2015 Cardinal Prospect Primer Jay Tierney Table of Contents 2014 System Review ................................................................................................................................. 3 2014 Top 50 Prospects Revisited ............................................................................................................ 5 2014 Draft Recap ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Oscar Taveras (1992-2014) ................................................................................................................... 11 2014 System Additions ............................................................................................................................ 13 2014 System Losses ............................................................................................................................... 15 2014 MLB Debuts..................................................................................................................................... 18 2014 Positions Players ............................................................................................................................ 20 Catcher ...................................................................................................................................................... 21 First Base .................................................................................................................................................. 27 Second Base ............................................................................................................................................. 31 Third Base ................................................................................................................................................. 35 Shortstops ................................................................................................................................................. 38 Outfielders ................................................................................................................................................. 46 2014 Pitchers ............................................................................................................................................ 59 Right Handed Pitchers ............................................................................................................................. 60 Left Handed Pitchers ............................................................................................................................... 88 2014 Arizona Fall League Report .......................................................................................................... 99 2015 Free Agents ................................................................................................................................... 101 2014 Rule V Eligible Players ................................................................................................................ 105 2015 Top 50 Prospects ......................................................................................................................... 107 Not Every Prospect Will Make It .......................................................................................................... 109 2014 Cardinal Minor League Press Releases ................................................................................... 110 Index ......................................................................................................................................................... 119 2 2014 System Review Minor League baseball is complicated business. Each Major League team has a specific amount of affiliates; these affiliates normally are separate entities from the big league club. Recently, teams have started to purchase minor league affiliates to build some stability within their organization. If an affiliated minor league team is not owned by the franchise, they sign 2 or 4 year agreements for affiliation. The Cardinals started the season owning Springfield, Palm Beach, and Johnson City, while also maintaining control of their Gulf Coast League and Dominican Summer League teams. During the season, the franchise announced that they had officially bought the Memphis Redbirds (with the City of Memphis purchasing the stadium). The Cardinals also announced that they agreed to 2 year extension with the State College Spikes and a 4 year extension with the Peoria Chiefs. The Spikes are currently the Cardinals Short Season A affiliate and will continue to partner with the team through 2016 while the Chiefs are the Low A affiliate until 2020. Memphis Redbirds League: Pacific Coast League (AAA) Final Record: 79-64, .552%, 1st place Playoffs: Eliminated in first round Coaches: Ron “Pop” Warner (Mgr), Mark Budaska (Hitting), Bryan Eversgerd (Pitching) Springfield Cardinals League: Texas League (AA) Final Record: 68-72, .486%, 3rd place Coaches: Mike Shildt (Mgr), Erik Pappas (Hitting), Randy Niemann (Pitching) Palm Beach Cardinals League: Florida State League (Hi A) Final Record: 76-63, .547%, 4th place Coaches: Dann Bilardello (Mgr), Roger Lafrancois (Hitting), Ace Adams (Pitching), Ricky Meinhold (Coach) Peoria Chiefs League: Midwest League (Lo A) Final Record: 72-67, .518%, 3rd place tie Coaches: Joe Krunzel (Mgr), Jobel Jimenez (Hitting), Jason Simontacchi (Pitching), Steve Moritz (Coach) State College Spikes League: New York-Penn League (SS A) Final Record: 48-28, .632%, 1st place Playoffs: Won NY-Penn League Championship Coaches: Oliver Marmol (Mgr), Ramon Ortiz (Hitting), Dernier Orozco (Pitching) Johnson City Cardinals League: Appalachian League (Rookie) Final Record: 37-31, .544%, 2nd place Playoffs: Won Appalachian League Championship Coaches: Johnny Rodriguez (Mgr), Chris Swauger (Hitting), Paul Davis (Pitching) Gulf Coast League Cardinals League: Gulf Coast League (Rookie) 3 Final Record: 37-23, .617%, 1st place Playoffs: Eliminated in first round Coaches: Steve Turco (Mgr), Kleininger Teran (Hitting), Darwin Marrero (Pitching) Dominican Summer League Cardinals League: Dominican Summer League (Rookie) Final Record: 22-48, .314%, 9th place Coaches: Fray Peniche (Mgr), John Matos (Hitting), Bill Villanueva (Pitching) 4 2014 Top 50 Prospects Revisited Here is my original list: Rank Player Pos 2015 Notes 1. Oscar Taveras OF R.I.P. 2. Carlos Martinez RHP 3. Kolten Wong 2B 4. Marco Gonzales LHP 5. Stephen Piscotty OF 6. Rob Kaminsky LHP 7. Carson Kelly C 8. Alex Reyes RHP 9. Charlie Tilson OF 10. James Ramsey OF Traded to Cleveland Indians 11. Tim Cooney LHP 12. Mike O’Neill OF 13. Tyrell Jenkins RHP Traded to Atlanta Braves 14. Randal Grichuk OF 15. Patrick Wisdom 3B 16. Oscar Mercado SS 17. Breyvic Valera 2B 18. Anthony Garcia OF 19. Jordan Swagerty RHP 20. Zach Petrick RHP 21. Lee Stoppelman LHP 22. Cody Stanley C 23. C.J. McElroy OF 24. John Gast LHP 25. Colin Walsh 2B Released 26. Mason Katz 2B 27. Silfredo Garcia RHP 28. Greg Garcia SS 29. Steve Bean C 30. Malik Collymore 2B 31. Nick Longmire OF Released 32. Max Foody LHP Retired 33. Robert Stock RHP 34. Nick Petree RHP 35. Rafael Ortega OF 36. Tyler Lyons LHP 37. Chris Rivera 2B 38. Steven Farinaro RHP 39. Andrew Pierce RHP Suspended for PEDs; Retired 40. Seth Blair RHP 41. Dewin Perez LHP 42. Ian McKinney LHP 43. Boone Whiting RHP 44. Kurt Heyer RHP 45. Mike Mayers RHP 46. Victor DeLeon RHP Released 47. Jimmy Reed LHP 48. Kenny Peoples-Walls OF 49. Kyle Barraclough RHP 50. Starlin Rodriguez OF I’m not very happy with this list. I left off some pitchers on the 40-man roster (Keith Butler, Eric Fornataro, Sam Freeman, Jorge Rondon), which is a major oversight. Then there were some really good prospects that I just flat out forgot. 5 Aledmys Diaz was left off the list due to the time that he signed. If I were to add him, he’s be around 26. I still think he’s nothing more than a utility player with marginal defense. Some of the younger guys would be higher for potential. I actually like Greg Garcia better, since he has a little pop and a better defensive profile. Garcia would be moved up to reflect this. I’d move John Gast up to 16; the ranking I had for him wasn’t horrible, but he’s a better pitcher than I gave him credit for. The Cardinals are lucky a team didn’t grab him when they outrighted him off the 40- man roster; he’s pitching well this year, now that he’s healthy and he didn’t look too bad in his 3 starts last year. I’d move Zach Petrick up to 15 and slide Jordan Swagerty down to 24. The other player that should have been higher is Kenny Peoples-Walls; I was down on the fact that he was being moved to the outfield and put him about 15 spots too low. I would have included Vaughn Bryan in the 26-30 range. He’s got a lot of potential, but there are too many players that tear up short-season ball only to sputter once they get to a full season league (Niko Vazquez and Nick Longmire for example). Tommy Pham should have also been included; he’s been in the system forever, so it’s hard to remember he’s still pretty young. If he’s healthy and can continue to hit in Triple A, the outfield logjam has been added too. I didn’t include Juan Herrera, Dixon Llorens, Jonathan Rodriguez, Edmundo Sosa, Sam Tuivailala, Boone Whiting, and Jacob Wilson, which I regret. On the flip side, I probably should have moved down or even left off Colin Walsh, Silfredo Garcia, the previously mentioned Longmire and Cody Stanley. I also included