’Angelo Jimenez without the MLB track record.
This one is a bit odd to me as well.
Though he did have some pretty impressive numbers last year in AAA for a second baseman. .868 OPS, 64 RBI, 83 R, 19 SBs in 126 games. Not too shabby.
Maybe we’re hoping for another diamond in the rough?
Then why are the Cards carrying six middle infielders on their 40-man roster even after Miles left? Seems more of the quantity over quality line of thinking to me… Or maybe Thurston will finally put it together at age 30. Not holding my breath over that.
Ryan Ludwick was too old. Ditto Randy Flores when signed as a minor league free agent. And Reyes the reliever, who moved on to Tampa. Thurston is similar.
Unlike Hoffpauir or Barden or Brendan Ryan, Thurston is a lefty swinger. Aaron Miles did not get arbitration. Thurston could backfill Miles.
Or he could get promoted in the event of an injury to Adam Kennedy. We need the depth.
TLR once said he wished Bo Hart could switch-hit. This was not a useful comment from Bo’s viewpoint, but it illustrates something about 2Bmen. They can use an added edge, like swinging lefty or base-stealing. Love this signing.
If I’m Thurston, this is an ideal situation. For the Cards, it doesn’t hurt anything. He was in the PR playing – maybe Oquendo saw something he liked. Don’t assume he’ll be in Memphis if he doesn’t make the big league club. It could be a “amke the big club or go home” deal.
I buy there are outlier late bloomers out there, but I beg to differ on Ludwick. His problem was injury. When he signed with StL, he was 28 and had under 2700 minor league ABs. Thurston is 29 and has about 4700 minor league ABs already. The Cards are his fifth organization, so he’s had the opportunities to bloom.
If it was a make the team or go home deal, I would be fine. But that is what I hoped about D’Angelo and he soaked up over 300 ABs in Memphis this season, undoubtedly providing “veteran leadership” the entire way.
Welcome, CC!
He hasn’t ever really had a down year in the minors except maybe 2001.
He’s gotten little major league experience.
It may be that he’s always been blocked. It’s odd, when you look at the numbers he’s put up, that he’s never gotten more than 18 ABs at the major league level.
I say give him a shot to make the club.
Or perhaps there’s a trade in the works that we don’t know about.
Just spitballing.
AAA has guys who could step into the majors, if given enough at bats to get their bearings.
Cards have analysts who can comb through all the free agents. What did they find? A guy who can hit fine, a 45th rounder who has never gotten much chance in the majors. If needed, Thurston could step up. Rather have him than D’Angelo Jimenez.
Rico Washington was a lefty swinger stuck at AA. The Cards gave him a chance to play AAA. Maybe Thurston can backfill Miles. He can at least give depth at AAA.
Perhaps I know too much for my own good. I recall the Dodgers trading Grudz prior to the 2003 season to make room for Thurston and Alex Cora to battle it out. He was really a big deal back then, having been the Dodgers Minor League Player of the Year in both 2001 and 2002. But he laid an egg offensively and defensively in 2003 camp and I think that was the end of his chances in LA. Can’t say about the Yanks, Phils and Red Sox.
Thurston was a 4th rounder.
Maybe he’s corrected some things since then.
Or maybe I’m just too optimistic
Guess I’d just rather see organizational guys like Greene (Tyler) get spring ABs instead of known quantities like Thurston. Perhaps on a TLR team, this is the kind of guy desired, though.
Organizational depth to replace D’Angelo Jimenez and Rico Washington. Not a bad guy to have at Memphis.
I think, unfortunately, Greene still has a lot to prove.
I guess both Greenes do!
Good point.
No move at the Break in July because that Cards didn’t want to trade away their future>>
And what a future it is. If he is better than all of their prospects, we better move to a different dumpster.
I just noticed Joe’s picture. Last year is was rule 5 Barton. Does this move show something about managements sensibilities. If Joe should end up to be the new utility player, considering MANY variables, wouldn’t anyone see a pattern here. I HATE to seem cynical, so will someone please track the evolution of this move to see if it does serve more than one function. If he walks over others to get that job, and he is our only African American on the roster, tell me Mo was think baseball and not marketing. I hope he is great player and leads us to the series, regardless of politics.
I think it’s pretty crazy to even mention that.
I agree Koth. This whole thing seems headed for a contest of sensibilities. The Cards keep making moves that, if I were a head scratcher, might leave me bald. I hope your view of manaement hold up. I did notice that we didn’t try the rule play this year.
i think jiminez comparison is spot on…we tend to like an extra vet type to go at AAA just in case, i know it can take some play away from the kids, but depth isnt terrible
Jumbo, when you said “backfill Miles”, what did you mean? I sure hope a guy stuck in Triple-A for seven seasons and counting isn’t being considered to be Miles’ replacement. As in a semi-starter getting 400 major league at-bats per season.
If so, I might have have to consider hopping a ride on the “cheapsters” bandwagon.
I tend to view this equal to if we had taken someone in the Rule 5 draft. It’s a flyer. A rule 5 guy has the advantage of upside but the downside of no minor league possibility.
There are 6 middle infield roster slots for the Cards and Memphis. In StL, the starters are K. Greene and Kennedy. The backup job has been Aaron Miles for the past 3 years, but Aaron is a free agent and the Cards may not want to retain him on cost grounds. Candidates for the backup ML job (the Miles job) are B. Ryan, B. Barden, and now Thurston.
At Memphis, the SS will be T. Greene and the 2bman Hoffpauir. One of the losers of the ML competition can become backup at Memphis.
Teams need a certain amount of depth. Maybe the Cards want at least 7 guys to staff up 6 positions, to allow for injuries. The 7 would be Greene, Kennedy, Ryan, Barden, Thurston, the other Greene, and Hoffpauir.
T. Greene is likely earmarked for Memphis, because he needs to play everyday and needs 400 more AAA at bats to allow an assessment of whether he can be a ML candidate.
That means two things. First, along with Greene, Thurston is the big MIF addition for the team this winter and second, you leave Jose Martinez in Double-A.
If you have seven guys, they still need roster spots unless you plan to DL someone all the time. Don’t know for sure, but Thurston probably has no options remaining. I know Ryan doesn’t. So some of that perceived flexibility isn’t there.
I see it as Miles is gone, and he’s part of the competition for the backup middle infield job.
Of course, Thurston on a minor league deal doesn’t need an option to start the year in Memphis. In that regard he provides more flexibility than Ryan. Of course if Ryan doesn’t make the major league roster he would probably pass through waivers allowing him to be sent down.
Its hard to handicap the backup infielder role. Ryan has the advantages of some experience in the majors and being a SS by trade. Barden has the advantage of more pop and would be a good backup at 3rd. Thurston’s plus is he swings lefty; how well he can handle handle SS will be important for his chances. Three guys competing for one backup role. It adds a little intensity for the spring training camp and we are protected against an injury. You never know when something weird will happen (who foresaw Spiezio’s problem?).
Back in 2006, Miles was riff-raff to be assigned to Memphis, many thought. But Spivey fell apart and Miles ended up making a valuable 3 year run in StL. It may be wise not to underestimate Thurston. Sometimes the difference between AAA and the Bigs is just being given a chance.