A few interesting reading items today. Bryan Anderson is excited about his selection to the Futures Game. MiLB allows us to meet the Futures, with a focus on the catchers. Anderson is noted as the pick of the litter, but he still has work to do on his plate blocking skills. Brian Burwell floats the idea of trading Reyes and John Rodriguez for Mark Buehrle, and thinks giving up Anderson could tip the scales in favor of the Cardinals. No thanks, Burwell.
Chris Perez hopes to follow in Huston Street’s and Chad Cordero’s path.
Blake Hawksworth laments over his lost confidence as of late, and is looking to rebound.
- Rick Ankiel went deep for the 21st time this year.
- Travis Hanson went 2 for 2 with a HR.
- Jolbert Cabrera rejoined the team off the DL, going 1 for 3.
- Randy Keisler pitched 6 scoreless frames, then suddenly crumbled. He allowed 4 runs in the 7th, then Mark Worrell and Kelvin Jimenez allowed 2 more for a 7 run inning for the Zephyrs. Yeesh.
North All Stars 4, South All Stars 5
- Colby Rasmus went 1 for 2 with a walk, a steal and a strikeout.
- Sean Danielson went 1 for 2 with an RBI and a steal.
- Jarrett Hoffpauir and Bryan Anderson went 0 for 2 each.
- Jaime Garcia, Mitch Boggs and Chris Perez all did not allow a run in the innings they pitched.
- Allen Craig went 2 for 4.
- Starter Robert Ransom allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and walk, and didn’t strike out anyone.
- Trey Hearne allowed a solo HR and walked a couple of batters, while striking out 2 in relief.
- Donovan Solano went 2 for 4.
- Newcomer Tim Dorn went 0 for 3 but drew two walks and scored a run.
- Luke Gorsett went 2 for 4 with a double.
- Brad Furnish got knocked around a bit, allowing 3 runs on 7 his while striking out 4. He gave up 2 homers.
- Tyler Herron only struck out 1 batter, but allowed no runs on 3 hits and a walk.
- Kenny Maiques picked up his 17th save.
- Clayton Mortensen struck out 3 and walked 3 and allowed no runs on 1 hit over 3 innings, getting 5 ground ball outs.
- Thomas Eager got lit up, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits. He did strike out 6 over 3 innings.
- Oliver Marmol went 2 for 5 with 2 errors.
- Daniel Descalso went 2 for 4 with a stolen base.
- 2nd baseman Jose Garcia went 2 for 4 with a HR.
- Beau Riportella went 0 for 4 with 3 K’s. Beau apparently has a huge fan club because he’s in the lead for the best name poll we have on the sidebar. It’s a cool name, but it doesn’t beat Doggnt Bolivar.
- Mark Diapoules pitched 4.1 innings while allowing 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk, striking out 4. He was only charged for 1 earned run.
- As much as I’ve decried the nepotism of the Chuckie Fick pick, thus far he’s struck out 7 in 6.1 innings and is keeping it on the ground. He pitched 1.2 innings and allowed a walk and struck out 1 and getting 4 ground outs. He has a GO/AO rate of 7.00.
- On a rehab assignment with the kids, Gary Daley got HAMMERED. He pitched 1 inning and allowed 7 earned runs on 6 walks, 2 hit by pitches, 2 wild pitches and 2 hits. Me thinks he’s headed back to the DL.
- 18 year old Joseph Hage is really having a nice debut. He went 4 for 6 with a triple and a HR today. He’s 11 for 25 so far.
- Arnoldi Cruz went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles.
- Romulo Ruiz went 2 for 5 with a double and a triple.
- Frederick Parejo went 3 for 6 with a double.
Future Redbirds 
Joseph Hage went 6 for 4? That is impressive.
Erik,
Is your opposition to making the trade Burwell proposed based on sending three guys (including two “prospects”) to the White Sox and getting a guy in return who is only under contract for 3 more months? I can see that…but here is why I think that would be a good trade for the Cards.
1.) With LaDunc still in charge in St Louis (for now, granted) Reyes isn’t going to be used to the best of the ability. As has been discussed ad nauseum over at VEB, he does not have the confidence of the braintrust, and in return is losing confidence in himself (I believe).
2.) The Cardinals aren’t using John Rodriguez in the bigs. Plus, can you forsee a situation where he is a regular starter in the bigs?
3.) Anderson is blocked in the bigs by Yadi, who is young, MUCH better defensively, and had the bat coming around before the injury.
4.) Buerhle has wanted to play for St. Louis forever, and would be more likely to sign a long term deal (I believe) with the Cards when STL would have exclusive negotiating rights with him while he is under contract. This is a lot like the Mark McGwire situation. I don’t know they would have been able to sign him as a free agent in the winter of ’97, but were able to lock him up before the season ended. If the ChiSox were agreeable to this trade, I would say go for it.
Irishman – I won’t claim to speak for erik but I strongly disagree with point 3. As much as fans love Yadi and as nice as his hitting for a higher average has been, he still has an OBP around .330 and doesn’t hit for power. He’s a fantastic defensive catcher and a horrible offensive one. His EQAs for 2003-07: .239, .228, .206, .252
League average EQA is .260. His defense makes up the margin and makes him probably worth a win over the course of the year but Anderson’s upside is much much higher than that. If Anderson can become a run neutral defensive catcher (meaning he neither adds nor detracts runs based on his defense) his bat has the potential to add 3 wins over the course of the season. I think you could see lines like Ramon Hernandez or Lo Duca (but I don’t like these players as comps — just their batting lines) from last year. Something like .275/.350/450 isn’t out of the question.
I would not move Rasmus or Anderson in any Buerhle trade currently, their value is still climbing and they are not blocked by any player in the organization.
at this point, i actually say trade reyes, and of course i have no problem with them moving rodriguez. RE: the catching situiation. both anderson and yadi are good at throwing out base runners. yadi has worked on his game, but he wasn’t great at blocking balls in the dirt long ago. http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/stats/players/?playerId=7007&firstName=Yadier%20B&lastName=Molina
i believe anderson can learn to, and be at least adequate behind the plate. i see your point, but to me anderson has a good bat at a premium position, and laruncan may not be around much longer, which makes could reduce yadi to the backup role unless he can prove he can hit consistently.
AZ,
I am impressed by Anderson’s hitting ability as much as the next guy, and I think he does have upside, I agree with you on that, but I place a lot more value on a starting pitcher than I do on a catcher. I would rather have a weak-hitting, excellent defensive catcher and a mid to top of the rotation starter, than an average (at best) defensive catcher with some pop in his bat and a fourth or fifth starter. I think that is what Reyes is now, and will be for a while. We may have to agree to disagree on this point.
Look, I really like what Anderson is doing in AA….offensively. I am disgusted to come check out this site (which I do every day, by the way, kudos to you guys) and see that he has allowed another passed ball. I understand that he is young, and with more experience he can clean that part of his game up. But again, getting the starting pitcher should be a priority for not just the remainder of this year, but for the future as well.
All this being said, I don’t think the Cards go after Buerhle this season, now that they got Maroth. I think Jockety is looking at getting back Carp and Mulder back and thinking that it will all be fine.
did anyone else realize that freddy parejo is all of 16 years old and is hitting .348 with only 1 strikeout in 23 at bats? i know its a small sample size, but how exciting is it to have a 16 year old hitting like that?