For this Cardinals post, I got lazy and had someone else write it for me. His name is Cody Elias and he is also an aspiring Pirates blogger. You can read his work at bloggingbucs.wordpress.com and follow him on Twitter @Cody_Elias.
1. Shelby Miller, RHP
2. Oscar Taveras, OF
3. Carlos Martinez, RHP
4. Matt Adams, 1B
5. Kolten Wong, 2B
6. Tyrell Jenkins, RHP
7. Zack Cox, 3B
8. Trevor Rosenthal, RHP
9. Jordan Swagerty, RHP
10. Matt Carpenter, 3B
11. Ryan Jackson, SS
12. Charlie Tilson, OF
13. Maikel Cleto, RHP
14. Adron Chambers, OF
15. John Gast, LHP
16. Joe Kelly, RHP
17. C.J. McElroy, OF (my favorite)
18. Cody Stanley, C
19. Boone Whiting, RHP
20. Seth Blair, RHP
When you think of all of the teams in Major League Baseball and who has the best farm systems people think of The Royals, Padres, Rays, Twins, A's but one team many people might not think about is the World Series champion St Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals have produced many high profile players like Albert Pujols, Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia, and others like Bob Gibson, Stan Musial, and Rogers Hornsby. The Cardinals now in 2012 have one of the top 5 farm systems in baseball. They have six prospects in the top 100 according to Keith Law and those players are: Shelby Miller RHP, Carlos Martinez RHP, Oscar Taveras RF, Zack Cox 3B, Tyrell Jenkins RHP, and Jordan Swagerty, RHP. Some of these players are still very young but the ones who could be in uniform soon are Miller, Cox, and possibly Martinez.
Shelby Miller is a 21-year-old right-handed pitcher in the Cardinals organization and their top prospect overall. He was drafted 9th overall in the 2009 MLB Amateur draft. Miller started the season in 2011 in high A ball and went 2-3 with a 2.89 era with 81 strikeouts, 20 walks, and allowed 2 home runs in 53 innings of work. He was then moved up to double A where he went 9-3 with a 2.70 era with 89 strikeouts, 33 walks, and 2 home runs allowed in 86.2 innings of work. Combined he was 11-6 with a 2.77 era with 170 strikeouts and 53 walks in 139.2 innings. Miller is projected to be an ace for the Cardinals in a few years and could come as early as 2013. He will continue to pitch at AA this season and might even get the call to triple A and a possible call up to the Majors in September.
Carlos Martinez is a 20-year-old right-handed pitcher as well in the Cards organization. He is projected as their second best prospect overall. Martinez spent last year between high and low A ball making 18 starts. His stats were that intriguing in his stint in high A but he finished 2011 with an 6-5 record with a 3.93 era with 98 strikeouts, 44 walks, and 3 home runs allowed in 84.2 innings. Martinez will probably be a starter for the Cardinals in the near future as soon as 2014 because he has limited experience in the minors still and is still raw. He is also on 6 foot and weighs 165 so hell need to maybe bulk up a little as well.
Zack Cox is a 22-year-old third base prospect in the Cardinals organization. He was drafted 25th in the 2010 MLB Amateur draft to possibly be the future of the Cardinals organization at third base. Cox started last season in high A ball for the Cardinals before moving to double AA during the season. 569 plate appearances he hit .306 with with 27 doubles, 13 home runs, 68 rbis, he walked 40 times and struck out 98 times as well. His OBP was .363 and his SLG was .434 making his OPS .797. The biggest thing Cox will need to cut back on is his 98 strikeouts, it seems like a little compared to some of the major leagues who strike out over 200 times, but Cox had 98 in high A and double A. Cox also committed 24 errors at third base in 297 chances. This is also something Cox will need to cut back on. Cox is kind of similar to Pedro Alvarez because of the high strikeout numbers and errors but has the power to be a middle of the order hitter for the Cardinals in their future.
Oscar Taveras is a 19-year outfielder for the Cardinals organization and is from Puerto Planta. Taveras is the best OF prospect the Cards have in terms of potential and he showed signs of it last season in A ball. in 347 plate appearances Taveras hit .386 with 27 doubles, 5 home runs, 62 rbis, walked 32 times and struck out 52 times. Taveras is still raw at 19 but has very high upside shown by his numbers last season for the Cardinals in A ball. He needs to develop some power but he might turn out to bevone of the outfielders who hits more for contact rather than power. He played all 3 OF spots in 2011 for Quad Cities and only committed 2 errors and had 6 assists. Only time will tell for this young player but his future looks bright.
The Cardinals will continue to have one of the best farm systems in baseball due to their smart drafting and developing the talent. General Manager John Mozeliak will continue to help this team compete year in and year out even when they lost players like Albert Pujols. The future will remain bright in St Louis as it always has.