Smart move, it's what the brewers have been doing, lock them up when they are young and stop worrying about it. Glad to see he will be on the Birds on the Bat for many years to come.
***Official St. Louis Cardinals Thread***
- Thread starter Kaner04
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Smart move, it's what the brewers have been doing, lock them up when they are young and stop worrying about it. Glad to see he will be on the Birds on the Bat for many years to come.
Jordan with a really good first round 13/20 homers. Willy had a good first round too. Both *should* be onto the next round. Jordan should have a nice advantage in that he doesn’t need to really swing very hard to send it over the wall. Albert being a color commentator is cool too.
Very happy for him. What a career turnaround
I attended Spring Training in Jupiter the first year J Walker was playing in the line up with the starters. I had heard of him but had never seen him perform, it was obvious he had big time physical skills. His size, foot speed and athleticism stood out among all those other gifted athletes. It is stunning to witness his break out first half after two years of struggles. He deserves any rewards coming his way for his perseverance to fight thru his failures. Really a great story.
Walker is still a young player, only 23 I believe, he just needed some time to figure. it out, they rushed him through the system and brought him up to early. He finally has figured out how to lay off that pitch they start on the outside corner and is going to tail away from him.
As you can see in previous posts, before this season I had lost all hope in Jordan Walker. Man, I'm glad I was wrong! Hopefully he can keep this up for the second half and in the years ahead. They showed the last ten winners of the home run derby last night, and he's in some pretty damn good company there.
Unfortunatley, I also gave up on Nolan Gorman and it appears that I was right about that one...
Unfortunatley, I also gave up on Nolan Gorman and it appears that I was right about that one...
I thought it was a make or break it year for both Gorman and Walker, one stepped forward and is well on his way to getting locked up to a contract that will pay him a hundred million or more. Gorman went the other way, still struggling and last time I looked was not having much success at Memphis. I figured it would be Gorman not Walker that rebounded this year, I could not have been more wrong, Walker is look like he is going to be a star for the Birds and a fixture in right field for the next decade.
Awesome night for Walker last night - that should prop him into the spotlight a bit, and the Cardinals, which is never a bad thing. Really would like to see an extension for him to get him locked in similar to JJ. He's a couple years into his career so it would be more similar to what Pete Crow-Armstrong got - 6 years/$115M. Love Walker's game, there probably is still some risk in his hitting profile, but I think this is a young man you happily take that minor risk still out there on and build around with him and JJ.
Really six for $115 would not be a bad deal for either side, he still would be under the age of 30 when the deal ends and could very well make another $100 on the next deal. For Walker taking the deal at a young age locks in generational wealth for him but still gives him plenty of time to go into FA before 30.
Curious for everyone's thoughts on the draft. Baseball is the hardest draft to really track and monitor but I really liked the direction they went by prioritizing unique fastballs with their pitchers and athleticism/defense with their position players which provides a nice floor raiser. Some of my own thoughts:
- Round 1, pick 13: Trevor Condon, CF - awesome profile - 70/80 grade runner (on the 20-80 grading scale) which should easily translate to 60+ defense in combination with this arm which has been noted as above average to plus. He's noted as a good hitter but does have an interesting little tap before he swings where his bat turns completely vertical. He's essentially a guaranted 3 tool guy and if he hits at all, he should be a good bet to make it, even as a HS pick. The draft fell off after about 6-7 guys at the top to then a nice group of players in that 8-40 range. So it's a dart throw but I really like this dart throw on a HS player. I was hoping Tyler Bell or Drew Burress may fall but knowing they likely wouldn't Condon was the guy I wanted because of his athlecisim - even over Grindlinger if he was there. I was giddy with the pick.
- Round 1, pick 32: Tegan Kuhns, RHP - tall and thin RHP with very good K-BB in the SEC and good results overall. He has a unique fastball noted as being a flat vertical approach (or rising fastball similar to Liam Doyle and Tanner Franklin from last year - it's definitely a trait for this new front office). Spins a nice curveball and I've read that his slider should be easily fixable by tweaking his grip. Beef him up a bit and he's a really nice prospect with good velocity, spin rates, and control. He's in a group of guys that I would have been OK with taking at 13 if they went the pitcher route there. Had absolutely dominating starts against Alabama and Texas during the year - two very good hitting teams that made the CWS.
- Round 2, pick 50: Rocco Maniscalco, SS - one of the youngest players ever drafted, he won't turn 18 until next May. Huge arm and noted as a plus defender. Not overly fast and seen some reports that think he'll get faster as he ages while others note he may slow down. He's listed 6'2 190 already so that would be an easy transition to 3B with his arm if needed. The knock on him was that he had a slow start this spring but there is some pop in his bat and he's a switch hitter. He's a dart throw and a long ways off, but similar to Condon, I love this profile. A plus defender at SS/3B always has a chance at making the pros.
- Round 2, pick 68: Andrew Williamson, RF - stocky outfielder with good speed, a good arm, and good power. May be able to handle CF for a few years. He had an awesome Regional in which he had a 3 homer game and hit 5-6 total. Stepped up when the lights were brightest. He's a good hitter but has a hitch where he does the Sheffield bat dip once before swinging. I've read he absolutely crushes velocity but the bat dip gives people pause on how he'll handle offspeed. But again, he's got a well rounded profile where he does everything well in the field and runs the bases. Again, I really like this profile and think he could be a quick mover.
- Round 2, pick 72: Dawson Montesa, RHP - seems like we reached a bit here (maybe this will provide some slot savings) but he has a good fastball, curveball, and slider. And throws a changeup. He also won't turn 21 until September. He seems like a bet on the tools and relative youth more than actual results but he did apparently pitch well in the Regionals which raised his stock.
- Round 3, pick 86: Caden Ferraro, DH - this is a step away from the other position players. He might not be able to play in the field. But he absolutely rakes. I think I saw that he makes contact on over 90% of his in-zone swings and he had more walks than strikeouts. He's essentially Alec Burleson as a prospect (great hit tool, ok power because he hits line drives instead of flyballs, and doesn't strikeout) and a bet that the bat will play and it will play fast. Should be a fun one to follow.
- Round 4, pick 114: Dee Kennedy, SS - based on the round, this may be my favorite pick. Decent sized SS with above average to plus athleticism and arm (similar profile to Condon, Rocco, and Williamson). He got lasik over the offseason and went nuclear for KSU - 20 homers on the year. I think he could push to be up and helping with that last spot on the infield that needs to be filled by the end of next year.
- Others: Cal Randall, RHP Nick Bonn, RHP and Clayton Freshcorn, RHP - Randall is essentially this year's version of Tanner Franklin. He's been a reliever and has a very unique fastball. They'll probably try him as a starter first but he'd need to add pitches. Bonn has a unique fastball shape and had a great year at a small school as the closer last year. Freshcorn was the closer for Texas A&M. Has a lot of pitches but nothing overly plus - but lots of people think he would make a nice starter transition candidate. They'll have to spend overslot to sign him, though. (Edit) : Freshcorn just announced he's going back to college.
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All the prospect guys from MLB and the cardinals are really raving about the draft. Now we all know until it pans out in a few years it won’t mean anything, but it’s nice to know it’s being highly regarded
I was hoping they would take the 3rd basement out of Miss. State, but overall seems like a solid draft, most of the experts thought it was in the top five. We had a lot of high picks which help, but those pitchers have to stay healthy and develop and lets face it, we have struggle with that in the past.
Thanks for that write up! I find it hard to follow the mlb draft and this really helped.
