Daily Farm Report – 7/10/08

Erik chiming in here with a quick update: Friend of the blog Keith Law will be on with Jeff Gordon on 590 The Fan at 12:30pm today.

This is old, but I had not seen it before. The Hardball Times analyzes the top draft picks, including scouting video. The bit on Brett Wallace is interesting, comparing his swing to Prince Fielder‘s.

The Cardinals finally gave in and put Colby on the DL with his groin injury. Groin injuries seem to linger – I strained mine a couple of years ago and it wouldn’t go away until I finally stopped doing anything for two weeks.

All the teams were in action today and finished 2-4 on the night.  All the details are after the jump.

Q and A with Ben Chiswick

Ben Chiswick is the director of broadcasting and media relations for the Quad Cities River Bandits. He handles the play-by-play which you can catch for free at the River Bandits site. Some of you may have also read his post game recaps at milb.com, which provide some much needed color to the box scores, and I wish I could say all the affiliates provided the same. I asked Ben to if he’d be up for some Q and A regarding the River Bandits and some of their players seeing that he gets to watch them play everyday, and he graciously agreed. Here are his responses.

A couple of Saturday morning rumors

Keep in mind these are only rumors, not fact. 

• Brett Wallace has signed, the announcement is pending and should come Monday, when the Cards come home. 
• The Cardinals are really on Dominican 3B Roberto Pina, who sounds like he could be the Dominican version of Brett Wallace due to his quick bat, nice power and a thick lower half that should only get bigger as he fills out. That’s just awkward to say, no matter how you say it. 

Scouting Brett Wallace

Howdy, all you happenin cats and kitties out there in Future Redbirds land. You probably all know me already, from my other gigs, but I’ve got a serious thing for the minor leagues and I rarely get to write about them, so Mr. Erik Manning was nice enough to offer me a platform from which to do so. I’m not going to be a regular contributor around here, just an occasional guest star sort of situation. Hopefully I can add a little something and not gum up the works too very badly. Thanks to erik for the invite; I’m excited to be on board.

Anyway, back when all the draft talk was still purely hypothetical, fewgoodcards, this site’s resident draft and college baseball expert, and I debated the merits of Brett Wallace, who of course eventually became the Cards’ pick in the first round. FGC was very high on Wallace, believing that he had as good a chance of becoming a major leaguer as anyone in the draft; I wasn’t a fan, believing that a draft pick as high as the one the Cards had this year should be spent on a more athletic player, a pure ceiling sort of talent. After watching the Super Regionals of the CWS and seeing Wallace play for Arizona State, I have to admit I’m coming around on the Walrus. Let’s take a look at what Mr. Wallace brings to the table, shall we?

The All Draft Team

A rare Saturday afternoon post.

Day 1, brief recap

Wow. I’m really zonked. Who knew that the draft could be so exhausting? Thanks everyone for tuning in, this was far and away the most trafficked day in FR history. I was trying to keep with it all, so sorry if the quality of content wasn’t quite up to snuff. Here are my meaningless, off-the-cuff ratings of how things went. I’m scratching my head on a few picks. Disclaimer: I reserve the right to flip flop on my opinion of any of these players. Heh. These are extremely premature evals.

Wallace blogs

Here’s his site at MLBlogs. He’ll need to change his background from MLB logos to Cardinal logos. Seems like a nice kid.

Here’s looking at the Walrus

First of all, from a pure performance standpoint there is little not to like. .414/.531/.762 with 21 HR and (fwiw) 81 RBI in 227 at bats, good for his 2nd Pac-10 Triple Crown in a row. He walked 45 times to 31 strikeouts. For someone who scouts say has a bad body, he shown a little speed, going 16 for 21 on steal attempts. And for those who think he can’t play 3B, he did only have 8 errors in the field, for what that may be worth.

From a scouting perspective, Wallace grades has out very well on hitting for average, plate discipline and power and arm strength. Law’s comments on his alleged “fatness” is that he actually is just oddly proportioned, and he has “huge, muscular legs that make him look fatter than he really is”.

I like this pick. I don’t love it, but I like it. I think Wallace could probably start hitting in Palm Beach upon being signed, and he should be ready to take over for Troy Glaus in 2010, if not sooner. He’ll move fast, that I’m pretty sure of, in the mold of Ryan Braun and Matt LaPorta. I’m not saying he’s exactly on their level, but not that far from it.

BA’s scouting report:

Wallace was a bad-bodied third baseman then, tipping the scales at close to 260 pounds. Many scouts still see him as a bad-body third baseman waiting to move to first, but others see more. Many see the best natural hitter in the West. Wallace has a strong swing with above-average bat speed; his swing path stays in the zone a long time and he has outstanding plate discipline. Defensively, Wallace had made just eight errors at third in 50 games, and he has at least average arm strength to go with nifty feet. While he’s cleaned up his body, he still has huge thighs that make it hard for him to get low enough to properly field groundballs. Scouts that think he could stay at third compare him to 2007 Indians first-rounder Beau Mills, who also had questionable skills at third. Those that don’t care for him cite his body and the short careers of players built similarly, such as Bob Hamelin. Wallace’s bat should get him drafted in the first round regardless, and most scouts give him at least above-average raw power grades.

Here is his MLB.com’s Draft Report.

If he can stay at 3B, and be halfway adequate, then I love it.