Re: Minor League News 2026

[Fan_In_NY]

The nice thing is the depth and puzzle pieces all matriculating to the upper levels at this point to create a window in 2028.

We will still probably be mid next year, but 2028 has a chance to have enough depth and cheap labor to allow for one or two big ticket moves to gain the necessary 4-5 wins to get into contention outside of expected growth from the young core.

I think the good part is that they have depth and waves of prospects. We know a bunch of these guys are not going to be able to make the jump, a couple of arms will get injured, etc. But the hope is having multiple options and lottery tickets helps ensure that there are some 3 and 4 WAR players that will help the big league club. The bigger issue is going to be the big ticket moves - I really don't think there are many interesting free agent options in the coming years (even if ownership wants to pay) so targeting expensive (in terms of prospects) pre-free agents is going to be the best way to acquire high end talent.

[Magneto2.0]

[phins]

The nice thing is the depth and puzzle pieces all matriculating to the upper levels at this point to create a window in 2028.

We will still probably be mid next year, but 2028 has a chance to have enough depth and cheap labor to allow for one or two big ticket moves to gain the necessary 4-5 wins to get into contention outside of expected growth from the young core.

I think the good part is that they have depth and waves of prospects. We know a bunch of these guys are not going to be able to make the jump, a couple of arms will get injured, etc. But the hope is having multiple options and lottery tickets helps ensure that there are some 3 and 4 WAR players that will help the big league club. The bigger issue is going to be the big ticket moves - I really don't think there are many interesting free agent options in the coming years (even if ownership wants to pay) so targeting expensive (in terms of prospects) pre-free agents is going to be the best way to acquire high end talent.

Agreed. If you want a star, you probably need 10 45+ type prospects.

It's ~10% of those guys turn into stars.

Basically, I think we agree all the way around.

[jagtrader]

Franklin’s gonna have a better career than Doyle.

[CardsofSTL]

[ghostrunner]

Went to the Peoria game yesterday on the first leg of our trip. They don’t really have any of the ranked position prospects now. Jacob Odle pitched and he’s ranked 13th MLB in the Cardinals system. Didnt have a great game. Gave up 4 walks, 4 hits and 5 runs. We did have to leave in the 8th to get to KC at a reasonable hour so we missed the comeback win.

Did see that new draftee Caden Ferraro was on the bench.

Not sure how normal this is for high A but man it’s a small field. 310 in both corners and 400 in center. Apparently Springfield is 320 in the corners.

By comparison, looked up their opponent Quad Cities’ stadium and it’s 343 in left and 318 in right. 400 to center.

Nice stadium otherwise. Not very many people there. It was pretty hot but no worse than I’ve felt at Busch.

[phins]

Went to the Peoria game yesterday on the first leg of our trip. They don’t really have any of the ranked position prospects now. Jacob Odle pitched and he’s ranked 13th MLB in the Cardinals system. Didnt have a great game. Gave up 4 walks, 4 hits and 5 runs. We did have to leave in the 8th to get to KC at a reasonable hour so we missed the comeback win.

Did see that new draftee Caden Ferraro was on the bench.

Not sure how normal this is for high A but man it’s a small field. 310 in both corners and 400 in center. Apparently Springfield is 320 in the corners.

By comparison, looked up their opponent Quad Cities’ stadium and it’s 343 in left and 318 in right. 400 to center.

Nice stadium otherwise. Not very many people there. It was pretty hot but no worse than I’ve felt at Busch.

Springfield is 320 down the LF line in a small spot. It juts out, so if you pull right down the line it's a pretty easy poke. Otherwise it's fair. In fact, the power alley's are tough to get it out. RF is more neutral.

There is a brick indoor training facility in RF that is right behind the walking path behind the wall, so it makes it seem smaller since it's really high (think Vegas strip how casinos appear closer than they are).

[ghostrunner]

Went to the Peoria game yesterday on the first leg of our trip. They don’t really have any of the ranked position prospects now. Jacob Odle pitched and he’s ranked 13th MLB in the Cardinals system. Didnt have a great game. Gave up 4 walks, 4 hits and 5 runs. We did have to leave in the 8th to get to KC at a reasonable hour so we missed the comeback win.

Did see that new draftee Caden Ferraro was on the bench.

Not sure how normal this is for high A but man it’s a small field. 310 in both corners and 400 in center. Apparently Springfield is 320 in the corners.

By comparison, looked up their opponent Quad Cities’ stadium and it’s 343 in left and 318 in right. 400 to center.

Nice stadium otherwise. Not very many people there. It was pretty hot but no worse than I’ve felt at Busch.

Springfield is 320 down the LF line in a small spot. It juts out, so if you pull right down the line it's a pretty easy poke. Otherwise it's fair. In fact, the power alley's are tough to get it out. RF is more neutral.

There is a brick indoor training facility in RF that is right behind the walking path behind the wall, so it makes it seem smaller since it's really high (think Vegas strip how casinos appear closer than they are).

Makes sense. Haven't seen it in person yet, but will tomorrow night.

[GeddyWrox]

Is that catcher the grandson of Eddie Gaedel? He's positively diminutive!