TOWER GROVE - By trading Brendan Ryan to the Seattle Mariners last month, the St. Louis Cardinals made official what was already obvious: This is a pivotal year for former first-round pick Tyler Greene.
The 30th overall selection in that talent-stacked 2005 draft, Greene has yet to gain a footing in the majors. Injury slowed his ascent. Inconsistency has often returned him to Class AAA Memphis.
This spring, Greene will come to spring training as the favorite for the utility infielder role on the big-league bench. He is the only player the Cardinals have on their 40-man roster who projects as a backup shortstop for the majors this season. He could also be the team's alternative at third base and a righthanded option at second base - if, that is, he seizes the playing time headed his way. Last spring, he didn't. Given extra at-bats because of Ryan's recovery from wrist surgery, Greene faltered and was optioned out quickly. He resurfaced in the majors for 44 games and a .221/.328/.327 turn as a reserve for the Cardinals.
This offseason, Greene, 27, approached the Cardinals about getting some momentum going for spring. He volunteered to play winter ball and over the holidays he's gotten nine games and 31 at-bats in two different leagues. Greene recently joined the Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan Winter League, starting Sunday at shortstop and batting second. He went 0-for-4 with a couple strikeouts. In five games with Aragua, Greene is batting .200/.238/.200 with three strikeouts, four hits (all singles) and a walk. In a brief cameo in the Dominican Winter League, Greene hit .364/.462/.364 in four games.
Of course, he isn't the only one getting his passport stamped with at-bats this offseason. With the regular seasons over for the bigger leagues, here is a rundown of the Cardinals players who went abroad for baseball this winter:
EDUARDO SANCHEZ, RHP, Aragua (VWL): In 14 games with the Tigres, Sanchez, one of the top reliever prospects in the system, went 0-1, 10.13 ERA in 14 games. He had command problems, walking 12 and striking out eight in 10 2/3 innings. Sanchez was one of the Cardinals' reps at last year's Futures Game, and despite a slight build Sanchez has a fastball with pop. He'll be a top 10 prospect when the Baseball America Top 30 is released later this month. From that scouting report: "His fastball has been described as ‘light', as opposed to heavy and boring. Sanchez's slider has good depth and terrorizes righthanded hitters."
AMAURY CAZANA, OF, Culiacan (LMP): The legend hit .268/.322/.452 in Mexico's winter league, and his team is now in the playoffs. He had a base hit Sunday while starting in right field. At 36, Cazana is hardly the typical minor leaguer and there is no real clear spot for the Cuban in the Cardinals' organization. Yet, he keeps cranking. At Memphis last season, Cazana hit .305/.353/.496 with 13 homers in 78 games. He had nine homers in 66 games this winter and 42 RBIs. Of his 70 hits, 28 went for extra bases for Culiacan.
ANDREW BROWN, INF, Margarita (VWL): After mashing 22 homers for Double-A Springfield this past season, Brown, 26, went to Venezuela for 16 games this offseason. Brown, taken in the 18th round out of the University of Nebraska in 2007, hit .294/.345/.373 with four doubles and 13 strikeouts in 51 at-bats. Brown spent time in November with the league. Brown had a .897 OPS in 98 games with Springfield. An oblique strain cut into his playing time this past season, but still he tied for the Springfield lead with 22 homers and was among the team leaders in total bases, runs scored and RBIs. He was twice a player of the week in the Texas League.
ANTONIO DeJESUS, OF, Mayaguez (PWL): The 16th-round pick out of the University of Kentucky in 2007, DeJesus hit .206/.336/.339 at Springfield this past season, though he was limited to 184 at-bats. Seeking to make up for some lost swings, DeJesus played in Puerto Rico's winter league. There he hit .343/.395/.429 in 25 games with Indios de Mayaguez. He had 35 at-bats in those 25 games, and six came in one game in the middle of December. In a final burst at the end of the month, DeJesus got three starts and went 5-for-9 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored.
JOSE GARCIA, 2B, Aragua (VWL): After splitting 126 games at High-A and Double-A this past season, the Venezuelan native returned home for ample playing time with the Tigres. Garcia, who turns 23 in a month, hit .227/.294/.253 in 31 games with Aragua. He had two doubles, 13 strikeouts and seven walks. He finished the regular season on a five-game hitting streak, batting .292 in his final eight games. Garcia hit .259/.316/.354 in 77 games with Springfield last summer.
MANUEL DE LA CRUZ, LHP, Mexicali (LMP): A 43rd-round pick by the Cardinals in 2009, the 20-year-old lefty went 4-2, 1.85 in 28 relief appearances for the Gulf Coast League affiliate. He had 43 strikeouts and eight walks in 34 innings, holding opponents to a .182 batting average. Playing up several leagues this winter in Mexica, the Imperial Valley College alum was 3-1 with 7.31 ERA in 15 games (one start). He had 20 strikeouts and 18 walks in 28 1/3 innings, and he allowed four home runs.
HECTOR HERNANDEZ, LHP, Mayaguez (PWL): The Puerto Rico native scored 16 games (three starts) for Indios de Mayaguez.He was 0-1, 2.59 ERA in his 24 1/3 innings. He struck out 17, walked 14 and did not allow a homer in his appearances. Hernandez, who turns 20 next month, was taken by the Cardinals in the 19th round of the 2009 draft. He was 0-2 with a 6.85 ERA in 14 games (seven starts) with rookie-level Johnson City. There he struck out 44 and walked 12 in 44 2/3 innings, while also allowing seven homers. He pitched in the JC-Cards' final game before their title run in the postseason, and the lefty allowed six runs (all earned) on six hits in 2/3 innings to bloat his ERA.
JOSE RADA, RHP, Aragua (VWL): The 22-year-old right went 0-1, 3.50 ERA in 14 relief appearances for Tigres de Aragua. He had 11 strikeouts and six walks in 18 innings pitched. Signed as a free agent out of Venezuela in 2005, Rada spent last summer in Batavia and Quad Cities, working his way from the short-season Class A club to the Low-A River Bandits. Overall, he went 6-1, 1.26 ERA in 32 relief appearances, striking out 54 against 16 walks in 43 innings. He was an All-Star in the New York-Penn League and arguably the Cardinals' best reliever at that affiliate with a 1.13 ERA, 10 saves and 33 strikeouts in 24 innings.
RICHARD MENDOZA, RHP, Caguas (PWL): Still a teenager, Mendoza went 2-0 with a 3.09 ERA in nine relief appearances for Criollas de Caguas. He threw 11 2/3 innings this winter with an ERA-defying 13 walks and five strikeouts. Mendoza spent last season with the Cardinals Gulf Coast League club, going 0-1, 10.00 ERA in 14 relief appearances. The same control problems he had in the winter were there this past summer, his first with a domestic affiliate. Mendoza, a 6-foot-1 righty, was drafted in the 25th round this past summer out of a high school in Puerto Rico.
LUIS MATEO, 2B, Carolina (PWL): In 10 games, the 20-year-old infielder went .154/.154/.154 with five strikeouts in 13 at-bats. He got 358 at-bats as regular with Low-A Quad Cities last season. He hit .249/.335/.372 in those at-bats with 10 steals in 18 attempts. He had 100 strikeouts and 60 runs in 99 games.
There were other Cardinal minor-leaguers who had brief turns with winter leagues. Presenting a handful of them in dot-dot-dot fashion: INF Jose Martinez (Springfield) hit .143/.200/.286 in five games with Aragua. ... 3B Romulo Ruiz (Johnson City) hit .250/.250/.313 in fif gaves with Zulia in the VWL. ... LHP Iden Nazario (Johnson City) was 0-0, 27.00 ERA in two games for a total of 2/3 of an inning with San Juan in the PWL. He walked three and allowed six runs (two earned) in his brief appearances. ... C Kevin Moscatel (GCL Cardinals) had four at-bats in four games and one hit for Anzoategui in the VWL. The Venezuelan native is 19, and in 28 games with the GCL Cardinals this past summer he hit .283/.374/.380. He was signed as a free agent in 2007 at age 16 for $350,000.
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