Matt Adams has been assigned the play this year in AA baseball in Springfield for the Cardinals. He was chosen 699th in the 2009 draft which translates into the 23rd. HG was drafted out of Slippery Rock College as a catcher where he batted left and throws right handed.

The first year saw him have success and was named Cardinal Nation rookie Hitter of the Year as he hit .310 with 22 home runs, 41 doubles, 88 RBI’s and led the Midwest League with .541 slugging percentage.

He was named to the All Star team for the Midwest League where he played for the Quad City River Bandits. He got the chance to come 10 days early to Spring Training and enjoy every minute of it. During Spring Training he went 2 for 4 and was in awe playing behind Albert Pujols. Adams watched the off-season closely in regard to the contract talks going on with Pujols.

Some believe that Adams would be a possible replacement for the Cardinals should Pujols sign elsewhere. When asking Adams about Pujols blocking his path to the major leagues he said,

“That’s the guy who’s blocking the roadway for other first basemen in the organization but I’m not going to root against him to leave. He’s definitely the best baseball player in the game today. It’s an honor to be a part of an organization he’s a part of, but it would be nice to have some leeway to get up there.”

He went on to add,

“You can’t do anything about it with the best baseball player in the game ahead of you. You just have to keep working hard, do your thing in the minors and keep putting numbers up. You either make it up there or get traded to another team.”

Matt Adams is a player we need to continue following as he has many offensive skills that may set him apart from other first basemen in the St Louis Cardinals organization.

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Let’s meander down to the Farm and take a look at the 2010 success for the St Louis Cardinals.

From the Organizational Review column of the Cardinals we find this nugget:

No team had a better winning percentage than the Cardinals’ affiliates, finishing with a collective .549 mark. Every club, with one small exception of the Venezuelan Summer League team, finished over .500. Three teams — Quad Cities, Batavia and Johnson City — at the bottom rungs were .600 or better. Five teams made the postseason and Johnson City won the rookie-level Appalachian League title.

In looking at the Cardinal affiliates we look at the offensive leaders and find some impressive numbers.

Some of the pitchers were incredible.

From the official Cardinal website I am adding a list of affiliates if you would like to check them out further or bookmark them

Memphis Redbirds (PCL)

Springfield Cardinals (TEX)

Palm Beach Cardinals (FSL)

Quad Cities River Bandits (MID)

Batavia Muckdogs (NYP)

Johnson City Cardinals (APP)

GCL Cardinals (GCL)

DSL Cardinals (DSL)

VSL Cardinals (VSL)

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This week we will begin piecing together the final 25-man roster that the Cardinals may break camp with.

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Woo Hoo! The Holidays are over and it is about 90 days until Opening Day! In order to keep you informed, the CardinalsGM staff has set up a writing schedule from now until some during Spring Training.

Here’s the schedule that we will use until Mid-March:

• Monday will find us doing the Around the Cardinals Minor League affiliates. This feature which will keep us all updated what is going on around the Cardinals affilitates.
• We will scour the Baseball Bloggers Alliance National League blogs on Tuesdays and let you know what is being said around the league.
• Wednesday is a day for new content. The things that have developed for the Cardinals. The news and opinions that only we can give you for the team.
• Thursday is time for us to navigate the blogs of the BBA members and see what on their minds.
• Friday is another day of opinions, facts and news. The things that are Cardinals we will share
• Weekends will usually find us with no column but anytime breaking news happens we will alter our schedule. From time to time we will add some history articles to our sidebar and some screencasts, also.

Monday Around the Cardinal Minors

This early in the off-season very little is said or done as far as rosters and talk about their team. What I will do this week is walk you around the affiliates and we will take a quick glimpse at the coaching staffs that have been assembled.

1. Memphis- member of the AAA Pacific Coast League. The Redbirds finished first last year with an 82-62 first place finish. Chris Maloney returns as manager for Memphis for a 5th season. Maloney has managed for 20 years in the minor league system with 16 of them coming with the Cardinals organization. Blake Ilsley comes back for a 4th season as pitching coach for the Memphis Redbirds. The hitting coach is Mark Budaska and he also enters into his 4th season at Memphis. Athletic Trainer is Chris Conroy. Chris has spent 12 years in the Cardinals organization.
2. Springfield- The Double A affiliate the Springfield Cardinals have announced their minor league coaching staffs for the upcoming 2011 season, with Manager Ron “Pop” Warner returning for a fifth year to lead the Cardinals into another Texas League campaign. Warner tied a franchise record in 2010 with 76 regular season wins and took the eventual Texas League Champion NW Arkansas Naturals to a decisive fifth game in the Division Finals. The Cardinals have reached the playoffs in three of his four seasons in Springfield.

Warner will see a familiar face in the dugout as Bryan Eversgerd will return as the Springfield pitching coach and newcomer Jason Hall will serve as the new Athletic Trainer.

Bryan Eversgerd will begin his second stint as the pitching coach in Springfield after one season in the Florida State League. His Palm Beach pitchers had the 5th best ERA (3.52) in the 12-team league. 2011 will be Eversgerd’s third in Springfield and 9th overall in the Cardinals Organization. The Cardinals would like to extend their thanks to 2010 Pitching Coach Dennis Martinez for his hard work and professionalism. Martinez will return to Palm Beach for the 2011 season as their Pitching Coach.

Rounding out the 2011 Field Staff will be new Athletic Trainer, Jason Hall. Jason will shed his blue and white pinstripes of the Chicago Cubs Organization and join the Springfield Cardinals. Hall was with the Cubs for two seasons and was also a strength and conditioning intern with the Florida Marlins.

3. Palm Beach- returning manager Luis Aguayo and hitting coach Jeff Albert, and new athletic trainer Manabu Kuwazuru bring in Dennis Martinez as pitching coach to form a formidable staff. Last season, Aguayo and Albert led Palm Beach to a 75-65 record, finishing third in the Florida State League’s South Division.

Now they will be paired with Martinez, who led the Palm Beach pitching staff in 2008 and 2009. Last season, as the pitching coach for Double-A Springfield, Martinez sent four pitchers to the Texas League All-Star Game and coached five pitchers who eventually reached the St. Louis 40-man roster.

Also joining the Palm Beach staff in 2011 will be athletic trainer Manabu Kuwazuru. A native of Japan and 2003 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s athletic training program, Kuwazuru has trained Cardinals affiliates for five seasons, starting in the New York-Penn League in 2005. Last year, he served as the athletic trainer for the Single-A Quad City River Bandits.

4. Quad Cities

After finishing the 2010 season with the second-best overall record in the Midwest League and their first playoff appearance since 2007, the St. Louis Cardinals are sending manager Johnny Rodriguez back to the Quad Cities along with pitching coach Tim Leveque and hitting coach Joe Kruzel.

Rodriguez led a fluid roster of players to an impressive 83-55 mark in his first season at the helm of the River Bandits. Next season will be his third in the Cardinals organization. Prior to taking over the River Bandits, he was the skipper in Johnson City for one season. Rodriguez coached in the Florida Marlins system from 2002-08 before signing on with the Cardinals. Rodriguez has also worked in the Montreal Expos, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers organizations. He has also coached in the amateur ranks with the University of Miami, Miami-Dade Community College and Westminster Christian High School (Fla.).

Like his skipper, Leveque returns to the Quad Cities for his second season with the River Bandits. He has worked in the Cardinals organization for the past three seasons. The 2011 season will mark the first time during his tenure with the Cardinals that he was worked with the same affiliate in back-to-back seasons. He spent his first season with Johnson City before getting promoted to Batavia for the 2009 campaign. In addition to his coaching duties, Leveque also serves as a pitching specialist who coordinates and studies video of draft-eligible pitchers prior to each season.

Kruzel is back for his fourth season as the hitting coach of the River Bandits, a post he has held since joining the Cardinals’ system as a coach in 2008. Prior to his tenure with the Quad Cities and the Cardinals, he worked as a coach in the Cincinnati Reds chain including managing their rookie-level affiliate in Billings, Mont. Prior to joining the professional ranks, Kruzel worked for 16 seasons coaching at the collegiate level.

Athletic Trainer Eric Bauer is the only new addition to the Quad Cities staff for the 2011 season. The well-traveled athletic trainer is no stranger to the Quad Cities having served in that capacity in 2007. He has been with the Cardinals organization for the past six years with stops in Johnson City (2005-06), Palm Beach (2008-09) and most recently Batavia (2010). He has also held internships with the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners organizations.

5. Batavia Muckdogs- Dann Bilardello will return in 2011 for his second season as manager of the Batavia Muckdogs. The 51-year-old Bilardello had a record of 45-29 and led the Muckdogs to the Pinckney Division title in his first season as the Muckdogs skipper.

Prior to managing the Muckdogs, Bilardello was the St. Louis Cardinals minor league catching coordinator for three seasons. The former Major League catcher also has four years of minor league managing experience in the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations.

Joining Bilardello in the dugout will be Pitching Coach Arthur “Ace” Adams and Hitting Coach Roger LaFrancois.

Ace Adams, 58, will return for his second season as the Muckdogs pitching coach and his fourth year in the Cardinals organization. His previous two seasons were spent serving as the pitching coach of Quad Cities. Adams entered the professional coaching ranks in 1997 with the Montreal Expos organization after 13 years as a college coach at Dartmouth (1984), Harvard (1985), Brandeis (1986-89) and the University of Michigan (1989-96). The Wellesley, MA native was a traveling batting practice pitcher for the Boston Red Sox from 1984-85.

Roger LaFrancois, 54, will begin his second season as the Muckdogs hitting coach and has over 20 years of coaching experience. LaFrancois has coached or managed at all levels of the minor leagues with several different Major League organizations. A catcher in the Boston Red Sox organization, he spent eight years with the Sox, and saw action in the Major Leagues during the 1982 season. The Old Saybrook, CT resident has been a partner and director of the World Baseball Coaches Convention since 2003.

Mike Petrarca will serve as the trainer for the 2010 season, his first with the Muckdogs. Petrarca will be entering his fourth season in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

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No team had a better winning percentage than the Cardinals’ affiliates, finishing with a collective .549 mark. Every club, with one small exception of the Venezuelan Summer League team, finished over .500. Three teams — Quad Cities, Batavia and Johnson City — at the bottom rungs were .600 or better. Five teams made the postseason and Johnson City won the rookie-level Appalachian League title.

For more information on the Cardinal affiliates click here:

That’s it from around some of the affiliates. Some of the articles included direct information from news conferences announcing thier hiring.

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I admit I am not always traditional in my thinking. This is not a list of those “sure things” or people on the “hot list”. This is about players that had pretty darn good season and should be considered for the list to “watch” their progress. These are guys that had some “eye popping” stats in some categories or consistently ground it out day in and day out with better than decent numbers.

Here goes in no particular order: I start at the Rookie League in Johnson City with Ryan Copeland. He is a graduate of Illinois State University where his career numbers for 4 years had him walking 46 and striking out 251 batters. He carried that success to the professional side. At 5’11” 185 lbs, he throws from the left side. Lefties are at a premium. He ended with a perfect 7-0 record in 13 games where he started 6 of them. Ryan tossed 53.1 innings, gave up 39 hits, 11 ER’s, 3 HR’s and opponents hit .202 against him. To top that, he walked 7 batters and struck out 48. This is a tremendous ratio. For these numbers, I make Ryan Copeland a PLAYER TO BE WATCHED!

Next up is pitcher Kevin Thomas. Born in 1986 he is 6’3” 215 lbs and throws right. At Palm Beach he had some great numbers. His record was 10-2 in 107 innings where he started 14 games. His ERA was 2.27 and he gave up 93 hits and opponents hit .238 against him. His 38 walks to 94 strikeouts are numbers that deserved accolades. For these numbers, Kevin Thomas is a PLAYER TO BE WATCHED!

Alex Castellanos was also at Palm Beach this year. He is a right fielder with some consistency. He is 5’11” 180 lbs and throws and bats right. Alex was in 129 games, hit 13 homers, 7 triples along with 35 doubles. He drove in 57 RBI’s and had 19 stolen bases with a .481 SLG. What he needs to work on it appears is he struck out 112 times. For this consistant season, Alex Castellanos is a PLAYER TO BE WATCHED!

How can you improve on a 10-0 record? Daniel Calhoun pitched at the Quad Cities this year and remained perfect. At 6’3” and 220 lbs, this lefthander had some impressive stats. He started 6 games and pitched 96 innings with a 3.75 ERA. He gave up 9 HR’s and opponents hit .283 against him. Get this…. 19 walks and 83 strikeouts makes this jaw dropping. For this, Daniel Calhoun is a PLAYER TO BE WATCHED!

Matthew Adams is a first baseman. What must it be like to see Albert Pujols in line ahead of you? Adams played for the Quad City Bandits with some very good numbers. He is 6’3” 230 lbs and throws right and bats left. He hit .310 in 121 games with 22 homers and 41 doubles with 88 RBI’s. He ended with a .541 ALG. For these numbers, Matthew Adams is a PLAYER TO BE WATCHED!

Blake King was a right handed thrower this season for the Springfield Cardinals. At 6’1” 195 lbs the throws right and had a 4-3 record in 68 innings. He posted a 2.91 ERA, giving up 40 hitsm 23 runs and 5 homers. His ratio was 48 walks to 84 strikeouts and opponents hit .173 against him. Blake King is a PLAYER TO BE WATCHED!

Next up is Matt Carpenter a third baseman. Between Palm Beach and Springfield he contributed with 13 homers, 5 triples and 31 doubles. A .316 batting average with 69 RBI’s in 133 games. He only had 8 errors in that time. Carpenter is 6’3” 200 lbs and bats left and throws right. For this season line, Matt Carpenter is a PLAYER TO BE WATCHED!

Lastly, I end with a Memphis Redbird player. We have catcher Steven Hill. He hit .271 with 24 homers, 1 triple and 28 doubles. In 102 games, he drove in 92 RBI’s. This right handed hitter, Steven Hill is a PLAYER TO BE WATCHED!

Several other players are worthy, I am sure. I will give a short list of others to be considered: Of course on everyones list is Shelby Miller and then Daniel Delscalso, Lance Lynn, Nick Addition and Phillip Cerreto. I could have included many of the players that yo-yo’ed back and forth to the Cardinals but chose not to include them.

Feel free to get my attention and show me the errors of my ways in this post with your thoughts and comments.

I am not as “down” on the prospects as many others seem to be.

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Allen Craig's productive bat has got him on the brink of the Major Leagues.

                Yesterday the Cardinals announced their Minor League player of the year with 3b/1b/lf Allen Craig taking home the honors. It wasn’t a shock to see Craig take home the award, as his bat has produced at every level he has played. Craig’s award has Cardinals fans everywhere asking what kind of player Craig really is, and it seems two sides have developed in stark contrast to each other. On one side, there is a pocket of believers in Craig who are wildly optimistic, believing that his bat will produce at the major league level enough that the Cardinals should give Craig the starting left-field job in 2010 and not mess with negotiating with Matt Holliday. On the other hand, there is also a large group of fans who see another John Gall when they look at Craig, meaning they think he is the classic “AAAA” player, which is a player that puts up strong numbers in AAA but just is not good enough to get over the hump and become a productive major leaguer. So which side is correct? What do the Cardinals have in Allen Craig?

                In order to project what Craig can do in 2010, let’s review what got him knocking on the major league’s door. Allen Craig was drafted in the 8^th round of the 2006 amateur draft out of Cal-Berkeley. A shortstop in college, he was moved to the hot corner upon being drafted where he stayed at as he moved up through the minor leagues. With David Freese and Brett Wallace being ahead in the Cardinals depth chart at third at different times, the organization saw a need for Craig to become more versatile if they were going to get his bat in the lineup as he neared the big leagues, so Craig has recently began to play left-field as well. Since David Freese is still with the organization and is the likely opening day starter, if Craig is going to make the team his role will be as a left-fielder and backup third-basemen. Craig’s defense ranges from poor to average, so almost all of Craig’s value lies in his bat. In any level Craig has managed to play over 100 games (A+, AA, AAA), he has managed to hit at least 20 home runs. Since his 2009 AAA stats are the most relevant as it pertains to projecting to his major league performance, let’s delve into them. Craig put up a .322/.374/.547 slash line good for a .921 on-base plus slugging, which for a comparison looks like a typical year from Matt Holliday (I am not suggesting Craig = Holliday, AAA stats do not equal major league stats, I am just showing how good of a season Craig had in AAA). Craig also hit 26 home runs, scored 78 runs, and drove in another 83. His other meaningful statistics included 95 strikeouts compared with only 37 walks. Craig does not appear to have very strong plate discipline, as his 7.3% walk rate and 20% strikeout rate combines for a .39 bb/k ratio, which is not very good. So overall, Craig has flashed a skillset that includes poor to average defense, good power, and a decent ability to get on base though it is tied very closely to his batting average. An on-base percentage that is mostly influenced by batting average tends not to translate very well as a player moves up through the majors, so what exactly do the Cardinals have in Craig?

                Using his 2009 AAA stats, Craig’s numbers would translate into a .281/.327/.455 slash line good for a .782 ops, which was basically what Ryan Ludwick produced in 2009*. Craig is also projected to hit 20 homers, score over 60 runs, and drive in around 65. Those are solid numbers, but no one is going to confuse Craig with Matt Holliday. Overall, those offensive statistics combined with Craig’s defense would peg him at around 1 to 1.5 Wins Above Replacement, which would produce anywhere from 4.4 to 6.6 million dollars in value depending upon Craig’s defense being poor or average and playing time. Considering Craig would be getting the major league minimum, he would produce some nice value for St. Louis, but it would be a far cry from the 5-6 WAR that Matt Holliday will likely produce next year.

                In conclusion, Allen Craig has accomplished everything he can at the minor league level. His skills are as ready for the Major Leagues as they likely ever will be, so he does deserve a shot on the roster next season. Allen Craig is a solid player, but he is probably better off in a reserve/spot starter role for next season, a situation where he could be quite valuable. It doesn’t appear that Craig falls in either of the two camps that Cardinals fans seem to think he is in, but instead fits in the middle. Overall Cardinal fans need to hope that Allen Craig makes the roster for 2010 as a reserve, not as a starter that gets 500 at-bats in left field.

*Note: Craig is projected to produce something similar to Ryan Ludwick’s 2009 .775 ops, and the gap between Ludwick’s 97 rbi’s next year and Craig’s projected 65 is insignificant and has to do with the fact that Ludwick was hitting behind Pujols and most of the year. Hitting behind Pujols or Holliday wasn’t taken into consideration when the projection for Craig was done.

You can follow me specifically on twitter @secret_sauce29 and also the Cardinals GM website @CardinalsGM. Also, I apologize for the lack of hyperlinks in this post. My laptop has crashed and I can’t hyperlink on this old version of word.

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David Freese adds a solid glove and a steady bat to the Cardinals

                When the Cardinals traded Jim Edmonds to the Padres in exchange for David Freese, the deal resulted in mixed feelings for Cardinals fans everywhere.  Jimmy Baseball had been a part of the core of some of the most successful teams in Cardinals history, and to see him go for a prospect who at the age of 24 still hadn’t played in AA ball resulted in some criticism of newly hired general manager John Mozeliak.  Mozeliak and other members of the front office assured that Freese was a solid prospect and not just part of a salary dump.  Freese was told that he would have the opportunity to win the third base job at AAA the following spring, which was two levels above what he had played the previous year.

                The nearby Lafayette High School grad impressed in his first year in the organization, not only just winning the third base job at AAA Memphis but also showing a live bat and a plus glove.  Freese put up a .306/.361/.550 line for a .910 ops to go along with 26 home runs, 83 runs, and 91 RBI’s. The following spring, Freese appeared to be on the inside track for the big league job when Troy Glaus had shoulder surgery.  Freese, however, suffered an ankle injury in a car accident that left him hobbled.  He had to have surgery to repair the ankle, and as soon as he healed he was sent to AAA Memphis to rehab.  He had a fine half season Memphis, putting up a .300/.353/.484 line. Freese also added 10 homers, 34 runs and 37 RBI’s.  David was also a September call up with the Cardinals, where he hit .323 over 34 plate appearances, which appeared to have put Freese in good position going into 2010.

                With Mozeliak stating that free agent Mark Derosa is far from a guarantee to come back and that Freese will have the opportunity to start coming out of spring training, it appears that the roadblocks have finally cleared for Freese.  Scott Rolen, Troy Glaus, Mark Derosa, and Brett Wallace have all appeared ahead of Freese on the depth chart at one point or another, and all have been shipped out through trade or appear to be leaving via free agency, leaving Freese as the likely starter for 2010.  So what do the Cardinals have in Freese?  Using his 2008 AAA stats* and finding his Major League Equivalents(MLE’s) , Freese’s 2008 projects to a .267/.313/.456 line for a .769 ops with 20 home runs, 66 runs, and 72 RBI’s.  That’s slightly below league average with the bat for third base, but slightly above league average offensively overall.  Freese also fills a need by having a good reputation for hitting lefties, a season long problem in St. Louis.  In the minors Freese struck out in around 25% of his p.a.’s while walking in a healthy 10%, so while his obp was an acceptable .353 in AAA in 2008 his MLE obp was .313, so Freese doesn’t exactly have very good patience at the plate and should probably hit down in the lineup.  A lot of Freese’s value lies in his leather at third base.  Freese is considered a good defender, and combining his offensive and defensive output into  WAR(Wins Above Replacement) puts him at a 2 win player, which definitely carries some value considering will be getting paid the league minimum.  A 2 WAR player on the free agent market can reasonably expect to get paid 8.8 million, so for the Cardinals to get that kind of value for league minimum would definitely help balance the budget as they try to improve on other areas. 

                In conclusion, David Freese isn’t a star in the making like Colby Rasmus, but is a respectable player that will basically be free next season.  Considering that Cardinal third baseman in 2009 were put up a combined .652 ops and were -4.5 runs below average in the field, it’s pretty safe to say that Freese will represent an improvement at the hot corner in 2010.  As the Cardinals move forward and try to do bigger things like lock up Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday, having solid but not spectacular players like Freese will be a necessity to help keep the payroll down. 

*Since 2008 was Freese’s only full season in AAA and he was basically the same player in a half season of AAA in 2009, his 08’ stats were used for his MLE’s.

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2007 St. Louis Cardinals Prospects

1. Colby Rasmus, OF,
2. Jaime Garcia, LHP,
3. Jon Jay, OF,
4. Adam Ottavino, RHP,
5. Bryan Anderson, C,
6. Chris Perez, RHP,
7. Cody Haerther, OF,
8. Blake Hawksworth, RHP,
9. Tyler Greene, SS
10. Mark McCormick, RHP,
11. Chris Narveson, LHP,
12. Daryl Jones, OF, C+  
13. Matt Scherer, RHP,
14. Brad Furnish, LHP
15. Jon Edwards, OF,
16. Blake King, RHP,
17. Nick Stavinoha, OF
18. Mark Hamilton, 1B,
19. Mark Worrell, RHP,
20. Eddie Degerman, RHP,
21. Nathan Southard, OF

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