Miklasz on changes in FO, re-emphasize on "The Kissell Way".

[Spider John]

-- Look for Luhnow to remain in charge of the scouting and to be in charge of the draft. Some will undoubtedly view this as a loss of power for Luhnow, and that's a reasonable view. Personally, I don't care as much about the ego aspect of this, or keeping score on who has the most clout in the organization. To me, this is what's important: what's best for the future of the Cardinals? That's all that matters. And a change in duties should help Luhnow do a better job in the search for players. Luhnow can devote all of his time, energy and focus on finding good amateur prospects for the Cardinals. Isn't that a plus for the franchise? (Matt Slater, currently an assistant to Mozeliak, figures to have an elevated role in assisting Luhnow.)

-- Look for John Vuch, the team's director of minor-league operations, to be promoted and put in charge of the minor leagues.Vunch, a long-time Cardinals' employee, is respected in all quarters of the organization. If Vuch is given more authority, the appointment will be warranted.

-- Look for Gary LaRocque, currently a special assistant to Mozeliak, to to have a significant role in the minor-league operation. From what I'm hearing, the Cardinals would like to re-emphasize the "George Kissell Way" of doing things. Kissell, of course, is the late, great, extraordinary minor-league instructor who schooled hundreds of baby birds on baseball fundamentals. The Cardinals apparently want to have a more consistent system in place for developing a model for teaching young players. Why? So the players will be more prepared to play the game the right way upon graduation to the major leagues. In theory, the minor-league managers, coaches and roving instructors will be more in sync with the major-league operation. And this will help get everyone on the same page. Again: this has to be considered a plus.

If all of this, as expected, transpires then Mozeliak deserves credit for trying to find a better way to do things.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 78c22.html

Maybe I'm over-simplifying things, but I find it pretty ridiculous that there isn't a standard philosphy on teaching fundamentals, or for that matter a standard pitching philosophy, up and down the minors. Hopefully this will be s step in the right direction.

[fanforever]

Mozeliak deserves credit for reading this web-site.

[wart57]

Mozeliak deserves credit for reading this web-site.

I am starting to wonder.....

[themiddle54]

-- Look for John Vuch, the team's director of minor-league operations, to be promoted and put in charge of the minor leagues.Vunch, a long-time Cardinals' employee, is respected in all quarters of the organization. If Vuch is given more authority, the appointment will be warranted.

I'm not sure "respected in all quarters of the organization" is a good thing, given the track record of the folks who have run the organization the past few years. 1 playoff appearance in four years in a fairly poor division, and in which the team is a total 28 games over .500 is no bueno. Swept out in that one playoff appearance, exposing the deficiencies of the 'stars and scrubs' approach. Only Jamie, Motte and Rasmus developed out of the farm and demonstrably valuable at the MLB level over a long enough period to mean anything. It's time to re-think, and shuffling around who's running the show, giving them new titles and shifted responsibilities might not be the best thing for the Cardinals moving forward.

[Spider John]

Mozeliak deserves credit for reading this web-site.

I am starting to wonder.....

We must use this power only for the good of mankind.

[sighyoung]

As an outsider, it's really difficult to read those moves. Part of me doesn't want to be cynical, but I think there are a variety of ways of reading those moves. Certainly, consistent instruction across the minor-league system is needed (and I'm flabbergasted that that is not the case).

But Mozeliak's moves also seem like pincer movements within the organization--not only effective division of labor, but the selection of his own men, and, it would seem to me, putting Luhnow on notice.

[JL21]

I'm not sure "respected in all quarters of the organization" is a good thing, given the track record of the folks who have run the organization the past few years. 1 playoff appearance in four years in a fairly poor division, and in which the team is a total 28 games over .500 is no bueno. Swept out in that one playoff appearance, exposing the deficiencies of the 'stars and scrubs' approach. Only Jamie, Motte and Rasmus developed out of the farm and demonstrably valuable at the MLB level over a long enough period to mean anything. It's time to re-think, and shuffling around who's running the show, giving them new titles and shifted responsibilities might not be the best thing for the Cardinals moving forward.

FWIW, Vuch has been part of the organization for a lot longer than just the last four years. He was there for the bulk of, if not the entirety of, the Jocketty era.

[greenback44]

Re: Fundamentals in the minors, it sounds like somebody important agrees with La Russa on Rasmus. Maybe not the way TLR handled it, but that there's something there.

[vinsanity]

I'm not sure "respected in all quarters of the organization" is a good thing, given the track record of the folks who have run the organization the past few years. 1 playoff appearance in four years in a fairly poor division, and in which the team is a total 28 games over .500 is no bueno. Swept out in that one playoff appearance, exposing the deficiencies of the 'stars and scrubs' approach. Only Jamie, Motte and Rasmus developed out of the farm and demonstrably valuable at the MLB level over a long enough period to mean anything. It's time to re-think, and shuffling around who's running the show, giving them new titles and shifted responsibilities might not be the best thing for the Cardinals moving forward.

All quarters would mean everyone, not just those in charge. Which would likely mean he's fairly even keeled and likeable, but can disagree without being disliked. It also probably means he's willing to listen to all schools of thought and not be bull-headed.

1 playoff appearance in 4 yeras....with the best player in the game is the bigger issue, but not entirely awful. Nor is being over 500 over a 4 year span.

Being swept out of a short series has more to do with luck involved with playoffs than any stars and scrubs approach. Jaime and Motte have been demonstrably valuable at the MLB for 'long enough period of time'? I guess Ryan's 4 wins over the last two years is easily replaceable at league minimum? Brett Wallace landed us Holliday and Perez has been valuable at the MLB level. Just else where.

It's not like the team is wallowing in mediocrity, so entire personnel change could do more harm than good. If they are shifting responsibilities that means new voices being heard and/or making decisions - it doesn't guarantee things would be run the same way.

[Spider John]

I'm not sure "respected in all quarters of the organization" is a good thing, given the track record of the folks who have run the organization the past few years. 1 playoff appearance in four years in a fairly poor division, and in which the team is a total 28 games over .500 is no bueno. Swept out in that one playoff appearance, exposing the deficiencies of the 'stars and scrubs' approach. Only Jamie, Motte and Rasmus developed out of the farm and demonstrably valuable at the MLB level over a long enough period to mean anything. It's time to re-think, and shuffling around who's running the show, giving them new titles and shifted responsibilities might not be the best thing for the Cardinals moving forward.

FWIW, Vuch has been part of the organization for a lot longer than just the last four years. He was there for the bulk of, if not the entirety of, the Jocketty era.

He's been with them since 1979. I found a 2008 interview with Vuch from FutureRedBirds.com:

I imagine you have a pretty busy schedule, so thanks for taking the time and answering questions for us fans. First of all tell us a little bit on how long you have been with the Cardinals, and how did you became the director of minor league ops?

I was born and raised in St. Louis, and naturally was a huge Cardinals fan. I actually started working for the Cardinals in 1979 when I was in 16 years old. Mike Bertani hired me as a “runner” on game days, taking messages down to the clubhouse, running off stats, taking tickets to the ticket windows, etc. I did that all through high school and college, and then was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time when there was an opening in the Sales Department in 1985. I worked in Group/Season ticket sales for a few years, but Joe Cunningham (Director of Sales) knew that my passion was the baseball side of the game, so he mentioned my name to Lee Thomas as a possibility for an opening in the Player Development department in 1988.

Initially I started in a primarily administrative role, but Lee and Dal Maxvill were pretty quick to give me more responsibilities in all aspects of Baseball Operations including Player Development, Scouting, contract negotiations and salary arbitration. In my early years in Baseball Ops, I worked with some tremendously knowledgeable baseball people such as Ted Simmons, Mike Jorgensen, Freddy McAlister and George Kissell, and tried to learn as much as possible from all of them. Those first few years, I did a whole lot of listening and not too much talking, as I wanted to soak up as much as I could from those guys.

When we had the restructuring in Player Development a few years ago, I moved from a more general baseball role into my current role, which is more heavily geared specifically toward Player Development. Working with the minor league players is probably the most rewarding job in baseball, as there’s definitely a feeling of pride when we see one of our players reach the majors after working so hard to get there in our minor league system.

http://futureredbirds.com/2008/02/10/q- ... john-vuch/