SB Nation User Blog: DJ87

sad but true (Cards OPS leaders)

DJ87 — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 03:05:11 -0000

OPS (or on base plus sluggling) is regarded as a fairly good stat to show a players overall offensive output. I was looking at the Cards OPS leaders and noticed something quite unsettling. Here are the OPS leaders for the Cards

Pujols .876
Duncan .862
Wainwright .745
Wells .737
Rolen .721
Edmonds .706
Spiezio .705
Taguchi .680
Molina .679

10 Eckstien .660

Miles .648
Kennedy .585

Yes, I realize the sample sizes for the pitchers are extremely small, they are not likely to stay that high, Wells OPS is boosted signifcantly by his 1 HR, and our offense has picked it up recently, but how pathetic is it that 2 of the top 4 OPS on our team are pitchers. It really shows how putrid our offense has been. Maybe we should start Wells in right and Wainers at 2B when they aren't pitching. Haha. Anyways I found it interesting.

Saint Louis Billikens

DJ87 — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 05:20:37 -0000

Any fans of St. Louis sports will be happy to know that the only Division I basketball team in town Saint Louis U Billikens beat Xavier tonight 76-65. Probably SLU's best win of the year b/c Xavier is arguably the best team in the A-10. Tommie Liddell (East St. Louis) scored 21 points and Kevin Lisch (Altoff) added 19. Xavier played mostly zone to stop SLU center Ian Vouyoukas and SLU's gaurds got some open looks from 3. GO BILLIKENS.

Here are some links to great sites for info on the Billikens
http://www.billikens.com/
http://slubillikens.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stlo-m-baskbl-body.html
http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/category/sports-billiken-beat
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/slu
http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/teams/page/STLOU

top 20 prospects at minorleagueball.com

DJ87 — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 05:09:24 -0000

John Sickles posted his Preseason Top 20 Cardinals prospects along with grades, some commentary, and honorable mentions over at www.minorleagueball.com. Obviously #1 is Rasmus, but the surprise #3 is Jon Jay. Also former #1 pick Chris Lambert fails to make the list. And thank god no Rick Ankiel on the list this year

here is the link
http://www.minorleagueball.com/story/2006/12/24/213814/46#commenttop

Torre Manager of the Year???

DJ87 — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 04:38:21 -0000

I believe that Joe Torre should be manager of the year. WHAT????? Baseball writers would probably say that I am crazy because surely Jim Leyland should win it. He took the Tigers from a crappy team struggling to be .500 to the team with the best record in baseb....wait a minute...the Tigers no longer have the best record the Yanks do. Well well. Also the Tiger slide of late has something to do with Leyland's insistance on playing Nefi Perez who belongs nowhere near a baseball diamond. Meanwhile Joe Torre has lead a club that has had injuries to major contributors and perrenial all-stars such as Matsui, Sheffield, Mussina, Rivera, Cano and a season long slump by one of the best players in baseball to the best record in baseball. For me Torre at least deserves consideration and when you look at it he probably deserves to win.

Yankees Rotation 2008 and beyond

DJ87 — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 01:55:28 -0000

Okay I realize its only been a couple of games for Karstens and just one game now by Rasner, but these young starting pitchers are looking pretty good. The Yankees also have some talent in the minors with Tyler Clippard and Phillip Hughes at AA. And one young pitcher already pretty dominant in the MLB (Wang). In 2008 their rotation could be literally stocked with young pitching (no more old men like Moose and RJ). 2008 is the last year of Pavano's contract, but I think we all know where he will be pitching or should I say not pitching (the DL). Anyways here is what the Yankees 2008 rotation could/should look like and what their ages will be opening day 2008:

Chien-Ming Wang 28
Phillip Hughes 21
Jeff Karstens 25
Tyler Clippard 23
Darrell Rasner 27

Now none of these young guns will cost the Yankees much with the exception of Wang who will be arbitration eligable and will likely be making 8 million or so. The rest will make league minimum. That mean the entire rotation will be being paid around $10 million. Right now RJ, Moose, Pavano, and Wright are making about $51 Million combined. That my friends is the value of good young pitching. With only $10 million invested in the starting rotation that will leave about $190 to be spent on the bullpen and position players. Damon, Matsui, Jeter, A-Rod, Cano, and Cabrera will all still be under contract. JB Cox will likely be in the bullpen making the league minimum. As long as George doesn't have Cashman trade away the young talent and they all avoid injuries (two big ifs), the Yankees will be stocked in 2008 with cheap young pitching and they should have the best offense and bullpen in baseball with all of the money they will have left over.

September Call Ups

DJ87 — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:36:42 -0000

I did a quick scan of MLB.com and stltoday.com and couldn't find any info on guys the Cards have called up since rosters can expand to 40 in Semptember. Here are some guys that I think the Cardinals should consider bringing up to give veterans some rest and/or get them some playing time (we do have a 5 game lead now which means we can probably afford to let some guys get their feet wet). Mike? Rose a catcher at Memphis has already been called up to replace Mudler's roster spot and Anthony Reyes will fill his spot in the rotation. Here are some other I think should get a call up:
Pitchers
Chris Narveson (lefty in the 'pen)
Josh Kinney (middle relief)
Brad Thompson (middle relief)
John Webb (spot start maybe)

Hitters
Skip Schumaker (backup OF)
Amaury Marti (backup OF/strongman)
Brendan Ryan or John Nelson (backup SS)
Junior Spivey (backup IF)

There are probably a few others I missed so post them if you want to or any news on guys we actually called up.

For the Love of LOOGYs

DJ87 — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 05:35:57 -0000

It has become apparent over the past few games that the Cardinals left handed relievers are absolutly terrible. Flores was okay last year, but just doesn't have it this year and TJ is probably just as bad. I have heard the arguement that they are good against lefties and Tony leaves them in to get pounded against righties which is why their stats suck. Seemed reasonable to me, but the problem is that they don't do their job and that is why they often have to face righties. For example if a lineup goes L - R - L, I think Tony will bring in Flores (or Johnson) often to face the first lefty, he anticpates walking the righty and then getting the other lefty out. This often doesn't work because Flores (or Johnson) walks the 1st lefty or gives up a hit. It seems like there are often situations similar to his. Anyways I looked at the numbers finally and realized that while our LOOGYs are terrible against righties, they are not good against lefties either mediocre at best.

Randy Flores
vs Lefties
19.2 IP, 2.29 ERA, 8 BB, 1.32 WHIP, .278 SLGA, .333 OBA, .250 BAA
vs Righties
13.0 IP, 9.69 ERA, 8 BB, 2.31 WHIP, .532 SLGA, .423 OBA, .355 BAA

Actually okay verses lefties, but not dominant like you want from a LOOGY, low slugging against seems good, but it doesn't matter if Randy gives up a single or a triple to lefty because the righty behind him is going to crush Randy. NOTE TO TONY: There is no reason Flores should have 13 IP vs. RH batters.

Tyler Johnson
vs. Lefties
14 IP, 9 BB, 1.50 WHIP, .352 SLGA, .328 OBA, .222 BAA
vs Righties
10.1 IP, 9 BB, 2.03 WHIP, .500 SLGA, .451 OBA, .300 BAA
Tyler's numbers are worse 4.50 ERA vs LHs isn't acceptable. another NOTE TO TONY: TJ should not have 10.1 IP vs RH batters or be pitching in the major leagues

In my opinion both of our LOOGYs walk far to many batters to be effective and while they are better against lefties they aren't as good against them as they need to be.

Just for reference
Josh Hancock vs Lefties
26.1 IP, 7 BB, 1.06 WHIP, .398 SLGA, .264 OBA, .214 BAA
Izzy vs Lefties
18.1 IP, 16 BB, 1.80 WHIP, .394 SLGA, .379 OBA, .239 BAA

Seems like Hancock could do just as good against Lefties (maybe better) than TJ or Flores and guess what HE CAN GET RIGHTIES OUT TOO!!!!

We need to do something to solve this LOOGY problem. While Walt looks for a decent starter and someone who can hit a lefthanded pitcher, he should also look for a good LOOGY. While Walt does this Tony can do his part by stoping his use of TJ/Flores against righties.

Winners at the trade deadline

DJ87 — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 01:19:07 -0000

Well the Cardinals acquisitions of Ronnie "Thug 4 Life" Belliard and Jorge "Don't call me Sammy" Sosa were pretty underwhelming. Some other teams such as the Yankees, Rangers, Dodgers, Reds and others added quality players. I was wondering who the VEB community thinks improved their position the most at the deadline. Please vote for who you think was the big winner among the buyers (I might do sellers later) at the deadline. Also post some comments about why you think whatever team improved the most. Remember this isn't just who added the biggest names, but who improved their team the most, who most increased their chances of making the playoffs or winning a WS. Also consider what each team gave up and how much money they took on.

P.S. I may have forgotten a few guys or a team that should be considered. If so just write them in a comment.

Poll

Who was the winner among the buyers at the trade deadline?

Other

0 votes

Yankees (Bobby Abreu, Cory Lidle, Craig Wilson)

44 votes

Cardinals (Belliard, Sosa, Weaver)

0 votes

Dodgers (Betemit, Lugo, Maddux)

7 votes

Astros (Huff)

0 votes

Rangers (Stairs, Carlos Lee, Kip Wells)

12 votes

Mariners (Eduardo Perez, Ben Broussard)

0 votes

Reds (Lohse, Cormier, Guardado, other RP)

5 votes

Tigers (Sean Casey)

5 votes

Braves (Aybar, Baez, Wickman)

0 votes

73 votes | Poll has closed

Community Top 20 Cardinals Prospects Summary

DJ87 — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 02:52:13 -0000

Well the community top 20 list is finally finished. I'd like to thank everyone who voted and everyone who posted comments to help me know when to put people into the polls. Here is the final list along with some info on them, comments about the player from me, my view on their expected spot when they reach the big leagues, and their appox. ETA for reaching the majors. Some of my info might be wrong, but to the best of my knowledge it is correct. My projections could be off or irrational (I tried to make them conservative). Obviously with prospects anything (injury, etc.) can happen.

Rank. Name, Pos, Age, Level, Draft Pos, % of vote (runner up)
1. Colby Rasmus, OF, 19, High-A, 1st Round 28th Overall 2005, 83% of vote (Garcia 9%)
Easily the Cardinals best (only real) hitting prospect and their best overall prospect. 5-tool player.
Expected Positon: starting CF
ETA: 2009
2. Jamie Garcia, SP, 20, High-A, 22nd Round 680th Overall 2005, 41% of vote (Hawksworth 21%)
Probably the Cards best pitching prospect. Has good stuff and good pitchability.
Expected Position: 3rd Starter
ETA: 2009
3. Blake Hawksworth, SP, 23, AA, 28th Round 854th Overall 2001, 49% of vote (Ottavino 27%)
Back after a couple of injury plagued years. Pitched well at High-A and ok at AA so far.
Expected Positon: 4th Starter
ETA: mid-2008
4. Adam Ottavino, SP, 20, Low-A, 1st Round 30th Overall 2006, 52% of vote (Anderson 22%)
Probably has the 2nd highest potential in the organization next to Rasmus. 91-94 mph fastball. Good slider. Solid Curveball.
Expected Position: #2 Starter
ETA: 2010
5. Bryan Anderson, C, 19, Low-A, 4th Round 140th Overall 2005, 44% of vote (McCormick 20%)
Good hitter, needs to develop power to become a regular in the bigs. Needs to work on blocking balls to stay at C.
Expected Pos: Backup C, 1B
ETA: 2010
6. Mark McCormick, SP, 22, Low-A, 1st Round 43rd Overall 2005, 38% of vote (Pomeranz 32%)
Electric fastball around 97mph. No control at all. Could be a top of the rotation starter if he finds some control, if not he could be a reliever.
Expected Pos: #3 Starter or set-up man
ETA: mid 2009
7. Stu Pomeranz, SP, 21, AA, 2nd Round 65th Overall 2003, 53% of vote (Hamilton 19%)
Not great stuff, but he gets the job done. Fastball around 90 mph.
Expected Pos: 5th starter or long reliever
ETA: 2008
8. Cody Haerther, OF, 23, AA, 6th Round 192nd Overall 2002, 30% of vote (Hamilton 27%)
Has hit better recently after struggling early. Needs to develop power in order to start in big leagues.
Expected Pos: Backup OF
ETA: late-2007
9. Mark Hamilton, 1B, 21, Low-A, 2nd Round 76th Overall 2006, 34% of vote (Green 19%)
Probably the best power hitter in the Cards minor league system. Blocked at 1B by Pujols.
Expected Pos: starting 1B or corner OF
ETA: 2010
10. Tyler Greene, SS, 22, Low-A, 1st Round 30th Overall 2005, 33% of vote (Jay 25%)
Struggled at High-A, now tearing up Low-A. Needs to move quickly through the system now since 22 is old for Low-A.
Expected Pos: starting SS or utility IF
ETA: 2009
11. Jon Jay, OF, 21, Low-A, 2nd Round 74th Overall 2006, 30% of vote (Narveson 21%)
Speedy OF. Hitting well at Low-A.
Expected Pos: backup OF
ETA: 2009
12. Chris Narveson, SP, 24, AAA, 2nd Round 53rd Overall 2000, 40% of vote (Perez 20%)
Back after being traded for Larry Walker. Stuggled with COL and BOS. Pitchin well at AAA Memphis.
Expected Pos: 4th/5th Starter
ETA: 2008
13. Chris Perez, RP, 21, Low-A, 1st Round 42nd Overall 2006, 25% of vote (Marti 20%)
College closer shold move quickly through organization.
Expected Pos: Closer or Set-up
ETA: 2008
14. Mitchell Boggs, SP, 22, High-A, 5th Round 170th Overall 2005, 40% of vote (Worrel/Hearne 15%)
Has pitched well at Palm Beach after a rough start to the year.
Expected Pos: 5th Starter or long reliever
ETA: mid-2009
15. Chris Lambert, SP, 23, AAA, 1st Round 19th Overall 2004, 54% of vote (Marti 13%)
Former #1 pick has good stuff, but has yet to impress in minors.
Expected Pos: 2nd/3rd starter (if he gets it together) or middle reliever
ETA: 2008
16. Mark Worrell, RP, 23, AA, 12th Round 360th Overall 2004, 27% of vote (Hearne/Marti 18%)
No relation to Todd Worrell. Nice arm in the bullpen.
Expected Pos: middle reliever
ETA: mid-2007
17. Trey Hearne, SP/RP, 22, Low-A, 28th Round 860th Overall 2005, 32% of vote (Marti 21%)
VEB fan favorite seemed to have a good head in interview. 90-92 mph fastball. Decent curve.
Expected Pos: 5th starter or long reliever
ETA: late-2009
18. Amaury Marti, OF, 31, AA, 556th Overall 2006, 43% of vote (Stavinoha 23%)
Mystery man from Cuba. Strongest player in Cards minor leagues.
Expected Pos: Backup corner OF
ETA: late-2007
19. Nick Stavinoha, OF, 24, AA, 7th Round 230th Overall 2005, 40% of vote (Webber 27%)
Decent OF prospect. Needs to hit a little more to make it to big leagues
Expected Pos: Backup OF
ETA: 2008
20. Nick Webber, SP, 22, High-A, 2nd Round 78th Overall 2005, 36% of vote (Parisi 21%)
Will probably move to the bullpen, but is holding his own as a starter in AA
Expected Pos: Set-up man
ETA: mid-2008

Others to watch (no particular order): Mike Parisi, Eric Haberer, Tyler Norrick, Brad Furnish, Jose Martinez, Randy Roth, Cory Meacham, Jonathan Edwards, Tommy Pham, Eddie Degerman, A.J. Van Slyke, Brandon Yarbrough, Shaun Boyd, Andy Cavazos, Travis Hanson, Brendan Ryan, Daryl Jones, Shane Robinson, Matt North, Tyler Herron, Blake King, Elvis Hernandez, Nathan Southard

Links
Here is the link to the Cards minor league page
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/minorleagues/team_index.jsp?c_id=stl
Here is the link to a minor league splits database
http://minorleaguesplits.com/cgi-bin/org.cgi?org=St.
Here is the link to a top 15 list at Cardsbaseball.net
http://www.cardsbaseball.net/Prospects.php?area=List&author=Lance
Here is the link to John Sickles Mid-Season review of the Preseason Top 20
http://www.minorleagueball.com/story/2006/7/3/20565/56191

Again thanks for voting. Please feel free to comment if I missed anything or screwed something up. Mention any others to watch or any info on players. Or just vent about how messed up the list is or whatever.

Community Top 20 Cardinals Prospects (#20 Prospect Poll)

DJ87 — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 21:21:30 -0000

Looks like Nick Stavinoha will win the #19 spot. So here is what the Community top 20 looks like so far.

1. Colby Rasmus, OF, 19, High-A
2. Jamie Garcia, SP, 20, High-A
3. Blake Hawksworth, SP, 23, AA
4. Adam Ottavino, SP, 20, Low-A
5. Bryan Anderson, C, 19, Low-A
6. Mark McCormick, SP, 22, Low-A
7. Stu Pomeranz, SP, 21, AA
8. Cody Haerther, OF, 23, AA
9. Mark Hamilton, 1B, 21, Short-season
10. Tyler Greene, SS, 22, Low-A
11. Jon Jay, OF, 21, Low-A
12. Chris Narveson, SP, 24, AAA
13. Chris Perez, RP, 21, Low-A
14. Mitchell Boggs, SP, 22, High-A
15. Chris Lambert, SP, 23, AAA
16. Mark Worrell, RP, 23, AA
17. Trey Hearne, SP/RP, 22, Low-A
18. Amaury Marti, OF, 31, AA
19. Nick Stavinoha, OF, 24, AA
20. ??????????????????

So lets move on the #20 spot. As always if you voted for someone else at a previous spot vote for them here. And if you vote other please write a comment saying who you voted for.

If you want to make a case for someone in the poll, post that please.

Also you can see past polls (that I have deleted) by clicking the polls link, so go ahead and vote on those if you didn't get a chance.

Thanks for voting everyone.

Poll

Who is the Cardinals #20 Prospect?

Mike Parisi, SP, 23, AA

13 votes

Brad Furnish, SP, 21, Short Season

4 votes

Eric Haberer, SP, 23, AA

5 votes

Tyler Norrick, SP, 22, Low-A

1 votes

Jose Martinez, IF, 20, Low-A

6 votes

Randy Roth, IF, 24, Low-A

8 votes

Other (Please Specify in a comment)

2 votes

Nick Webber, SP, 22, High-A

22 votes

61 votes | Poll has closed