Pretty good pick by Martinez there...

We won't have Broxton to kick around anymore, eh?

don.rob11 wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

We won't have Broxton to kick around anymore, eh?

 
For sure, I wonder who's next ? Peralta?
Check and see how many rbi's JP has in 48 ABs .

 
Well, he's consistent.

Hey now ...

OH yeah !

don.rob11 wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

We won't have Broxton to kick around anymore, eh?

 
For sure, I wonder who's next ? Peralta?
Check and see how many rbi's JP has in 48 ABs .

I was thinking the same thing.  This team needs gutted and nobody is untouchable.

I can't for the life of me understand why they sent Sierra down. 

My feelings are that this team isnt built to win now and probably not in 2018 or even 2019.  I dont see piscotty, grichuk, wong, pham and maybe even gyorko, carp as being a valuable players at the point this team get reconstructed.  So in that case why hold on to them if you can get something for them? Alot of those players are role players.  Those can be replaced.  If there are players that could benefit from mlb playing time they should not be blocked by that group, especially the grichuk, pham and piscotty.

forsberg_us wrote:

Mags wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

I can't for the life of me understand why they sent Sierra down. 

He's still learning.  Lots of guys come up and make a splash and then never make contact agiain.  Sierra's record over the past couple of years shows he is not quite ready for full time starting in the majors.  If I had to make a choice right now that would be permanent, I'd take Sierra over Piscotty or Pham but I'd rank him below them at this point in the season and he needs to play.  Martinez, therefore, gets to be the 4th outfielder.

From the way Mercado is playing at Springfield, I'm not sure if he isn't even a better prospect than Sierra for the long haul.  About 3 years ago, he was a top shortstop prospect.  But he turned out to have an infield arm that would have made Garry Templeton or Juan Samuel look like Scott Rolen.
 

I'd pump the brakes a bit on Mercado.  Texas League numbers tend to be a bit inflated and he was a career .230 hitter before this season.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he's posting good numbers.  But this was a kid who hit under .300 his senior year of high school.  The only reason he was a top SS prospect was because the rest of the system pretty much sucked at the position.

Completely agree with you that Sierra is better off in the minors for now.

And I completely agree with you regarding Mercado.  I'm not ready to trade Sierra, or even Fowler, on the basis of 1/4 of a season's work.  He is apparently and exceptional athlete, however.  And could be a real asset if his hitting is for real.

Incidentally, the Cuban Garcia that they signed this past winter seems to be getting some traction in AA also. 

But none of these guys is a dead cinch.  Still, there enough prospects with enough potential that I'd risk a trade of Piscotty and Pham, and of course Grichuk, given what I believe to be the current ceiling for this club.
 

It seems to me like this team is waiting for the next pujols.  That lucky break that comes out of nowhere.  Every prospect called up, they hold their breath and hope this is the guy.  Maybe that is just the fans perspective but it seems the farm has either been severally overrated or the front office was majorly under prepared.

Mags wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

I can't for the life of me understand why they sent Sierra down. 

He's still learning.  Lots of guys come up and make a splash and then never make contact agiain.  Sierra's record over the past couple of years shows he is not quite ready for full time starting in the majors.  If I had to make a choice right now that would be permanent, I'd take Sierra over Piscotty or Pham but I'd rank him below them at this point in the season and he needs to play.  Martinez, therefore, gets to be the 4th outfielder.

From the way Mercado is playing at Springfield, I'm not sure if he isn't even a better prospect than Sierra for the long haul.  About 3 years ago, he was a top shortstop prospect.  But he turned out to have an infield arm that would have made Garry Templeton or Juan Samuel look like Scott Rolen.
 

I acknowledge Sierra is a kid and he needs to play every day to develop his offensive skills. But it seemed like he brought an energy to the team that it doesn't otherwise have unless Martinez is on the mound. 

APIAD wrote:

Like i believe fors said, they have not hit on a star position player in years. Edmonds, rolen, holliday, berkman, beltran...going to have to go get some of those type of players.

I've had that same conversation several times this season with a couple of my good friends and we each agree with you.

As I think several of you will recall, I was a serious Molina fan from the time he hit Memphis and continued to plead his case during his many ohfor streaks his first couple of years.  But I was heartsick when Mo signed him to the huge extension.  I don't know any other way to explain it than that Mo is so damn concerned with sucking up to the fans that he just doesn't give a shit what kind of problems he saddles Matheny with. 

For one thing, I think Kelly is the one position player in their farm system at AA or AAA that shows clear potential for being a superstar.  The jury is out, in my mind, on Sierra.   For another thing, I don't think Molina is quite as valuable to the team as he thinks he is.  Or as Dave Stieb's manager once said about Stieb, "But then nobody is as good as he thinks he is."

His hitting stats this year are decent but if every player took the same approach he follows, most opposing starters would be able to throw a complete game with less than 80 pitches.  And I doubt if he would have as many extra base hits as he has.  And ever with his selfishness of his approach, he's not going to lead the league in any offensive categories.

I doubt I ever had a hero who was a close second to Stan Musial.  But, despite his high BA near the end of his career, I couldn't help but feel that the team wasn't going to win it all with him playing regularly (and they did come a lot closer in '63 than I had thought they ever would).  Lou Brock may be my second all-time favorite Cardinal but I couldn't help but think the same thing about him.  Maybe it's just my pessimistic outlook, but I now find myself feeling the same way about Molina.  And the Cards never made a 5 year commitment to Musial or Brock.
 

Last edited by Mags (6/01/2017 2:30 pm)