Each Team's Best Small School Draft Pick

College baseball has produced a galaxy of stars. The greatest hitter and pitcher of the last 50 years, Barry Bonds (Arizona State) and Roger Clemens (Texas), turned in memorable College World Series performances before entering pro ball. Last year's major award winners include Old Dominion's Justin Verlander (American League Cy Young), Stetson's Jacob deGrom (National League Cy Young) and Florida's Pete Alonso (NL Rookie of the Year).

St. Louis Official Site

Brian Jordan Ready To Face Yankees In Legends In The South Gate At Riley Park

Former Atlanta Braves slugger Brian Jordan will try not to be overly competitive on Friday when he suits up in the legendary white jersey with the tomahawk across the chest.

Post & Courier

2018 Baseball Hall Of Fame: The Players Who Will Be 'One-And-Done' This Year

There are 11 players not expected to receive the 5 percent necessary to stay on the ballot

CBS Sports

Chris Carpenter, Scott Rolen, & Jason Isringhausen Make Debuts On Hall Of Fame Ballot

Power-hitter Jim Thome and former MVP Chipper Jones headline the list of 19 newcomers to the National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot that will reach voters in the coming week. A handful of former Cardinals, including Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter, also dot the ballot for the first time.
Cardinal Beat

The full ballot for the 2018 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame was announced, Monday. And new on the list are three former St. Louis Cardinals: Chris Carpenter, Scott Rolen and Jason Isringhausen.
KMOX

The Baseball Hall of Fame has announced the 36 candidates who are on the ballot to be elected as the 2018 Hall of Fame class.
STL Baseball Weekly

A Cy Young Award winner, the franchise's all-time saves leader and an eight-time Gold Glove Award winner are among the former Cardinals to land on the 2018 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. All three -- Chris Carpenter, Jason Isringhausen and Scott Rolen -- were also members of the organization's 2006 World Series championship team.
St. Louis Official Site

Rick Ankiel To Represent Cardinals For 2017 Draft

Hall of Famer George Brett and 17 other former All-Stars will be among 54 baseball dignitaries representing the 30 Major League clubs at MLB Network's Studio 42 when the three-day MLB Draft gets underway on June 12.

St. Louis Official Site

Orlando Hudson Brings Excitement, Energy To Diamondbacks Fantasy Camp

You hear Orlando Hudson before you see him.

Arizona Official Site

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

How Chris Carpenter Got Revenge Against The Blue Jays

Three years after the Blue Jays removed Chris Carpenter from their big-league roster and told him he’d have to go to the minors if he wanted to remain with the organization, the pitcher returned to Toronto as a member of the Cardinals and showed why giving up on him was a mistake.

RetroSimba

Ryan Ludwick To Represent Cardinals For 2016 Draft, Jamie Moyer For Mariners

Twenty-three former All-Stars. The winningest pitcher in postseason history. Three pitchers who tossed perfect games. A Most Valuable Player, a Rookie of the Year, a Hall of Fame manager and a Hall of Fame broadcaster.

St. Louis Official Site

Orlando Hudson Special Instructor In Diamondbacks' Camp, Hopes To Restart Comeback In Winter Ball

Steve Gilbert Twitter

Who Was Best At Playing The Field?

After the passing of Orioles' legendary manager Earl Weaver last month, I found myself spending a good amount of time scrolling through the rosters of those dynasty clubs from Baltimore in the late '60s and early '70s. It shouldn't surprise you that the name of Mark Belanger kept showing up, considering he spent 16 years with the O's while playing some of the most defensively magnificent shortstop that baseball has ever seen.

The Hardball Times

Luke Gregerson Feels Good After First Rehab Outing

Meanwhile, Black said he was encouraged by right-handed reliever Luke Gregerson’s rehab outing with Triple-A Tucson in Sacramento, although Gregerson allowed three runs on three hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning.

He came out of the inning because he had reached his 25-pitch limit.

“Luke said he felt good and didn’t feel the oblique muscle, that’s the big thing,” said Black. “While you hate to see a guy give up runs, it got him some work. From a rehab standpoint, that’s better than having get out of the inning on five pitches.”

Gregerson is scheduled to pitch again on Sunday for Tucson in Sacramento before rejoining the Padres in San Francisco.

San Diego Union-Tribune

Ryan Ludwick Taking To The Road Like An All-Star

The road has been kind to Padres left fielder Ryan Ludwick recently, and San Diego's nine-game road trip that begins Monday could potentially land him a spot on the National League's All-Star roster.

Padres Official Site

Ryan Ludwick Vying For Second Trip To All-Star Game

Runs have been hard to come by for the Padres in the first two months of the season, though San Diego left fielder Ryan Ludwick is trying to do something about that.

Padres Official Site

Jarrett Hoffpauir Begins Rehab Assignment Sunday

Sarah Trotto Twitter

Ryan Ludwick's Key Knock Puts Padres Over Top

There was no way for Ryan Ludwick to be certain of just how close Astros shortstop Angel Sanchez came to snaring his line drive with a leaping attempt on Friday, though Ludwick would probably just as soon not know.

Padres Official Site

Some Less Than Ideal Lead-Off Men

Determining who's going to bat lead-off is generally one of the most significant decisions that a manager has to make while filling out his lineup cards. The lead-off man is the first player to step up to the plate for your team each day, right in front of the club's vaunted sluggers. And more importantly, being at the top of the order means getting to the plate more often. So no, this isn't the same as arguing about whether Yuniesky Betancourt or Wil Nieves should be batting eighth.

Beyond The Boxscore

Here's How Padres Stack Up Against Cardinals

When the Cardinals open the season Thursday, March 31, against the Padres at St. Louis, here is the likely San Diego lineup they will face:

Retro Simba

Joel Pineiro Has Off-Speed Day

Angels right-hander Joel Pineiro makes his living with his two-seam fastball, but he needs to surround it with other pitches to keep hitters off balance.

Angels Official Site

Five Year Probabilistic Model Of Range: Second Baseman

My five-year survey of fielders using objective PMR continues with second basemen. (You can find all Probabilistic Model of Range posts here.) We start with the composite team view:

Baseball Musings