Note: This version has been superceded. It will continue to reflect 2010 season-opening assignments. To access the current matrix, click here.
With the end of spring training, the start of the major league season and the minor league season commencing on Thursday as well, it is time for a refresh of the St. Louis Cardinals system roster matrix.
If you are new to the site and aren’t sure what the Cardinals organization roster matrix is all about, here is quick summary.
At the time of this posting, the St. Louis Cardinals have 287 players under contract from top to bottom. The matrix places each one at his current assigned level in the system as well as by position. It is kept updated throughout the season as transactions occur.
Nowhere else will you find this current and comprehensive single-page view of the entire Cardinals organization.
In this update, the major scope is to highlight those selected for the major league club and the four full-season minor league affiliates. As of posting on Tuesday, April 6, these rosters are NOT YET FINAL. For example, there are still about 15 too-many players on the full-season rosters at this time.
In addition, the 68 players invited to the extended spring training camp, underway on April 6, are included. 47 of them are holdovers from regular minor league spring training, players that did not make a full-season club, joined by 21 new arrivals.
For the remainder of the players, the rosters upon which they are listed reflect where they concluded last season. Don’t be concerned about the order of the players’ names within a team. They don’t signify anything other than often a rough approximation of alphabetical order. At the lower levels, starters are not yet broken out from relievers, let alone tandem rotation assignments. At this point, I don’t have confirmation of these roles.
The 37 players on the 40-man roster are called out in bold.
In a look ahead, the extended spring training players will either join full-season clubs as openings occur or will be augmented by this June’s draftees to staff the 2010 Batavia, Johnson City and GCL clubs. A number are also likely to be released.
Full team rosters and player profiles at The Cardinal Nation
Remember that to get detailed profile information on every single one of these 287 Cardinals players, simply check out their free player profiles freshly updated for 2010 now at The Cardinal Nation / Scout.com. You can see bios, photos, videos, articles, news items, links to current season and career stats and much more – everything you need to know about a player in one place.
Click on the following links to be taken to one of the ten team pages at The Cardinal Nation:
Full-season clubs
St. Louis Cardinals
Memphis Redbirds
Springfield Cardinals
Palm Beach Cardinals
Quad Cities River Bandits
Short-season clubs
Batavia Muckdogs
Johnson City Cardinals
Gulf Coast League Cardinals
Dominican Summer League Cardinals
Venezuelan Summer League Cardinals
Remember that at this point, there are not yet 2010 rosters for the short-season clubs, Batavia on down, so players are listed where they finished last season – where they will remain until there is a reason to move them.
Once there, just click on a player’s name to be taken to his individual profile page. For example, here is Adam Ottavino’s profile.
Looking ahead
In the past, I updated this version of the rosters all summer long, which meant the season-opening view was quickly lost. Based on your feedback, this year, I will instead keep this version for posterity and start a new one to reflect all the in-season changes.
Now that you’ve found this page once, remember one of three ways to get back here. Bookmark the page, type “Roster Matrix” in the dark blue search box at the upper right or use the dropdown menu at the top of the page: “Players/Staff” > “Depth Charts/Roster Matrix”.
For details behind past 2009 rosters and 2010 transactions to date, check out the earlier versions of the Cardinals organization roster matrix as follows.
Link to previous matrices: Jan–March 2009, April 2009, May 2009, June 2009, July 2009-February 2010, Spring camp 2010
Transactions
When they occur, they will be listed here and of course the matrix will reflect the updates.
The St. Louis Cardinals Organization Roster Matrix (effective 04/06/10)
| St. Louis (25) | 40-man (37) | ||||||
| SP | RP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF |
| C Carpenter | Franklin | LaRue | Pujols | Schumaker | Ryan | Freese | Holliday |
| Lohse | McClellan | Molina | Lopez | Ludwick | |||
| Penny | Boggs | Rasmus | |||||
| Wainwright | Motte | Craig | |||||
| Ja Garcia (L) | Hawksworth | Stavinoha | |||||
| T Miller (L) | Mather | ||||||
| Reyes (L) | |||||||
| Memphis (24+3) | |||||||
| SP | RP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF |
| Lynn 2 | O Perez | Anderson | Hamilton (DL) |
Descalso | T Greene | Solano | Jay |
| MacLane (L) 1 | Kinney | Pagnozzi | Gotay | Howard | Cazana | ||
| Dickson 5 | Norrick (L) | Henley | |||||
| Ottavino 4 | Parise | Robinson | |||||
| R Hill 3 | Rundles (L) | Shorey | |||||
| Walters (TI) | Salas | ||||||
| Hearne (DL) | Scherer | ||||||
| Springfield (24+5) | |||||||
| SP | RP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF |
| Additon (L) 2 | Dew (DL) | S Hill | C Smith | Jo Martinez1 (DL) | Kozma | Folli | Ant. DeJesus |
| Daley, Jr. 3 | Eager | Cutler | Sedbrook | A Brown | Chambers | ||
| Gorgen 4 | Fick | Jones | |||||
| Kopp 5 | Freeman (L DL) | Luna | |||||
| Garceau 1 | King | Rapoport | |||||
| Kulik (L) | |||||||
| Meyer (L) | |||||||
| Mura (DL) | |||||||
| Reifer | |||||||
| Samuel (DL) |
|||||||
| Sanchez | |||||||
| Palm Beach (25+5) | |||||||
| SP | RP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF |
| Ri Castillo 3 |
Mulligan | T Cruz | Rivera | Marmol | Bolivar | M Carpenter | A Castellanos |
| Broderick 1 | Buursma (DL) | Derba | Scruggs | Jo Garcia | Curtis (DL) | Pham | |
| McGregor 4 | D Carpenter | Vasquez (RL) | Morales | Swauger | |||
| Bradford 2 | Delgado | Racobaldo | |||||
| Nieto 5 | Frevert | ||||||
| Pichardo | |||||||
| Diapoules | |||||||
| Thomas | |||||||
| Bittle (DL) | |||||||
| G Brown (L DL) | |||||||
| Quad Cities (25+6) | |||||||
| SP | RP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF |
| Blazek T3 | Notti | Stock | Adams | L Mateo | Stidham | N Vasquez | Conley |
| Fornataro 2 | Corrigan | Castro | Ahmady (SL) | Jackson | Ingram | ||
| Hooker T1 | M Tapia (DL) | J Rodriguez (DL) | Parejo | ||||
| Kelly T5 | Mayes | R Rodriguez | |||||
| S Miller 4 | Simpson | Shepherd | |||||
| Schneider T1 | Terry | Bighames (SL) | |||||
| Rondon T3 | |||||||
| Calhoun (L) T5 | |||||||
| Cardenas (L DL) | |||||||
| M Harris (mil) | |||||||
| Ext. spring (66+3) | |||||||
| P | P | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF |
| A Ferrara (L) | A Castillo | Tartamella | D Medina | Obregon | Alvarez | Teran | Babrick |
| Ang. De Jesus | Avendano | A Perez (DL) | Washington | W Perez | Goodwin | R DeLaCruz | Beatty |
| Butler | Calero | A Garcia | Vargas | Mambell | H Garcia | Bogany | |
| C Johnson | Corpas | Moscatel | R Ruiz | Jo Edwards | |||
| Daugherty (L) | H Hernamdez (L) | Montero | Valera | Lara | |||
| Durham (L) | J Smith | Alcala | Y Castillo | R Reyes | |||
| Heim (L) | Jimenez | L DeLaCruz | R Rosario | ||||
| Kington | Ju Edwards (L) | Espinoza | R Smith | ||||
| Lawler | Munoz | Rivero | |||||
| M DeLaCruz (L) | Orozco | Swinson | |||||
| M Thompson | Pasen | Taveras | |||||
| McCully | Rada | V Hill | |||||
| Moss | Rosenthal | ||||||
| North | Santana | Hage (DL) | |||||
| Novak | Siegrist (L) | ||||||
| Russell | Summers | ||||||
| Squatrito (DL) | |||||||
| Zawacki | |||||||
| Batavia | |||||||
| Johnson City | |||||||
| GCL | |||||||
| P | P | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF |
| DSL (40+1) | |||||||
| SP | RP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF |
| A Tapia | B Martinez | J Castillo | Pimentel | J Lopez | G Hernandez | Beras | |
| Uribe (L) | Concepcion | L Perez | V Ferreira | S Rodriguez | R Medina | Capellan | |
| Pinard | D Rodriguez (L) | Baez | Barbuena | Celestino | |||
| Herrera (L) | Estalis | Agustin | Encarnacion | ||||
| S Lopez | L Mata | J Pena | |||||
| L Polanco | Ro Castillo | ||||||
| A Gonzalez | Mercedes (L) | Sandoval | |||||
| JC DeLaCruz | P Pena (L) | ||||||
| DeLeon | Paulino | ||||||
| DeLosSantos | Rudecindo | ||||||
| E Hiraldo | Segundo (SL) | ||||||
| A Toribio | Urena | ||||||
| VSL (34+1) | |||||||
| SP | RP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF |
| Colorado (L) | Cedeno | Rivas | R Perez | Vivas | O Medina | H Martina | A Castellano |
| Bier | Cueto | Viloria | R Garcia | Acevedo | |||
| Nieves | De Aguas (L) | Velazco | Argenal | ||||
| Oraa | Echeverria (L) | J Gomez | Fonseca | ||||
| Escudero | Jo Martinez2 | ||||||
| Almeida | Guzman | Martines | |||||
| S Garcia | Jh Polanco | ||||||
| Gerdel | Montanez | ||||||
| Guerra | Solarte | ||||||
| Ulacio | |||||||
| Weffer (L) | |||||||
| Villanueva (L SL) | |||||||
Codes
(DL): injured – on the disabled list
(TI): temporary inactive list
(SL): suspended list
(RL): restricted list
(TO): tryout player not under contract
(L) left-handed pitcher
bold: on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster
(#+#) number of active players on the roster plus number of inactive/not under contract (DL+TI+SL+RL+TO) players
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The lads asssigned to EST seem a little fewer than last year. Maybe another 10 are still be assigned there.
Even setting aside S. Miller, the Quad Cities team should turn out to be interesting, as a proving ground.
There is another group heading over in mid-May. Still when you add in the 40-some players to be drafted this June, there will be far too many players than spots on short-season clubs. They have also said that a number of the academy players sent over will not be returned. Either they make it here or they are gone. Unless there is an epidemic of injuries, there will be many standing without chairs when the music stops.
By the way, my weekly column is up at the Globe-Democrat.
Springfield is the first to get down to opening day level. Five guys are apparently on the DL, though that is not 100 percent confirmed yet.
brian,
i’m sure i haven’t said it enough, your efforts are very much appreciated.
You are welcome, bip. Feel free to post more often…
The overall numbers, unless I am missing something, always possible, seem about the same as last spring. During April/May 09, about 14 EST guys were promoted, released, or quit. If there were similar attrition this year, this could winnow EST headcount to 50, to which the Cards could add 40 new US signees during June, winding up with 90 players with which to stock 3 short-season squads.
You seem to have completely ignored where I said more players are coming over to EST in mid-May. The DSL roster is over max, the VSL is right at the limit and there are more new international signees in the midst of background checks.
“…another group headed over in May.” Maybe 15 guys will graduate out of the DSL/VSL and head toward the three US short-season teams? The more, the merrier.
Great to hear of more background checks. The Wagner Mateo money is getting spread around on more kids. The Cards are going to get talent out of Latin America yet. Walt and Jerry came up with Chapman, the $30MM Cuban flamethrower. He is showing up Ryde-Rod!
One sign of slowing inside the system is assignment of Conley, Stidham, and Jackson to Quad Cities. A couple of years ago, juniors from advanced college programs might have opened at PB.
I understand that assignments for tomorrow aren’t final, but does this mean that my homeboy Charlie Cutler has leapfrogged Cruz and Derba and that they still think he can stay behind the plate? (He was playing OF in PB at the end of last season.)
We are going to have to see how much playing time Cutler gets. The reason they are moving Cruz down to PB is so that both he and Hill get starter’s time behind the plate. One might assume that the same conditions that caused Cruz to be moved down a level would limit Cutler’s time catching. My assessment of the pecking order does have Cutler ahead of Derba, a player they reportedly still like a lot.
Springfield has four outfielders plus Aaron Luna and Andrew Brown. On Springfield’s “official” roster, Luna is listed as an infielder but he was with the outfielders on the organization charts this spring. I expect him to see more time in the outfield than infield. Brown has seen time out there but may be focusing on the infield, specifically third base. Maybe Cutler will also be the sixth outfielder. Spreading the ABs around may be a challenge for Pop Warner.
To me, this is a microcosm of the status of the system. There are a lot of pretty good players but few whose path is so clear that they should play every day without reservation. How to sort it all out?
He certainly has leap frogged them with his bat. Since he played catcher this Spring I guess they haven’t given up on him as a catcher yet. Since Hill is supposedly the starting catcher, I’d guess Cutler will get about 1/3 of the catching starts there as well as DH time and an occasional OF starts.
Not sure Derba will make the final cut at PB with Cruz and De la Cruz also there.
Yes, I agree CC. The Palm Beach roster is the real wild card right now. Six transactions have to come from somewhere and those who lose out won’t be going to QC.
The Cards have a lot of pitchers. Its good to have a lot, to keep the system running. Yet starting pitching seems an area where they could use more high end talent, to supplement Miller.
Even if he has found a new outlook, can Daley jump from crummy last summer at Quad Cities to good at AA, in a single leap? Kopp has been dogged by injuries since a 2nd round pick; is he ill-fated? Can Gorgen be good as in college or is he maxed out? Is Fornataro just another short RHP? Should we be drafting some taller pitchers?
I have wondered about the height distribution over time myself, but haven’t taken the time to dig in. Just scanning the opening rosters I have for the three full-season clubs, Memphis lists no pitchers under 6-foot-1. Springfield has three – Gorgen, Kulik and Sanchez. Quad Cites has five – Blazek, Mayes, Schneider, Simpson and Terry. Those are listed heights of course. Don’t know how that compares to other systems.
I will say that while I agree with the need for more high-end pitching talent, I do not necessarily equate that to height.
Jumbo, Daley actually pitched 9 games last year at Springfield with decent results (except for walks). If he has gotten over his Steve Blass diease there is no reason he cant be successful there this year.
Let me first argue why height does not matter: Pedro Martinez, future Hall of Famer, 5’11″. Or Tom Gordon, great reliever, 5’9″. But both guys had fantastic arms. Pedro very supple arm and threw a ton of innings. Gordon, great curve and a fine fast ball. Their arms made their height irrelevant.
Kulik seems fine. He is stocky, but a 5’11″ hard throwing southpaw reliever could work. However, as a starting pitcher, I would be pessimistic. Sanchez and Samuel have good arm strength. Jaime Garcia is not tall, but his combination of curve, movement for a lefty, and poise, he should be a good one. Schneider has to have some assets like poise, control, sinker, etc; he might turn out effective as a starter.
Gorgen, I become a bit pessimistic. I like a starting RHP to have height so there is room for projection and harnessing of physique, through time. To me, Gorgen maxed out at Irvine. In contrast, a guy like Ottavino has height and velocity; he improved last year, he could relieve in the majors, he might be able to grow into a starting pitcher as did Wainwright, because of innate potential from height and arm strength to enable improvement.
Simpson and Terry are low round 2009 draftees. Height may be a reason they lasted so long in the draft, because scouts value height, as one factor among many. I would guess they are getting a shot at QCities because college seniors. Their time is now.
Carioca, Daley’s 9 AA appearances were in relief. I could see him doing ok as a relief pitcher. Shifted to starting, I will keep my fingers crossed. It will be an unusual story to parlay a 7 ERA at QC into success as a starter at AA.
Brian, when the Cards get to low rounds in the draft, a short RHP may be a good gamble. Cory Meacham reached AA, which I would call a success. Blake King remains in the game. Schneider may be good value for the 20th round, Blazek for the 30s. I only get skeptical at higher rounds, like McCully (9th), Fornataro (6th), Gorgen (4th), Pope (1st back in 2000).
Ultimately its about pitch quality. But height will correlate with this somewhat, especially in terms of projection and potential.
Springfield rotation order and Quad Cities modified tandem rotation now noted above.
I know that some may not agree, but I think that everyone is in a good place, age wise especially.
Watching for the past several years, not sure why some players were rushed, there is nothing wrong with completing a whole level and like other organizations beginning at the same level again that spring. It seems to me the organization has changed their direction, and I think it’s a good thing. There is nothing worse than placing a player in a level if he isn’t ready for it maturity wise either. It’s just my opinion that only injuries and not getting the job done at your age level should determine when movement will occur, not let’s just put him here because he had a good 2-3 weeks in spring training.
Why rush them anyway when there is no place to go, unless you want to show them off for trade, as we had seen done last year with a few players.
I think I agree with you conceptually, southeast. I have an unproven theory about why it may have happened. I wonder if they rushed some players to fill gaps in the system caused when they decided not to bring in a bunch of minor league free agents. Once the correction was made (and there were not an unusually high number of releases since), a more steady state can be achieved.
Now if a rash of injuries occur, all bets may be off, however…
The drafting of pitchers is largely based upon velocity, after a certain round that velocity drops off, so you pick the best you can. One reason why Daley has been given a lot of time, he has the stuff and he has the velocity, he just needed to get it under control, someone else would have been on a shorter leash. It’s also about protecting your investment (as someone once told me).
I also think they should get rid of the tandem, it’s a killer on pitchers arms, especially those coming from college who are used to a longer rotation. It’s pitch, rest, pitch, rest, pitch, very little chance of recovery for many. I don’t know of any other team that uses that.
But then again, what do I know.
There is an interesting rotation at QC, if I understand it:
Hooker/Schneider
Fornataro
Blazek/Rondon
Miller
Calhoun/Kelly
Its still 8 pitchers getting starts, but a five game rotation rather than four, with two guys on their own (Miller and Fornataro), and 6 guys splitting the other three games.
Its nice to see the Cards make adjustments owing to new ideas or personnel.
That’s interesting Jumbo, thanks for that update. There are some that can be developed into starters and need the work and others you know will be starters (like Miller) so why work them so hard?
Is it unreasonable to think Miller might be at AAA at least for a couple starts by the end of the year?
henley to AAA? surprising or expected?
did craig, mather and stavi making the 25man have a positive trickle down effect by opening a door for him, or did he deserve the promotion regardless?
i like what little i’ve seen of him.
This is a tip for the tech challenged………… StreamTorrent……… search top one hunderd….Fox 5 is fox Ohio. You can watch the Reds feed for free…………… this may be good for a number of issues throughout the year beating your blackouts.
bling, I think it would be unreasonable to suspect Miller could get to Memphis during 2010. In 1998, Rick Ankiel had a terrific season, split between two teams at the A level. Its hard to imagine Miller having a season quite that good. But if he avoids injury and does well, he might do Rick’s feat of one year at A level. Then in 1999, Rick overpowered AA and reached AAA. In 2000, he was in the ML rotation. That is a remarkably short path and its good not fair to compare Miller to it. In baseball, its good to take things in stride, just one pitch at a time. As TLR will say, the game has a way of teaching humility, if you start thinking its easy.
I posted in comment #19 that I had added the QC tandem rotation to the matrix earlier this afternoon.
bip, I also like Henley, though I wish he was a bigger guy with some more power. Seems another tweener physically. He was by a considerable margin the Cardinals best player in Arizona last fall (vs. Anderson, Jones, Descalso). Certainly less competition in Memphis because of six outfielders in St. Louis helped open the door this spring.
WC, no reason to go through all those gyrations to watch the game unless it makes you feel good. MLB Extra Innings is always free the first week of the season on satellite and pretty much all cable systems. (Edit: Might need your skunkworks for Saturday when FOX has three games at once with their silly blackouts. Yankees-Rays has 70 percent coverage of the USA with Cards at Brewers just 18 percent.)
Jumbo, for every anecdote, there is an alternate anecdote. Rick Porcello debuted at 19 and spent his entire first season in the FSL. The next season, he jumped right to the majors and won 14 games with an ERA under 4 for Detroit last season.
I am not necessarily endorsing that plan for Miller. I am just suggesting a more current example than a guy drafted 13 years ago might be more relevant.
Porcello went from high school to the majors in 1 year. Since did Don Gullett, 40 years ago.
The great Dwight Gooden spent 1.5 years in the minors. Josh Beckett reached the majors in under 2 years. Same with another Texas flamethrower Nolan Ryan. Maybe Shelby will be just like them.
Yet, the last hard throwing Texan with the Cards was McCormick, who never reached the majors. Many vaunted arms suffer injuries. David Clyde did not have much of a ML career. The weight of evidence from baseball history suggests Memphis by August is unlikely, even if not impossible.
Yes, highly unlikely this year. Next year, who knows?
The whole idea of the tandem has been that guys get the same # innigs just less work each game (due to 4 day rotation) now with 5 day rotation this seems to mean guys will get less work (less development?)
I wonder if they will switch around the guys who pitch solo. Should be easy to do with off days.
Henley seemed to have made an impression this Spring with TLR. I think he would have been at AAA no matter what.
Brian, Strauss indicated in a chat that he thought Henley was nothing more than a bat stuck in the
OF because he did the least damage with his glove there. I’d always heard he was a decent OF. What’s your take?
Good news and bad. Good news = Palm Beach roster posted and noted above. Bad news = four players missing, noted above temporarily as MIA. Will know more Thursday.
Well we already knew Bittle and Brown were hurting so I doubt they’ve gone anywhere.
CariocaCardinal I don’t agree, development is not how much time you put in but the quality of time that you do. For most, it is very hard to find your rythm having to get pulled after 30 pitches. Plus, there was a problem with pulling the guys up before half season as they couldn’t get through 5 because they were used to doing less. I saw a pitcher in Jupiter get warmed for the next inning (as they come into a new inning only), the manager put in the previous pitcher who wa supposed to be done so he could get 5 in and the win, then he got in a jam, had to put in a true reliever all while the starter had to wait. He had been waiting and throwing for 45 minutes (needless use of the arm).
I really think they moved up Denis (Martinez) because he was not a big fan of the tandem and I have heard him in an interview speak up against it.
Putting Miller in by himself would mean to me that he will be in PB by half season, used to longer innings when they stop the tandem.
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t Porcello sign a ML contract, placing him immediately on the 40 man roster? The Tigers had pitching issues with injuries. They needed a starter. I also think that Porcello is one of those guys that you don’t see come along often. I don’t see pulling Miller in any sooner then they have to, why? But then you never know what their plnas may be.
When you see the path that Ankiel took and the issues he had, perhaps moving him so quickly was not a good idea?
I can tell you that the guys hate the tandem. It’s very difficult.
Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint.
If Henley was a poor outfielder, he would never see time in center as he did a fair amount his first two seasons. He is primarily a RF now, but I have no evidence he is below average from the games in which I have seen him play.
SE – my point is that now 6 of those pitchers are going to pulled after 30 pitches every 5th day instead of every 4th day. How can that not hurt their development?
The Cards can make use of a couple more catchers at EST.
Henley hit better at AA in one season that Schumaker did during two. If Darryl Jones, Jon Jay, and Chambers do not excel, Henley can move ahead of them. Its useful to have depth.
CC, I just find it odd that some DL players are listed on the roster and others are not. Will get to the bottom of it Thursday.
Jumbo, since Henley is in Memphis while Jones and Chambers are still in Springfield, isn’t he already ahead of them?
CC,
I was responding why I thought that the 5 day is better than the 4 day. Sorry for the confusion.
Sorry, left this out, I think that that they will be given a longer pitch count on 5 days, than 4.
SE – but then the guy on the back end gets even less of a chance to get a rythem going! It’s less pitching for the tandem guys no matter how you look at it.
CC,
Either way, I am not really a big fan of tandem, I have lots of friends that have sons playing pro ball, not one that I know is on such a system, by mid season they can actually get further into a game, I see many of our guys cannot by mid season. But most of those teams do not sign as many players as the Cards do, so what I have gathered is there needs to be a place for everyone and everyone wants to develop more starters than relievers (and most were starters), but eventually it all comes out in the wash, doesn’t it? I understand the philosophy, but if a pitcher is drafted and a true future starter (that means 3-5 good pitches for strikes), why put him in relief? It’s just such a whole different way of thinking, I don’t care if you come into a game in a new inning, it works on your head, the score, the waiting, knowing you are going to get pulled, so maybe they have taken some feedback from the pitchers and tried to work out a more viable way to make life easier for them. They also get robbed of a win, when they start, if they can’t get to 5. They really do care about that stuff too.
The tandem guys pc all depends on what he did the last outing.
That’s just my opinion from what I have seen and heard. Again, I am glad that they made some adjustments.
Nice discussion. My info about eight man rotations has tripled in the time it took to read the thread! Appreciate those sharing knowledge.
All rosters above were updated this afternoon with opening day assignments. Tryout catcher Andres Diaz was sent home unsigned and Rich Racobaldo moved to OF on official PB roster and starting in left field opening night.
setting aside all the prospect rankings, and focusing on la russa’s usage in ST, gives us a list sorted differently. not so much on potential future talent, but on closeness to the 25man roster? isn’t that a fair way to help judge who has passed who? at least getting the best “look” in the managers eyes?
total ST plate appearances of non-25 man roster…..j. jay 43, t. greene 41, d. solano 32, m. pagnozzi 41, r. gotay 30, t. henley 25, d. descalso 20, s. robinson 16, m. hamilton 13, d. jones 8.
i’m not sure if exhibition games in minn PA’s were counted or not, but traveling to minn seems a feather in those players cap, for me. there were catcher injury concerns to carry b. anderson and cruz. henley played in both games. solano made the trip (can’t remember his playing time), along with pitchers salas, perez and rundles.
good experience for those boys.
I think who got the late ab’s and stayed in camp is more telling That would put Henley, Solano, and Descaslo at the head of the pack. Pagnozzi at catcher and Salas was their pitching till neat the end. I’m not sure what they saw in Perez that kept him around his numbers were not good.
i agree CC.
t. greene sort of played himself off the ST roster, and gotay was new to our camp, so a “get familiar” look was needed early which padded his PA’s.
henley, solano, descalso and i’ll add jay next, if you will, as the “impressed” list of batters in ST.
good point, thanks for that.
Here is the Strauss comment from his 3/31 chat
BTW, I’ve asked you a couple of time – I’m a Rice alum and wonder how Tyler Henley is viewed – will be start in Memphis and does he have a future with the Cards?
Joe Strauss: Henley, 24, likely starts in Memphis. He fits the description of a “bat.” He does not appear a comfortable outfielder. His numbers at Springfield (.303, 13 HR, 63 RBI) last season were impressive but he needs to round edges off the rest of his game. Henley hits left, which is a help. An intense player. It will be interesting to see if he passes Jon Jay in organizational rankings this season. Jay will play at Memphis for a third season in ’10.
CC, I am glad you posted the exact comment on Henley as it is not as critical as I had assumed.
My assumption is that the first time Strauss saw Henley play was in StL spring games. Henley could have been a bit nervous being a AA player on an MLB field for the first time.
Since “a bat” is the general term used to refer to Hill and other defensively challenged players I consider it pretty critical of his opinion of Henley’s defense. I have my doubts he is right but I have little doubt what he wanted to convey.
Consider my previous post to have been “Jumbo-ized.”
Did folks notice that Cincinnati’s 22-year-old Mike Leake is becoming the 21st player since the draft began to reach the majors without playing a single minor league game first? link
All that tells me is how weak Cinci is the starting pitching depth dept.
The linked story about Leake didn’t seem to have a link or sidebar listing the other 20 guys who skipped the minors. Does anybody know where such a list can be found.
I found 22. Jim Abbott, Mike Adamson, Eddie Bane, Pete Broberg, David Clyde, Tim Conroy, Darren Dreifort, Steve Dunning, Rob Ellis, Burt Hooton, Bob Horner, Catfish Hunter, Pete Incaviglia, Brian Milner, Mike Morgan, Xavier Nady, John Olerud, Chan Ho Park, Ariel Prieto, Dave Roberts, Dick Ruthven and Dave Winfield.
There were plenty more old-timers pre-1965 draft including Hall of Famers like Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, Al Kaline and Harmon Killebrew.
The origins of players and motives of teams influence this list.
Abbott, Bane, Broberg, Driefort, Dunning, Ellis, Hooton, Horner, Incavigilia, Nady, Olerud, Roberts, Ruthven, and Winfield starred in college, as did Leake. Its not necessary and often not a good idea, but its not utterly absurd either. Strasburg could have been thrown into the majors, even if the Nationals elected to keep the pressure off and let him get some work in, in the minors.
Its unconventional to drop Leake into the majors, but it may work out. He excelled in an elite college conference and is polished. A lot of the big bonus guys who command a lot of media publicity are high school kids who throw hard. Some said the Reds were going cheap by selecting Leake, not a big guy who thrills a radar gun. But Leake knows what he is doing and was near ML ready. Its no surprise Jocketty would have liked him. Leake is not Chris Lambert, from a college in Boston, still a project, but excelled at ASU.
Clyde, Conroy, Hunter, Morgan came straight from US high schools, IIRC, and would have been marketing gimmicks, bonus babies trotted out for the fans. Hunter and Morgan had long careers, so survived the initial experience. I assume they were later sent to the minors for development. Conroy played in St Louis later.
Park was circa 21, perhaps with pro experience in Korea. Prieto was older, with years of experience in Cuba. I dont know the amateur backgrounds of Adamson and Milner.
Adamson went first in the country out of USC circa 1967. Maybe he had arm injuries, since he did not do much in the majors.
Milner would have been a marketing gimmick. The Blue Jays gave him a few at bats in Toronto, then sent him down to a rookie league team. He was a catcher who never rose above AA thereafter.
Leake seems the 16th US collegiate star to begin pro ball in the majors. Some of the others may have later dropped down to the minors for training, before resuming ML careers.
Sometimes this happens with teams that are building toward the future and do not mind developing a kid at the ML level. The Reds would qualify for this explanation.
There have been a number of high school pitchers in recent decades who reached the majors within 2 years of pro ball, rocketing up through the minors, with Rick Ankiel an example for the Cards. Leake had 3 years pitching at Arizona State University. Its not impossible he is able and ready to make the jump.
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