Cards system ranked 29th by BA
December 3rd, 2009 | by Ryan Boyer |Heading into 2009, the Cardinals’ minor league system had been steadily improving.
In 2004, the system was ranked 28th by Baseball America. In 2005, 30th. In 2006, 21st. In 2007, 23rd. In 2008, 13th. Last year, the system was ranked 8th, the first time since 1999 that the organization received a top 10 ranking.
BA has come out with their rankings for 2010, and the Cardinals sit at…… drumroll, please….
29th.
Let the restocking begin… again.
Baseball America’s John Manuel had this to say about the Cardinals’ system:
Ranked eighth last spring, St. Louis traded away both star power and depth in 2009 in acquiring Matt Holliday and Mark DeRosa. What’s left is a bunch of role players and 2009 first-rounder Shelby Miller, a promising right-hander but a prep pitcher who has yet to play a full season.
The big drop shouldn’t be all that surprising.
Last year’s No. 1 prospect, Colby Rasmus, has obviously lost eligibility to be on the list, as has fellow 2009 top 10 prospect Jason Motte, who was ranked 8th. Brett Wallace (2nd), Chris Perez (3rd), Jess Todd (4th) and Clayton Mortensen (6th) are all in different organization, and Bryan Anderson (5th) and Daryl Jones (7th) had disappointing seasons.
There were a few players that emerged in 2009, like Eduardo Sanchez, Lance Lynn Daniel Descalso and Tyler Henley, but overall the system has oviously taken a big hit, and Jeff Luhnow and company have a tall task ahead to bring it back to respectability.
Tags: Bryan Anderson, Daniel Descalso, Daryl Jones, Eduardo Sanchez, Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller, Tyler Henley
By strachtman on Dec 3, 2009
I’ve got no clue how Toronto and KC ranked ahead of the Cardinals. That’s not to say that the Cardinals system is good, but those two are far worse.