Phillies Hire Brian Barber As Amateur Scouting Director

The Phillies announced Tuesday that they have hired a longtime Yankees employee for a prominent role in the organization.

Philadelphia Official Site

Why Cardinals Debut Was Tough Task For Mike Busby

In the first week of his first season as Cardinals manager, Tony La Russa was facing a pitching problem. After just five games, his bullpen already was overworked because of extra-inning and high-scoring contests. Entering the finale of a season-opening six-game road trip, La Russa needed his No. 5 starter, rookie Mike Busby, to pitch as long as possible in his big-league debut against the Braves in Atlanta.

RetroSimba

Playoff Experience Has Randy Flores For Prepared For Pressure Of Draft

The most pressurized moment in Randy Flores’ pitching career came on Oct. 19, 2006 when the left-hander was summoned from the Cardinals’ bullpen in the eighth inning of game seven of the NL Championship Series against the Mets.

STL Sports Page

The Unproductive Reunion Of Ken Hill, Cardinals

When the Cardinals reacquired Ken Hill, they thought they’d found an ace. Instead, he was a dud.

RetroSimba

Brian Barden, Luis Perdomo, & Other Become the First Foreigners To Play For Campache

This year, Campeche Pirates have opened the line of foreigners play for the first time in the Mexican Baseball League.  (Translated)

MiLB Official Site

Where Have You Gone, Brady Raggio?

The parade of young pitchers doesn’t stop. Shelby Miller, Trevor Rosenthal, Carlos Martinez, Joe Kelly, Seth Maness, and now John Gast. And there are more on the way, with Michael Wacha warming in Class AAA Memphis until the Cardinals need him.

Bernie Bytes

Brian Barden & Royce Ring To Play For Team USA In 2010 Pan American Games

USA Baseball announced its 2010 Pan American Qualifying Team roster on Thursday. The 24-man team, comprised of players not currently on 40-man Major League rosters, will compete in the COPABE Pan American Games Qualifying Tournament, scheduled for Oct. 1-10 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

MiLB Official Site

DG's 10@10: Winning With Tony LaRussa

Asked this past week if he put much stock in a player’s win-loss record when it came to having him in the lineup, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said that can be a tricky and mostly misleading number. What if, he said, a player starts twice a week and for a stretch his two games happen to correspond with starts by Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.

Birdland

2010 Draft Review Part Seiben: The Arms Race, High School Edition

We've all heard the tidbit by now, I'm sure, that when the Cards called Shelby Miller's name in the first round last year it marked the first time they had drafted a high-school pitcher with their first pick since the immortal Brian Barber in 1991.

Viva El Birdos

The Cardinal Nation Blog Top Stories Of 2009 #18: Shelby Miller

As Rick Ankiel’s 13-year run with the St. Louis Cardinals organization neared its end, his replacement at least at one level arrived. When then-18-year-old Shelby Miller came to terms on the final day eligible in August, his $2.875 million deal became the highest bounty paid to a Cardinals draft pick since Ankiel received $2.5 million in 1997, also at the tender age of 18.

The Cardinal Nation Blog

Cardinals Top Draft Pick Might Join Quad Cities River Bandits Soon

St. Louis' first-round choice in the baseball draft expects to be in the Quad-Cities next week.

Hard-throwing right-hander Shelby Miller could join the River Bandits as early as next Wednesday, but whether he will compete this season remains undetermined.

Quad-City Times

Baseball Contract: A Teen Millionaire

At age 18, Shelby Miller is officially a millionaire.

Just one day ahead of this year’s Major League Baseball signing deadline, the Brownwood High School graduate inked a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, earning a signing bonus worth a whopping $2.875 million.
Abilene Reporter News

Shelby Miller: To Start With Quad Cities

Cardinals Finish Up Draft With Question Marks

The Cardinals went away from their recent pattern of taking proven players with good numbers, instead making several risky picks with potentially big upsides in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.

Cardinals Official Site

DG's 10@10: Cardinals Collapsing Into Cliches

The St. Louis Cardinals showed a pulse offensively Tuesday night in Florida, but it still wasn’t enough as they failed to score more than three runs for the 12th time in 16 games. They have produced the fewest runs and the fewest baserunners in baseball since the beginning of May. They have the lowest on-base percentage (.276) this month in the National League.

Birdland

Cardinals Draft Hard-Throwing High Schooler

The Cardinals went against type on Tuesday, taking high-school right-hander Shelby Miller with the 19th overall pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft. They may be willing to defy history even more when it comes to signing Miller to a contract.
Cardinals Official Site

The St. Louis Cardinals selected high school RHP Shelby Miller out of Brownwood High School in Brownwood, TX with their top pick in tonight's MLB First-Year Player Draft.
Cardinals Official Site Press Release

The St. Louis Cardinals have earned and cultivated a reputation for favoring college pitchers. They have talked openly about using this draft to address a lack of lefties in the organization.
Birdland

The St. Louis Cardinals broke with one tradition when they took a high school pitcher with their first pick in the draft, and now they must be willing to break with another to get their pick into the system.
Birdland

Embracing his lineage as another strong-armed Texas power pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals first-round pick Shelby Miller described himself as not only ready to try his fastball in professional baseball but also ready to sign.
Birdland

Comfortable with the depth and swift-moving current of players in their system, the St. Louis Cardinals appear to be using the 2009 draft as a chance to take some risky picks with perceived upside.
Birdland

John: Finally, three two-way guys in the second round: Mychal Givens as a RHP to Baltimore; Blake Smith as a RHP to LAD; Robert Stock to STL as a C; any thoughts there?

Jim: Stock wanted to catch but I'm surprised he's getting the opportunity because he hasn't hit well. Maybe they're appeasing him for now and will move him to the mound. I could see Givens going either way and think teams were split evenly on that one. Blake Smith as a pitcher is interesting, probably the right call.
Baseball America

Whoa! I didn’t see this coming. Put down your pitchforks. No need to hunt down DeWallet. Shelby Miller is your 1st round pick Cardinal fans. You wanted upside, well here you go. I’m shocked. Cardinals get a top top caliber pick at 19. He’s said to be seeking $4M+, so we’ll see how this plays out.
Future Redbirds

On Robert Stock...
Future Redbirds

On Joe Kelly...
Future Redbirds

The St. Louis Cardinals selected high school RHP Shelby Miller out of Brownwood High School in Brownwood, TX with their top pick in Tuesday night’s MLB First-Year Player Draft.
The Cardinal Nation

The Cardinals did something similar in grabbing Shelby Miller at 19; Miller, long a favorite of mine, was a clear top 10 talent to me, up to 96 mph with plus life and good depth on his breaking ball, with some command issues midyear that settled down in time. The Cards don't have guys like Miller in their system -- a high-upside arm who could pitch at the top of a big-league rotation someday -- and you typically don't get arms like that at 19.
ESPN

Like most kids who grow up playing baseball, Brownwood's Shelby Miller had childhood dreams of being a part of a major league organization.
Abilene Reporter News

For five programs in District 2-3A, having Brownwood right-hander Shelby Miller in their league for one season was enough.
Abilene Reporter News

Righthander Shelby Miller, from the Texas deer-hunting outpost of Brownwood, is the first high school pitcher to be taken in the opening round of the free-agent draft by the Cardinals since 1991 when Brian Barber was chosen out of an Orlando, Fla., high school.
STL Today