Jason Stidham was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth round of the Major League First-Year Player Draft earlier this month. There was apparently enough confidence in his signing that he was listed on a preliminary Batavia roster before the New York-Penn League season began.
But the expected announcement did not occur. It is coming, but a few days later than thought.
“Jason is signing today if he hasn’t already,” Mike Martin, Florida State University’s head baseball coach told the Talahassee Democrat on Wednesday. “The last couple of days I hadn’t gotten my hopes up that he might come back. I kind of figured he would sign.”
The second-team All-ACC infielder led FSU this season with 24 doubles. Stidham hit .363 and started all 63 games. The junior added 12 home runs for the FSU squad that had reached the NCAA super regionals before falling.
“The hard thing is replacing a player with his experience and a player who was a clutch guy for three years,” Martin said. “When you needed a big hit, Jason got it done. He was an outstanding leader.”
We have now risen to 39 of 50 draftees, 78 percent. About another 7 weeks to try to sign the remaining 11.
Stidham had a strong season hitting at an elite level of competition. The Cards indicated on draft tracker he may be tried at SS. Its hard to dislike his chances.
Well, there has been no formal announcement yet, but it would appear one is imminent. On the other hand, there has been no release from the Cardinals about Hernandez, either, though he is on their GCL roster. Perhaps they are batching up another group of signees for a press release.
They announced 32 and then 3. Lavingne, Hernandez, and Corrigan must be waiting for their press releases to appear.
[...] Cardinals’ 8th round pick to sign. [...]
Stidham goes straight to QC as an injury replacement.
Yes, he is the first member of the 2009 class to be assigned to full-season ball. Alex Castellanos went onto the DL in the corresponding transaction.
As always, the roster matrix has been updated.
Initial pro assignments can be murky to understand. Sometimes they depend not just on the guy, but on roster room. Since Stidham played for Florida State, he could be challenged with the Midwest League, as were Jay and Robinson, two other juniors, in 2006, with assignment to Quad Cities. Other early assignments to the Quad can be influenced by a guy being relatively advanced (college senior) or signing promptly.
Had Niko stuck with QC, Stidham would probably be at Batavia.
That seems plausible, Brian. The Cards may be flexible whether Stidham begins at QC or Batavia, so assigned him where there were at bats to be had.
There are 11 unsigned players among the 50 draftees. I would guess about 5 or 6 more will sign in due course. That would represent about 90 percent of draftees and seem pretty good, if it were to come to pass.
What other June draftees might be 2009 candidates for A ball? Unsigned OF Conley, 7th rounder, a senior who could get to QC. Not quite signed RHP Bittle (4) should begin at QC or even PB; a senior with advanced skills. 3B Carpenter (13) is a senior finding it easy to hit at Batavia. Others could arise, but these are three strong possibilities to join Stidham.
Don’t be surprised if Bittle doesn’t play until Fall instructs.
Bittle got shut down at Mississippi with a tender shoulder, IIRC, so yes its a good point he could take the summer off. Anthony Reyes took the summer of 2003 off to protect his arm, before beginning pro play in 04.
Stidham reminds me of Aaron Luna or Tyler Henley. They were 9th and 8th round choices, while Stidham was the 8th rounder this year. All played in top college programs and can be at Palm Beach by the start of their first full season.
MLB’s draft tracker classed Conley as a senior. But he was a red-shirt sophmore last year, so could return to U Washington. If he has collegiate eligibility remaining, then he will command a larger bonus than otherwise.
Stidham got two hits in his first game with Quad Cities.