Recommended reading: Baseball America Prospect Handbook

Spring training can’t come soon enough. Winter is a cold, dark time for baseball fans.

I manage to keep warm, though, by plowing through a number of annuals. I’m about halfway through The Hardball Times’ Baseball Annual 2007, which is great reading even if I don’t understand half of what they are writing about.

The Baseball Prospectus 2007 has yet to drop, but I’ve pre-ordered that. Can’t wait for Feb. 23.

But pushing aside the THT book for now, is the Baseball America Prospect Handbook. It serves up information on the top 30 minor-leaguers of all 30 major-league teams in delicious, bite-sized chunks.

Flipping through the first couple of pages, it lists the Top 50 in all of baseball prospects as chosen by the book’s three editors. I’m pleased to find that Colby Rasmus is on all three lists (average rank: 28), far ahead of more advanced Cubs outfield prospect Felix Pie, ranked only on Jim Callis’ list at No. 42.

And while the Cubs’ system (No. 18) still ranks ahead of the Cardinals’ (No. 23), the book notes that the former’s has been on a downward trajectory since being ranked No. 1 in 2002, while the latter’s is ready to climb up after rankings at or near the bottom in the same timeframe. How’s that for some Schadenfreude?

And now, I can’t help myself and flip straight to the Cardinals’ entry. This season’s Top 30 Cardinals kids were compiled by the Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold, who wrote recently that the difficult task was a good problem to have.

There’s a noticeable difference between this year’s list and last year’s. Part of that is because of the “graduation” of some on the 2006 list to the big club (Adam Wainwright, Chris Duncan, Anthony Reyes, etc.), which would explain the overall drop in ranking to No. 23 from No. 21. Another part is that much of the Top 10 is composed of players drafted in the past two seasons (Colby Rasmus, Jaime Garcia, Jon Jay, Chris Perez, etc.), which shows that the system still has a ways to go, given that the bulk of the talent still is in the low minors.

A few fun facts’ from Callis’ 2006 draft analysis:

• Team hitting instructors believe Jay can contend for a batting title.
• Fifth-rounder Shane Robinson stole 100 bases during his three years at Florida State.
• Thirty-third rounder Brian Schroeder’s dad was NFL quarterback Jay Schroeder.

One more non-bullet point: While I do enjoy reading about and studying minor leaguers, I am by no means an expert on them (nor the major-leaguers, for that matter). For better news and analysis on the Cardinals’ kids, I urge you to bookmark Future Redbirds, which is written by Viva El Birdos contributor Erik, and Get Up, Baby!, written by fellow Springfielder DanUp.

Don’t be fatuous, Jeffrey

The Seattle Mariners have made their signing of Jeff Weaver official, trotting him out in front of the Seattle media mopes.

Everyone knows that Weaver’s agent is The Evil One, who apparently lawyered up Weaver before the press conference:

I mean, after the season ends and you have certain people telling you they’d like to have you back and you’re a piece to the puzzle. And it’s two, three months later and things are still dragging … you want to feel wanted.

Even The Evil One got into the act, as quoted by Bernie Miklasz:

The thing I want fans to know is Jeff Weaver waited on the Cardinals. He waited for them. He turned down millions of dollars and more years from other teams so he could wait for them. And when it came down to it, the Cardinals’ offer just wasn’t there.

I understand that the waiting is the hardest part. But what of Weaver’s alleged desire to remain in St. Louis? Let’s ask him:

Eventually, (stability) would be a major point.

I’d say that one year is less stable than the two years the Cardinals were said to have offered. Add that to a seemingly good relationship with Dave Duncan and the eternal gratitude of Cardinal Nation. But I guess that and $12 million (what the AP article reported was the Cards’ offer) won’t get you a venti soy latte.

So he’s right back where he started last offseason, waiting for a multiple-year, big-dollar contract that never comes, taking instead a one-year deal from a team that resides in a division that historically has given him trouble:

Weaver vs AL West teams

LAA: 5-5, 2.78 ERA, 5 HR in 74.1 IP
OAK: 3-3, 5.61 ERA, 9 HR in 61 IP
TEX: 2-5, 5.25 ERA, 7 HR in 58.1 IP

He also hasn’t pitched well at Safeco, going 1-2 with a 6.55 ERA in three starts and a relief outing against the Mariners.

Whatever, dude. Thanks for pitching so brilliantly during last year’s postseason. We’ll see you again in July on the DFA heap.

P-Dub redux

The Cardinals’ outfield logjam just got more, uh… jammed.

Preston Wilson has re-signed with the Cardinals for $1 million guaranteed and another half-mil more in incentives.

So for those keeping score at home (and you’re Cardinals fans, so why wouldn’t you be), the outfield candidates are:

• Jim Edmonds
• Juan Encarnacion
• Chris Duncan
• So Taguchi
• Scott Spiezio
• John Rodriguez
• Skip Schumaker
• Cody Haerther, and now
• Preston Wilson

And that’s just from the 40-man roster.

We know that Jimmy Baseball, Instant Breakfast and Daddy’s Boy are the starters, more or less. Spiezio’s in because he’s also the backup third baseman. Taguchi’s in because he is BFF with Tony La Russa. And now P-Dub, with his million-dollar guarantee and his ability to play all three outfield spots, would figure to be in as well.

“No Reservations” is about to come on, so I don’t have time to check on Johnny Rocket’s options, but I don’t count on him being back, and Schumaker and Haerther are ticketed for Memphis.

(Hat tip: Sooze)

Dying to get one

Most of the Google Alerts I receive about the Cardinals I delete immediately, because they usually link to stuff I’ve already read about or are history lessons on the football Cardinals.

But one I received the other day I just had to click through:

Company to Launch Major League Baseball Licensed Urns

Wow. MLB-licensed ashcans for cremated remains? That is unspeakably awesome. But which teams will manufacturer Eternal Image offer?

EI will roll out the product line in three waves. The first group of urns will include the reigning World Series Champions, St. Louis Cardinals, as well as the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies.

Heh. “The reigning World Series champions.” Those words still make me giggle. OK, great… they have Cardinals urns. So how much?

The urns will have a suggested retail price of $699.

Good lord… 700 bucks? That’s a bit steep for something likely to be a bit too tacky for permanent display. I can only imagine the exchange between a funeral director and the bereaved:

(Funeral Director hands Bereaved 1 the bill of sale for loved one’s death tab. Bereaved 1 puts on reading glasses to get a better look.)

BEREAVED 1: (clears throat) What’s this?
FUNERAL DIRECTOR: That is for the official MLB-licensed urn. We must transmit the remains to you in a receptacle.
BEREAVED 1: (pointing) This is 700 dollars.
FUNERAL DIRECTOR: It is our most modestly priced official MLB-licensed receptacle.
BEREAVED 2: Can’t we just rent it from you, man?
FUNERAL DIRECTOR: Sir, this is a mortuary, not a rental house.
BEREAVED 1: Just because we’re bereaved, it doesn’t make us saps! (pounds desk)
FUNERAL DIRECTOR: Sir, please lower your voice.
BEREAVED 2: Don’t you have anything else we can put him in, man? You know?
FUNERAL DIRECTOR: It is our most modestly priced official MLB-licensed receptacle
BEREAVED 1: (yelling) God damnit! (pausing and asking calmly) Is there a Ralph’s around here?

Or something like that. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of the receptacles yet.

Stadium challenged

In a recent post at Viva El Birdos, LBoros reminisces about all the different major league parks he’s been to.

His list and the ensuing lists from VEB commenters got me thinking about my own travels through major-league parkdom, and my list is pathetically short. Check it:

• Busch Stadium II
• Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
• Candlestick Park
• New Comiskey Park
• Wrigley Field
• Busch Stadium III

For such an allegedly avowed baseball fan, that list kind of blows. Travel is expensive, though. That’s my excuse, anyway.

Busch Stadium II, the old Concrete Doughnut, was where I saw my first MLB game and where I’ve seen the bulk of the rest. I don’t have many memories of going to games as a little kid, other than seeing the Expos a lot and some obnoxious kid who apparently was not a Dane Iorg fan. The coolest recent game I saw there was on Willie McGee Day, when Rick Ankiel earned his first major-league win. I had tickets for what turned out to be the occasion of Ken Griffey Jr.’s 500th home run but had to give them away because I couldn’t get off work.

Back in ‘89, I simply slid into place traveled to San Jose, Calif., to spend a couple of weeks with my Uncle Phil. We took in a couple of games while I was there, the first of which was at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The A’s-Rangers tilt featured a pre-steroid young Mark McGwire taking knuckleball master Charlie Hough way deep into left field.

The second game we went to on my West Coast swing was at Candlestick Park, which is no longer being used for baseball, thankfully. It was the middle of July, and Phil, my cousin Joe and I were huddled under a blanket. You’re familiar with the phrase, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” Although that quote apparently is falsely attributed to Mark Twain, it readily applied to the July 13 tilt against the Pirates. Besides the chill, the only thing I remember from this game was my uncle’s attempt at snaring a Kevin Mitchell foul ball. It caught him square in the palm and turned his hand around 180 degrees because of the velocity. What a wuss.

The next two on the list, New Comiskey Park and Wrigley Field, were when my dad and I met Phil and Joe in Chicago when they were in the midst of their own ballparks trip in the summer of 1990. I don’t recall the games because I was fully into my surly-15-year-old phase, which lasted a good four or five more years. I do remember sitting in the third-base grandstand at Wrigley. I can say I’ve been there, so I’m fine with never going back.

And finally, my first and only trip to Busch III was on April 14, when Chris Carpenter took the hard-luck 1-0 loss because the Cardinals couldn’t solve Aaron Harang, who actually drove in the only run. That game saw Juan Encarnacion lollygagging an Aaron Freel single into a double. At least that didn’t decide the game. I also saw Encarnacion in my hotel the next morning. I waved but was too nervous to talk to him.

I really need to expand on this list. The only other professional park I’ve seen games in is Robin Roberts Stadium at Lanphier Park. Good name, lousy facility.

Shaking out the cobwebs

Me to this Web log: “Hidely-ho, neglecterino!”

Posting here has been, to put it mildly, sporadic since the end of last October, when something cool happened.

I attribute the spotty posting to emotional letdown from the World Series and to the other, non-baseball blog I started.

But hopefully, this post amounts to a spring training of sorts for the Cardsblogging season. Gotta start getting my legs under me again.

Speaking of spring training, I’d like to take a look at this year’s non-roster invitees:

PITCHERS: Kelvin Jimenez, Mike Smith
CATCHERS: Ryan Christianson, Danilo Sanchez
INFIELDERS: Tagg Bozied, Jolbert Cabrera, Edgar V. Gonzalez
OUTFIELDERS: Rick Ankiel, Ryan Ludwick, Eli Marrero, Miguel Negron

Interesting that this season, there are only two NRI pitchers when last year there were 10. Here’s who might be mildly intriguing:

• Jimenez: A former swingman having apparently been converted to a full-time relief role in 2006, the right-handed Jimenez has spent his entire career in the Rangers organization. His nice HR/9 and K/9 rates are somewhat marred by his less nice H/9 and BB/9 rates. Last year at Triple-A Oklahoma, he had a pronounced reverse platoon split. His G/F rates show he may have a future in middle relief.
• Bozied: A former up-and-comer in the San Diego system, Bozied spent 2006 in Triple A-Norfolk. He owns minor-league career OPS of .826, having gone 1.003 in 2004 in Triple-A Portland. As a corner IF/OF, his only hope is to stick as a pinch-hitter.
• Gonzalez: Keep an eye out for this guy during spring training. Another career minor-leaguer, Gonzalez has hit everywhere he’s been. Although he’s primarily a third-baseman, he does have playing time at second and owns a career line of .295/.375/.466. Me likey. Unless he’s a total butcher with the glove or pulls a Spivey, I’d give Gonzalez the backup 2B job before the crimefighting Aaron Miles, based on his 2006 major-league equivalents.
• Ankiel: I presume you’ve heard of this guy. I just don’t get the Cardinals’ obsession with this guy. To have kept him around this long, he must have pictures of Tony La Russa clubbing baby seals. That, or the brass thinks he has ball-crushing potential. He did hit 21 homers in 321 at-bats in two minor-league stops in 2005, so maybe he does. He’s also got a maddening injury history, which is where my skepticism and frustration with him comes from. His ticket is punched for Triple-A Memphis. I wish him the best, but I just don’t see a viable major-league career as a hitter happening for him. I hope I’m wrong.
• Marrero: After bouncing around five clubs in the past three seasons, Marrero comes back to where his career began. With his catching days pretty much over, his only hope is as a platoon partner with Chris Duncan. While he does sport a three-year lefty split of .313/.378/.580, that line is skewed by his 2004 with Atlanta, when he hit .415/.462/.670 against lefties. His career line against southpaws is a more modest .266/.335/.457.

The guy that intrigues me the most is Edgar Gonzalez. Playing in the Mexican Winter League, he started those playoffs very well, but soon shit the bed and lost his starting job. But it’s hard to sneeze at his minor-league body of work. If anything happens to Adam Kennedy, I’d like to see Gonzalez get the first shot.

Of last year’s NRIs, only Brian Falkenborg saw the light of major-league day.

Baseless projections, 2007

There’s been much discussion at Viva El Birdos recently about Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections for the 2007 Cardinals. While the VEB community and Dan are much smarter than I, it’s still fun to play the prognosticating game. The following predictions come from my gut and are not based on any sort of actual knowledge of baseball. Feel free to call me an idiot. Enjoy!

David Eckstein
HR: 5
AVG: .288
OBP: .359
SLG: .355

Chris Duncan
HR: 27
AVG: .263
OBP: .362
SLG: .512

Albert Pujols
HR: 48
AVG: .342
OBP: .429
SLG: .655

Scott Rolen
HR: 26
AVG: .284
OBP: .372
SLG: .528

Jim Edmonds
HR: 22
AVG: .282
OBP: .387
SLG: .508

Juan Encarnacion
HR: 14
AVG: .270
OBP: .315
SLG: .435

Adam Kennedy
HR: 9
AVG: .291
OBP: .352
SLG: .405

Yadier Molina
HR: 7
AVG: .255
OBP: .309
SLG: .370

—————-

Chris Carpenter
W-L: 17-4
IP: 218.7
K: 184
ERA: 3.15

Anthony Reyes
W-L: 13-11
IP: 191
K: 159
ERA: 3.89

Adam Wainwright
W-L: 15-9
IP: 183.3
K: 143
ERA: 3.73

Kip Wells
W-L: 9-13
IP: 204.3
K: 123
ERA: 4.63

Johnny McWarmbody (or Brad Thompson, if you prefer)
W-L: 9-15
IP: 179
K: 97
ERA: 4.97