St. Louis Cardinals Community Top 30: Write-In Candidacies (Vote for No. 24)
TOWER GROVE — It has been hard to miss the drumbeat for some prospects to be included in each day’s poll, and for the most part the poll has been responsive to those requests. There has been one notable exception. One consistent voter who has kept thumping away — stumping away — in the comment section about the pitcher whose due is long overdue in this poll.
A hint: Even the studious Future Redbirds described him as “flying under the radar.”
He is … Shaun Garceau.
Taken in that paradigm-shifting draft of 2005, Garceau was in the St. Louis Cardinals’ backyard — a standout prep pitcher born in West Palm Beach, Fla., and starring at Royal Palm Beach High. He returned to his native Florida this past season and was regarded was the best starting pitcher in the High-A rotation. Garceau went 8-4, 3.42 ERA for High-A, and he pitched 97 1/3 innings for Palm Beach, striking out 56 and walking … well, 55. Scout.com awarded him their, “Palm Beach Starter of the Year 2008″ (subscription required), saying that the righthander:
In addition to his regular season results, the 21-year-old Garceau won the most important at the time and what would be the only victory of the post-season for the Cardinals on September 4. … Down 1-0 and having lost home field advantage to the Daytona Cubs, Palm Beach had to win game two on the road to stay alive and return home for the deciding third game. All Garceau did was take the ball for 6 2/3 innings, allowing just two runs and leading his club to the true must-win victory.
Joining the prospect poll, RHP Shaun Garceau
Garceau has your standard prospect resume: He throws a fastball in the low 90s mph, has a good curveball with a slight tilt and has a changeup that he can use. Look no further than the numbers to see how his command was tested in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. He started the year in Quad Cities’ tandem rotation, and he went 0-2, 2.08 there with 22 K/6 BB in 26 innings. That was the start of a second consecutive quality season from the righthander, and it also pushed him toward a career-high in innings, with more than 120 innings.
This is the profile of a lot of prospects we’ll be looking at now.
After weeks of getting votes, outfielder Shane Robinson finally got a spot in the poll — No. 23. He took the vote over the holiday with 29 percent. Outfielder Nick Stavinoha also did well, reminding me of the importance — and power — of new faces, new names in the poll. It also encouraged me to add Garceau, at the repeated request of at least one reader, into the poll. Name recognition should not be the only guiding force of this poll. Name introduction should also be a goal.
Garceau had a commitment to Alabama when the Cardinals selected him in the 20th round of the 2005 draft. They met his bonus demands and off he went to pro ball. Leg injuries and surgeries robbed him of the 2006 season, and he has made a steady climb since then.Some additional information about him:
- Future Redbirds has a concise take on his background and performance.
- First Inning has the raw numbers.
The Cardinals aggressive promotion of players and his performance will offer him the opportunity to win a spot in the Double-A rotation.
Now, it’s up to you if he wins a spot in the Comm Top 30:
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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. 
I will continue to vote Tyler Herron and Francisco Samuel as I believe both of those guys should be mid-teeners at worst but Mr. Jonathan Edwards is my humble entre into the write in world. RF with an outstanding arm and a 900 OPS. Should start the year in Palm Beach and with another 900 OPS showing might get the love he deserves (read wayyyyyyyy better prospect than Sugar Shane Robinson, Garceau and that ilk). As always, thanks for the article!
Yes, DG thank you for the article and the inclusion of Garceau….I am a true believer of his talent….I have seen him in person, he has eletric stuff!!
I voted for Samuel. A “high ceiling guy”, is young with time to improve the poor walk rate; honestly, few prospects within the system excite me more with their potential than Samuel. In my opinion, he probably should have been voted higher than NO. 24.
I really like Herron, as well. Was knocked around a bit in 2008, so his stock may have slipped, but last year this guy was within the “top ten” on a few prospect list, if I remember correctly.
I believe that Garceau should be on the list, but I’m not ready to vote him in ahead of either Herron or Samuel.
something a little confusing to me. if a player such as stavinhoa has appeared with the big club, should he not by definition be a higher rated prospect than another of the same level of development who has not reached the big club? And how can someone like this be a lower rated prospect than someone who is unproven? Don’t you think a voter’s imagination regarding a very young player’s potential will always trump the let down of an older player’s record? My question is why wait so long to add nick?
On another tack - derrick, how important do you feel statistics are in rating players in order to build a roster? There have been interesting discussions on different sites regarding the importance of intangibles like confidence, competitiveness and presence in the clubhouse, all which are immeasurable. But it seems every discussion tends to devolve into vorp, war, and other mind boggling acronyms. if you feel like rambling on in a post, i’m sure there would be many interested readers.
and last but not least, i haven’t heard a carpenter update lately, any news? thanks derrick
Roger: I’m not sure how much you’ve been following this Prospect countdown conversation– but several picks ago there were several “conversations” about the differing “rationale” some of us use in making our picks. This is, after all, an opinion poll. Several of us, myself included, don’t grade by where a player might be organizationally but rather by what we perceive their “potential ceiling” to be. I view a guy like Stavinoha to be a roster filler who won’t contribute much at the major league level given his age and his career to this point. Conversely, I see some of the younger guys as having better potential to contribute at the MLB level for a longer and in a more significant way. I rank those guys higher; that’s my approach (shared by others) but it’s not the approach taken by others. There are also those who are “stat geeks”; others look more at tools and the demeanor of the prospect in question– (This is how most scouts rate prospects). Of course, ultimately, they do need to produce.
I think that Stavinoha is a prime example of “prospect fatigue”. People are just tired of this guy, in my opinion.
I agree. In the end, it comes down to rationale, I think. If you rely primarily on stats when looking at a prospect, then Stavinoha, in my estimation, would suddenly have a strong case for being a highly rated prospect. Looking at the numbers, this guy has hit very well at his every stop in the major leagues. But, his ceiling doesn’t compare to guys like Salas, Samuel, Castillo, or Garceau. He is probably a 4th/5th OF in the majors.
You could make a case for him on this list, and I will give him some consideration in the near future, but to me I can’t put him ahead of guys like Samuel and Herron.
I’m back to Tyler Herron on this vote.
What evidence do we have that Garceau is mastering control? 55 walks with 56 K’s in 97.1 IP is a terrible indicator. Until that changes, how does he even make the top 30? I’m happy to be wrong on this, but show me…