Cardinals Community Top 30: Recap and Guests’ Top 10s
TOWER GROVE — Every time there is a trade to be made or not made — hello, Jake Peavy — there is also a revealing referendum on the quality and quantity of talent in the St. Louis Cardinals’ minor-league system. That is always the best time to get an unvarnished view of the true rankings within an organization.
Today offers more subtle revelations.
The Cardinals announced Wednesday, a day early, that they will add shortstop Tyler Greene and pitcher Matt Scherer to the 40-man roster. That protects those two from the Rule 5 draft that arrives in early December. It also crystallizes Greene’s return to the top tier of prospects within the organization, as he will come to spring training with a chance to impress and leave an impression at the middle infield positions. Keep that in mind as we return to community ranking of the Cardinals’ Top 30 prospects.
But who is not joining the 40-man list can be revealing as who is.
Some of the notable names not going on the 40-man and therefore eligible to be nabbed in the Rule 5 draft are: RHP Mark McCormick, the fireballer who got a $800,000 signing bonus, was slowed by injury and inconsistency and came into this season knowing it was a big one for him. … RHP Luis Perdomo, the compelling righthanded reliever that the Cardinals received from Cleveland in exchange for the change-of-scenery-needing Anthony Reyes. … RHP Kenny Maiques, once the best junior college pitcher in the land and a darkhorse closer prospect who the Cardinals landed late in the draft because of injury. … OF Cody Haerther, a talented hit caught in the crush of the Cardinals sudden and stout depth at his position. … RHP Trey Hearne, a sensation a few years ago for his ability to pin-point all of his pitches. His stats were superb, but scouts warned he’d have difficulty in the higher levels. He has. … And, RHP Mike Sillman, sidearmer only a few years removed from closing at High-A.
Adjust your votes for the Top 30 accordingly.
When we last left the Community Top 30 to address other news and notes we had just completed the top 10, and were ready to move on to No. 11. The rankings so far:
- Colby Rasmus, OF
- Brett Wallace, 3B
- Chris Perez, RHP
- Bryan Anderson, C
- David Freese, 3B
- Jason Motte, RHP
- Daryl Jones, OF
- Jess Todd, RHP
- Mitchell Boggs, RHP
- Jaime Garcia, LHP
As we move onto No. 11 tomorrow, we’ll be doing the voting one spot at a time to help organize what is going to get a little tricky as the number of potential prospects expands.
It will be a month yet before Baseball America’s top 10 is revealed — I’ll be a doing a chat on those picks in mid-January — but I wanted to offer the voters in here something to compare their list against. I asked two local radio personalities/reporters who diligently keep tabs on the minors to rank who they think are the top 10 prospects in the Cardinals system. KTRS/550 AM’s John Marecek and KMOX colleague Kevin Wheeler were kind enough to provide their Top 10s, complete with comments. Both mentioned Garcia as a top-10 talent, downgraded because of injury.
Their rankings offer a nice comparison for the Community Top 30 before moving onto No. 11.
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MARECEK’s TOP 10
Marecek, who can be reached at his MySpace page, begins to the growing legend of the prospect so good, he has at least three different names, so that he can be ranked three times in any Top 30. Writes Marecek, … 0. Amaury Marti OF (Because #1 would have been disrespectful).
- Colby Rasmus, OF … Good health and attitude will give him his best chance to break
camp this spring. - Brett Wallace, 3B … Arguably the best pure hitter in the system. Has all of the tools
to be an offensive force wherever he is, and his glove has been better than many expected. - Chris Perez, RHP … Showed flashes that he could be the closer of the future. The most encouraging thing I saw was how much his control and command improved from February to September.
- Bryan Anderson, C … Futures game rep. As his defense improves, so will his chances
of cracking the big leagues. - Jason Motte, RHP … Remarkable journey for a guy with only 98 pro innings in 2 years
entering 2008 for the former catcher. If his breaking stuff improves, he could be the closer of the future. - Daryl Jones, OF … My bad. I think I was on DG for 2 years about Jones. I couldn’t understand why he was in the top 10. Last season he was bounced from the BA top 30, and he’s the organizational player of the year. In spring training 2 years ago, I saw a slap hitter. In 2008 the power, speed, and eye all came together.
- Jess Todd, RHP … Futures Game representative in his first full season. Dominated
at Palm Beach and Springfield, before making 4 starts at Memphis to finish the season. Like Boggs, once projected to be a reliever, has earned his opportunity as a starter first. - Clayton Mortensen, RHP … His stats may have you wonder why I have him in the top 10.
Some in the organization on and off the field will wonder why I rank him so low. I figured I’d split the difference. I expect a breakout season from the sinkerball specialist. - Fernando Salas, RHP … Another Futures Game rep. Doesn’t do it with upper 90’s heat, but with remarkable control. 100 strikeouts to 16 walks over 74 innings in Springfield last year. One area that needs improvement is home runs. He allowed 12 last season.
- Mitchell Boggs, RHP … Had his 1st taste in 2008. Was voted the top pitcher in the PCL by the league’s coaches. If Chris Carpenter or anyone else can’t answer the bell, he could be a key member of the 2009 squad.
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“KEEBLER” WHEELER’s TOP 10
Wheeler, who swings by the Bird Land@Facebook page every so often (pushing for 500 members), offers the following qualifications for his list: “Consider the following when reading it … I factor in three things into my rankings when I do them, same as I did when I was ranking the Top 100 Prospects for The Sporting News and giving out their minor league awards each year: a) raw ability; b) performance (considering age & level); c) opportunity to advance in the near future.”
- Colby Rasmus, OF … Still the real deal. Stud who can do it all. I believe the hype.
- Chris Perez, RHP … Future closer for sure, could do the job in ‘09 if given the opportunity. Location needs improvment but psyche is there.
- Brett Wallace, 3B … Not sure where he’s gonna play but the guy can mash. Big time. Future 3-4-5 hitter.
- Jason Motte, RHP … Concerns about offspeed pitches misplaced - heater is enough to get him by. Potential closer.
- Daryl Jones, OF … Here’s to hoping the breakout season in ‘08 was no fluke. Has the tools to be a nice player.
- Bryan Anderson, C … Hits for average and has patience but nothing else stands out. Would be a Top 5 prospect if he had some power.
- Jess Todd, SP … Not sold on him as a top of the rotation guy but looks like a solid 3-4-5 starter.
- Jon Jay, OF … This guy can hit, draw walks and he can run. Some pop too. Kotsay before back problems, without the cannon arm.
- David Freese, 3B … Hard to argue with a guy who put up big numbers at Triple-A. Also good with the glove.
- P.J. Walters, SP … Like Todd - a future 3-4-5 starter. Not bad to have a decent starter around.
Wheeler should have added a (d) to his explanation: (d) it helps to have played ball, like Wheeler did, at the University of Miami. Two ‘Canes in his top 10. Go figure.
Poll for No. 11 up in the near future.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Walters is right-handed.
That he is. Walters is the changeup specialist. He is righthanded, and the problem came with a cut and paste. The lefty Wheeler was referring to is Garcia, who he ranked 13th, but only because of the Tommy John surgery. Thanks for pointing out the flubbed copy-paste.
I too think Jon Jay is Top 10 material…but Freese does not belong. I think that Allen Craig is still a better prospect at the hot corner.
It will be interesting to see whether Perdomo, Maiques or McCormick get picked. If I had to guess I would say that someone will take a chance on Perdomo. I still think Maiques has a future…provided he can stay healthy.
dg - Do you think that there is any way that Craig could handle 2B. I know it is a common refrain around here (moving people to 2B, that is) but Craig seems fairly athletic and his bat would really stand out there.
Craig has already shown that he can move to the outfield and that he can play first base. His arm may be best suited for second base. Back in college, Craig played everywhere, and that did include some starts at second base. Haven’t seen him play there, so it’s difficult to say. But it’s something to look for during spring training.
dg - Thanks for the answer. Looking at video of Craig he seemed to be athletic enough to handle the switch. An infield of Pujols, Craig, SS (Escobar…I hope) and Wallace would be cost effective and darned good.
I would take Jason Donald at SS as well. Doesn’t Philly need a 3B and an outfielder to take Burrell’s place? Ankiel and Freese for Donald and Minor League Bullpen Arm sounds good to me.
I agree with most of the “community top 30″ rankings.
Freese is a bit questionable, being ranked 5th, I certainly understand his case, but there is a strong argument for Daryl Jones as well. Thoughts on either Jones or Freese’s ranking, DG?
I think that Garcia is clearly a better prospect than Boggs. I think what hurt Garcia’s case in the voting, is the fact that he will be out for the season in 2009, but his potential as LH starter is huge. Everything I’ve heard about Boggs, is that most think he will fall into a “Brad Thompson” type role in his time as a Cardinal. Garcia can be really, really good if the Cards don’t rush him coming back from his surgery. There are a lot of cases of pitchers coming back from Tommy John surgery and being better than ever, but give Garcia time to fully heal… don’t rush him!!
I’m still waiting to hear that Wallace has become a good fielder. He may be better than expected, but expectations were for no talent at all with a glove.
No matter what he hits, St. Louis needs top infielding what with all the ground ball pitching.
It’s hard for me to be too specific with where some of these prospects fall, so as not to give away the Top 10 for Baseball America that I work on. I think both Freese and Jones have top-10 profiles, and if somebody were to aggressively rank Jones it would be easily justified. That would be especially true if your entire list was high on promise and not so much based on proximity to the majors.