Baseball is Finally Here!!!

[Memento]

Cards have signed Dexter Fowler. I know it's late, but I want to bump this thread because it will help the Cards ascend to champions again!

 

[Boston Ram]

Cards have signed Dexter Fowler. I know it's late, but I want to bump this thread because it will help the Cards ascend to champions again!

World Series runs through Boston this year lol.

 

[Memento]

World Series runs through Boston this year lol.

I admit that you made some shrewd moves. Getting Sale to go along with Price and Porcello was a stroke of brilliance. I just wonder how you'll do against the Yankees (who have several good prospects ready to make the jump to the majors) and the Blue Jays (assuming they re-sign Bautista and Encarnacion). I have to admit that you have good outfielders in Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts. I wonder about your infield. Pedroia's not getting any younger, Panda sucks, you've lost Ortiz, your shortstop has injury concerns, etc.

The Cardinals, on the other hand, have improved their infield by moving Carpenter to first. Gyorko at third, Wong at second, and Diaz at shortstop is a pretty damn good infield. We still have Molina at catcher with Carson Kelly ready to ascend to the starting job. Fowler allows Grichuk to shift to left and allows Piscotty more of a breather in right.

And there's also our outstanding stable of pitchers. Oh was great as a closer, Wacha and Rosenthal are being stretched out in the bullpen to give us flexibility, our big ticket left handed reliever Cecil was awesome for the Jays, and our starters. Dear fate, our starters. Imagine Waino, Carlos "Tsunami" Martinez, Reyes, Lynn back from Tommy John, an improved Leake, and Gonzales, Weaver, and (possibly) Gomber in Triple-A, ready to be called up.

We can trade Peralta and Adams for prospects. Speaking of prospects, we've got a lot of good ones. We may not be in the top ten for prospects, but what we have are many talented players, especially right-handed pitchers. We have arguably the deepest pool of right-handed pitching prospects in the league. Reyes, Weaver, Flaherty, Fernandez, Alcantara, Hudson, Woodford, Jones, Gallen, Williams, Sejias, Dobzanski, etc.

Our position players are no slouches either. Bader, Perez, Sierra, Sosa, Plummer, DeJong, Carlson, Denton, Machado, and Garcia are all top thirty prospects who are the future of our organization.

I know that this is a long-winded post, but I truly believe that the Cardinals are going to be a force in the league for years to come.

 

[OldSchool]

The national league is going to be crazy competitive this year. Can't wait for spring training.

 

[Boston Ram]

I admit that you made some shrewd moves. Getting Sale to go along with Price and Porcello was a stroke of brilliance. I just wonder how you'll do against the Yankees (who have several good prospects ready to make the jump to the majors) and the Blue Jays (assuming they re-sign Bautista and Encarnacion). I have to admit that you have good outfielders in Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts. I wonder about your infield. Pedroia's not getting any younger, Panda sucks, you've lost Ortiz, your shortstop has injury concerns, etc.

The Cardinals, on the other hand, have improved their infield by moving Carpenter to first. Gyorko at third, Wong at second, and Diaz at shortstop is a pretty damn good infield. We still have Molina at catcher with Carson Kelly ready to ascend to the starting job. Fowler allows Grichuk to shift to left and allows Piscotty more of a breather in right.

And there's also our outstanding stable of pitchers. Oh was great as a closer, Wacha and Rosenthal are being stretched out in the bullpen to give us flexibility, our big ticket left handedd reliever Cecil was awesome for the Jays, and our starters. Dear fate, our starters. Imagine Waino, Carlos "Tsunami" Martinez, Reyes, Lynn back from Tommy John, an improved Leake, and Gonzales, Weaver, and (possibly) Gomber in Triple-A, ready to be called up.

We can trade Peralta and Adams for prospects. Speaking of prospects, we've got a lot of good ones. We may not be in the top ten for prospects, but what we have are many talented players, especially right-handed pitchers. We have arguably the deepest pool of right-handed pitching prospects in the league. Reyes, Weaver, Flaherty, Fernandez, Alcantara, Hudson, Woodford, Jones, Gallen, Williams, Seijas, Dobzanski, etc.

Our position players are no slouches either. Bader, Perez, Sierra, Sosa, Plummer, DeJong, Carlson, Denton, Machado, and Garcia are all top thirty prospects who are the future of our organization.

I know that this is a long-winded post, but I truly believe that the Cardinals are going to be a force in the league for years to come.

Cardinals are always a factor and you have some nice power arms there. I have always loved Carp, just a gritty good hitter. So hard to pitch to. Your issue is you play with Cubs.

Love your knowledge of the Sox. Pedroia is coming off his best year and will see time at DH this year to save him from himself lol. Bogaerts doesnt have any injury concerns though. He is also going to be 24 and only getting better. Panda does suck lol, but google his picture right now......you wont even recognize him he has lost so much weight.

Love our outfield, Betts, Bradley and Bennatendi. Young, fast and good. Probably the best defensive outfield in baseball. The infield defense is ok, Pedroia is a gold glove, Bogaerts is above average and Pandy is above average defensively. Signing Moreland give us another gold glove at first base. We are also 3 deep at C, with Leon, Vasquez and Swihart.

Our AAA depth is poor but still have some really good prospects hitting AA next year.

 

[Memento]

Cardinals are always a factor and you have some nice power arms there. I have always loved Carp, just a gritty good hitter. So hard to pitch to. Your issue is you play with Cubs.

Love your knowledge of the Sox. Pedroia is coming off his best year and will see time at DH this year to save him from himself lol. Bogaerts doesnt have any injury concerns though. He is also going to be 24 and only getting better. Panda does suck lol, but google his picture right now......you wont even recognize him he has lost so much weight.

Love our outfield, Betts, Bradley and Bennatendi. Young, fast and good. Probably the best defensive outfield in baseball. The infield defense is ok, Pedroia is a gold glove, Bogaerts is above average and Pandy is above average defensively. Signing Moreland give us another gold glove at first base. We are also 3 deep at C, with Leon, Vasquez and Swihart.

Our AAA depth is poor but still have some really good prospects hitting AA next year.

Oh, I mistook Bogaerts for the Tigers' shortstop, Iglesias. I also forgot you had Benatendi. My bad. Sorry about that, Boston.

 

[Boston Ram]

Oh, I mistook Bogaerts for the Tigers' shortstop, Iglesias. I also forgot you had Benatendi. My bad. Sorry about that, Boston.

Please you know more about the Sox than a lot of people in Boston! You and I will have fun talking baseball this offseason and during the season. We just need to get @dieterbrock involved here too.

 

[dieterbrock]

Pitchers and Catchers report in 61 days!
http://www.springtrainingcountdown.com/#sthash.WFdwA5Yy.dpbs

 

[dieterbrock]

dup

 

[dieterbrock]

Please you know more about the Sox than a lot of people in Boston! You and I will have fun talking baseball this offseason and during the season. We just need to get @dieterbrock involved here too.

Man I miss Greg.
And it will be great to have a place to talk baseball
Could also use @PARAM input

 

[Boston Ram]

Man I miss Greg.
And it will be great to have a place to talk baseball
Could also use @PARAM input

Could not agree more.

 

[Memento]

According to MLB.com, Alex Reyes is the top right-handed pitching prospect, while Carson Kelly is the top catching prospect. Our farm system is stacked.

@Boston Ram I fully expect Devers to be ranked among the top third base prospects, and Benatendi to be ranked in the top outfield prospects. Jason Groome is the second-ranked left-handed pitching prospect, according to the same site.

@dieterbrock who's your team?

 

[dieterbrock]

According to MLB.com, Alex Reyes is the top right-handed pitching prospect, while Carson Kelly is the top catching prospect. Our farm system is stacked.

@Boston Ram I fully expect Devers to be ranked among the top third base prospects, and Benatendi to be ranked in the top outfield prospects. Jason Groome is the second-ranked left-handed pitching prospect, according to the same site.

@dieterbrock who's your team?

Die hard Yankees fan but oddly enough don't hate the Red Sox
Psyched to finally see a youth movement in the Bronx this year!

 

[OldSchool]

Baseball writers are a damned joke. Love that Bagwell got in though.

 

[Boston Ram]

According to MLB.com, Alex Reyes is the top right-handed pitching prospect, while Carson Kelly is the top catching prospect. Our farm system is stacked.

@Boston Ram I fully expect Devers to be ranked among the top third base prospects, and Benatendi to be ranked in the top outfield prospects. Jason Groome is the second-ranked left-handed pitching prospect, according to the same site.

@dieterbrock who's your team?

You definitely have the Top 3 correct although its hard to call Benintendi a prospect when he is likely the starting LF. Devers is still a couple of years away and Groome is even further away. The only legit AAA prospect right now is Sam Travis. If he is fully recovered from his ACL injury he will compete for a job with the big club. Could platoon with Moreland at 1st. Like Moreland has a great glove. Outside of them the Sox have no AAA talent that are legit long term solutions.

Keep an eye of out for Trey Ball and Bryan Mata (high A). The good news for the Red Sox they have time to restock the farm. Their core are all young and under control for at least another 3 years. Bogaerts, Betts, Bradley, Benintendi are all on rookie deals. Pedroia has 3 years left on a team friendly, Sandoval has 3 years left, and all their catchers are under team control. So there is not a lot of room on the MLB roster for a few years.

Do you really think your system is stacked? Reyes is a no brainer and I really like Harrison Bader, he reminds me of Benintendi. Im not as high on Kelly as you. Still a big guy, has adjust to change well enough, but can he call a game on his own yet? He also strikes out way too much right now. What about Luke Weaver too? He seems to have really good command of his pitches.

 

[Boston Ram]

Die hard Yankees fan but oddly enough don't hate the Red Sox
Psyched to finally see a youth movement in the Bronx this year!

We dont hate Yankee fans either but hope we can both be good again at the same time....Miss the rivalry.

 

[OldSchool]

Even with the promotions of Seager and Urias I'll put the Dodgers farm up against anybody's.

 

[Boston Ram]

Even with the promotions of Seager and Urias I'll put the Dodgers farm up against anybody's.

Dodgers have some interesting position prospects but they come with a lot of question marks. Bellinger has the swooping swing which typically leads to many strikes outs. There tends to be lots of holes pitchers can expose with his type of swing. Unless he shortens it up and hits for a better average, Im not sure he is anything more than a AAAA player. Verdugo I like a lot but not sure he is going to hit for much power. Has great instincts for CF but has the speed of a RFer. I dont know what to make of Calhoun. His approach at the plate is great and has a strong compact swing, but why is his average so low and his doubles total so down. There is also the question about what position does he play.

Love your pitching prospects though.

 

[Memento]

Die hard Yankees fan but oddly enough don't hate the Red Sox
Psyched to finally see a youth movement in the Bronx this year!

You do have a ton of players ready to make an impact. Frazier, Judge, Torres, Bird, Mateo, Rutherford, and Sheffield are all on a list in MLB's top 100 prospects. The Yankees and Red Sox could make that division something to watch.

You definitely have the Top 3 correct although its hard to call Benintendi a prospect when he is likely the starting LF. Devers is still a couple of years away and Groome is even further away. The only legit AAA prospect right now is Sam Travis. If he is fully recovered from his ACL injury he will compete for a job with the big club. Could platoon with Moreland at 1st. Like Moreland has a great glove. Outside of them the Sox have no AAA talent that are legit long term solutions.

Keep an eye of out for Trey Ball and Bryan Mata (high A). The good news for the Red Sox they have time to restock the farm. Their core are all young and under control for at least another 3 years. Bogaerts, Betts, Bradley, Benintendi are all on rookie deals. Pedroia has 3 years left on a team friendly, Sandoval has 3 years left, and all their catchers are under team control. So there is not a lot of room on the MLB roster for a few years.

Do you really think your system is stacked? Reyes is a no brainer and I really like Harrison Bader, he reminds me of Benintendi. Im not as high on Kelly as you. Still a big guy, has adjust to change well enough, but can he call a game on his own yet? He also strikes out way too much right now. What about Luke Weaver too? He seems to have really good command of his pitches.

Benintendi is still a prospect, according to MLB. Players have to hit 130 at bats/50 innings pitched and/or 45 games active (not counting injured reserve or September/October call-ups) in order to lose prospect status. I believe Benintendi is still a prospect, much like Reyes and Weaver are still prospects. Trey Ball is interesting. If he solves his control problems, he could be a very good left-handed pitcher. Also, Sam Travis is tenth in MLB's rankings for first basemen.

Kelly has called his own games since last year. He's focused on defense, and pitchers apparently love him. He does strike out a lot; when power is the name of the game, you tend to do that. He actually walked three times more than he struck out in the Arizona Fall League, so that - along with a season in Triple A - can only help him.

I love our system. We have a huge crop of right-handed pitching. I'm not as high on Weaver as you because he lacks a breaking ball, but he does control his offerings really well. Jack Flaherty is another right-handed pitcher who has dominated at High-A. In fact, there's two other pitchers in High A (Sandy Alcantara and Junior Fernandez) who have done well. We have two lefties in Austin Gomber and Marco Gonzales who should be up in the majors very soon. Dakota Hudson, our third first round pick last year, has hit Double A already, and he could see another year there. Connor Jones, Zac Gallen, Jake Woodford, Ronnie Williams, Johan Oviedo, and Alvaro Seijas are other right-handers in the system.

Now the hitters crop is led by Bader, but look out for Delvin Perez. Perez reminds me a lot of Francisco Lindor. Magneuris Sierra, Edmundo Sosa, and Nick Plummer have a ton of potential. Plummer had injured his left hand, but he should be ready to make a huge leap. Sierra and Sosa are fellow 2012 signings along with Reyes who play center and shortstop respectively. I fully expect Sosa to move to second because of Perez, though. Paul DeJong is a college bat who moved up to Double A last year. He could end up at third base for the Cardinals next year. Dylan Carlson and Bryce Denton are high-school bats who need to find a position, but can really tear the cover off of the ball. Randy Arozarena (Cuba) Jonathan Machado (Cuba), and Victor Garcia (Venezuela) are recent international signings who all have a ton of potential. I'm most intrigued by Garcia because he has raw plus-plus power, and once he gets into camp and works on his approach and contact, he could be a superstar in the making.

I know that I'm a homer, that not all of these prospects are going to make it to the big leagues. But our farm system, while not top heavy like the White Sox or Yankees or Red Sox or Dodgers, is still stacked.

 

[Boston Ram]

Nothing wrong with being a homer and the Cards have a pretty good track record. A ball for other teams I am clueless lol unless they were college players. Your system could be like Boston's right now. Not much at the top although you have a couple of nice pieces but heavy at low and high A.