Cardinals Have Found Gems Later In Draft

The major league baseball draft next month will consist of just five rounds and anybody signed after that will receive no more than $20,000. But rounds six through 50, or six through 40 in later years, have produced some gems and the Cardinals would have quite a representative team from such players culled in the second and third days of the amateur draft.

Post-Dispatch

Peoria Virtual Opening Day, A July Prediction, & A Duel With Quad Cities

The Peoria Chiefs celebrated Opening Day on Thursday, albeit not on the field.

Peoria Journal Star

Coco Crisp Joining Athletics Radio Team As Analyst

Coco Crisp is returning to Oakland, this time as an analyst for the radio broadcast team.

Oakland Official Site

Ben Johnson Played A Sneaky, Important Role In Albert Pujols Legend

Within that 2000 season that hinted at the arrival of a generational talent in the Cardinals organization and ended with a dramatic flourish at Class AAA Memphis, there was a wrinkle in Albert Pujols’ advance through the minors.

Bird Land

Coco Crisp Wants To Keep Playing

Coco Crisp, OF, free agent — As teams begin to suffer injuries, Crisp could provide an answer. The ex-Red Sox outfielder still wants to play, but he did not receive any major league offers to get back into the game. He’s reportedly selling his $10 million estate in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and downsizing as he begins his retirement phase if a team doesn’t sign him.

Boston Globe

Do The Cardinals Have Good Outfield Depth? Right Now, No. In The Future? Hell, Yeah

Cardinals left fielder Randal Grichuk bombed a homer and a double in Wednesday’s exhibition win over the NY Mets, and while spring training games don’t count, some of the activity matters. Whether it’s a March practice game in Palm Beach County, or a June series at Wrigley Field, you want to see the streaky Grichuk swinging well, and swinging with confidence.

101 ESPN

Red Sox Need Joe Kelly To Be Reliable Arm Out Of The Bullpen

It’s not new for Kelly to show stretches of brilliance. What the Red Sox need from him is reliability. A strong spring in which he develops a routine that feels comfortable and allows his arm to stay fresh could put him in position to play a key set-up role in 2017. Otherwise the team risks entering the season with uncertain roles and too many question marks in the bullpen.

Boston Herald

Although Jobless, Coco Crisp Isn't Ready To Retire

Coco Crisp isn’t ready to retire.

Mercury News

Exploring The Remaining Free-Agent Outfielders

With Spring Training only nine days away, and the Cardinals are still looking to add a fifth outfielder. Tommy Pham, Stephen Piscotty, and Randal Grichuk all bat right-handed.

Redbird Daily

Andy Marte, Former Top Prospect, Dies In Car Accident

Andy Marte, who played parts of seven seasons in the majors and was a former top prospect of the Braves and Red Sox, died in a car accident early Sunday in the Dominican Republic, his agency confirmed. He was 33.

Baseball America

Lift Off: The Fastest Pitches Hit For Homers In 2016

There's a reason high velocity is prized in pitchers. It's not easy to square up heat that approaches or reaches triple digits.

St. Louis Official Site

Coco Crisp, Bud Norris On Angels' Radar

The words are flowing in the vast corridors and from hotel suite to suite on mobile phones at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. The Angels are looking to upgrade their roster in multiple areas, and the Winter Meetings are giving them a good chance to get some of the legwork done.

Anaheim Official Site

Matt Holliday, Ryan Howard, Mark Reynolds, & Brandon Moss All Possibilities For The Indians

Matt Holliday has been mentioned after leaving the St. Louis Cardinals. He's 37. He has battled injuries the last two seasons, playing only 73 games in 2015 and 110 games in 2016. He did hit 20 HR with 62 RBI (.246, .783 OPS) in those 110 games last season. He had a fractured thumb. In 2015, it was different leg injuries. He is a one-year contract guy, and probably a DH as his outfield play has deteriorated.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Coco Crisp's Return After 11-Year Absence Was Well Worth The Wait

Although this unread article is part of a series titled “2016 in Review,” I do need to expand the scope of this particular recap just a bit. Well, a little more than than just a bit...

Let's Go Tribe

Indians Decline 2017 Option On Coico Crisp

TribeInsider Twitter

Indians Decline 2017 Option On Coco Crisp

Paul Hoynes Twitter

Indians Expected To Decline 2017 Option On Coco Crisp

Chris Cotillo Twitter

Former Cardinals Playing In MLB World Series 11-2-16: Coco Crisp Singles & Doubles

Jason Heyward (former St. Louis-Chicago-N) started in right field and batted eighth.  0-for-5 with one strikeout.

Coco Crisp (former New Haven-Cleveland) started in left field and batted seventh.  2-for-4 with one double and one run.

Chicago-N beat Cleveland 8-7 in 10 innings

Scouting The Scouting Directors, Part Two

In Part 1 yesterday, I didn’t mention the work of scouting directors with three years or fewer on the job. That’s because directors with such limited work are prone to wild swings and outrageous bWAR+ figures based on a single player. One way to remedy this is to look at individual drafts. Let’s look at the top individual drafts now. (Since most recent draftees haven’t even started their major league careers, these data will exclude drafts from 2009 and later.) Here are the 10 best using those criteria. This is for total talent drafted (signed and unsigned), relative to league:

The Hardball Times

Former Cardinals Playing in MLB World Series 10-1-16: Coco Crisp Walks

Jason Heyward (former St. Louis-Chicago-N) started in right field and batted eighth.  0-for-4 with one ground into double play and one outfield assist.

Coco Crisp (former New Haven-Cleveland) started in left field and batted seventh.  0-for-1 with one walk.

Chicago-N beat Cleveland 9-3