Italy
The other two prospects on the roster are Cardinals righthander Adam Ottavino (born in New York) and Orioles third baseman Mike Costanzo (born in Philadelphia). Like Liddi, Ottavino also had a disappointing season. After a successful season in 2007, Ottavino made the jump to Double-A last year and struggled a bit. Over 115 innings, he went 3-7, 5.23 with 96 strikeouts and 52 walks
Netherlands
While playing for the University of Maine, first baseman Curt Smith put up some gaudy numbers. As a senior last year, the Curacao native hit .403/.498/.722 with 17 doubles, 11 home runs and 12 stolen bases. Despite the eye-popping numbers, Smith is undersized and limited defensively and the Cardinals were able to select him in the 39th round. After signing, Smith spent the summer split between Rookie-level Johnson City (Appalachian League) before getting an end-of-season promotion to low Class A Quad Cities in the Midwest League. Between the two stops, Smith continued to hit, posting a .353/.388/.538 line with 18 doubles and eight home runs over 238 at-bats .
Panama
Cardinals righthander Arquimedes Nieto has been progressing slowly through the system, but has impressed at each stop thus far. Making his stateside debut in 2008, the 6-foot, 175-pound 19-year-old appeared in 15 games, making nine starts for the eventual New York-Penn champions, Batavia. Over 58 innings, Nieto went 6-1, 2.95 with 42 strikeouts and 18 walks.
Baseball America
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