St. Louis Cardinals Community Top 30: Players of the Year Runoff
SOUTH GRAND — The risk of running two polls at a time is that the second poll does not offer up a definite winner because the candidates are muddled by the first vote. The benefit is a showdown.
In yesterday’s polls for the Nos. 6 and 7 spots on the St. Louis Cardinals Community Top 30, there was a clear winner at No. 6 with 42 percent of the vote (at last check) — major-league-bound reliever Jason Motte — and a real clear two-way race for No. 7. It just so happens that the prospects knotted for No. 7 also happen to the organization’s reigning Player and Pitcher of the Year. With nearly 900 voters logging on, outfielder Daryl Jones has a slight edge on righthander Jess Todd. Jones has received 28 percent of the vote, and Todd has won 26.
It’s not enough of a difference to determine a winnner. So we’ll have our first runoff, pitting the Cardinals organization’s Player of the Year (Jones) vs. its Pitcher of the Year (Todd). Below the poll is a little about each player to help further inform your selection.
Loading …DARYL JONES, 21 (3rd round 2005): A year after dropping out of the Baseball America Top 30, this one-time top-10 talent had a breakthrough season in 2008. The Cardinals decided to push him to High-A after he idled a couple years in Double-A. The idea was to see if he excelled at a higher level — and in, yes, warmer weather to start the year. He did. He hit .326/.406/.476 there at High-A Palm Beach and finished the year in Double-A. He’s speedy, his power is developing. He is a high-ceiling player.
JESS TODD, 22 (2nd round 2007): Made his name by climbing three levels this past season. He was an All-Star at two and was one of the Cardinals’ organization top starting pitchers. He threw his way into trade-deadline talks, as there were some scouts who expected their teams to be interested in dealing for the righthander. He throws both a sinker and a cut fastball, with equal success. He’s economic. He throws strikes. He may yet be used as a reliever in his first look at the majors.
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The Comm Top 30 so far:
- Colby Rasmus, OF
- Brett Wallace, 3B
- Chris Perez, RHP
- Bryan Anderson, C
- David Freese, 3B
- Jason Motte, RHP
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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. 
Jess Todd is closer to making an impact at the MLB level, therefore…Jess Todd.
DG, I know it’s sometimes hard to compare a prospect to an MLB player, but who would you compare Jones to?