Sleepers: St. Louis Cardinals
By Adam Forsyth
The Shallow
Colby Rasmus – Outfield (CF)
The days of Colby Rasmus manning the outfield for the Cards’ is surely closing in on us, and we are hopeful that it is going to be everything that we had ever imagined.
Packed in his 6 foot 1 inch, 190 pound frame is the bat speed of a power hitter, and a naturally gifted defensive CF, with range comparable to that of a certain Cards’ CF from not too long ago. Rasmus has twice been elected St. Louis’ top-rated prospect in Baseball America’s annual report, this year reaching the number three overall ranking in all of the major leagues prospects. All of this, after dealing with injuries that limited his AB to just over 300 in 2008, which stalled the natural progression that he was making in the minor leagues.
A tough 2008, where he managed only 11 HR’s after knocking out 29 long balls in the previous season, can only be considered a small bump in the road on route to a long major league career. While the K’s are somewhat of a concern at this stage (as he gets sent back to the bench at a pace of 1K/4.41AB through his first 1533 career AB) he has been able to keep his BA up around the .285 range while maintaining a solid .366 OBP which should lessen the blow of his “whiff a game” status.
WaiverSharks.com is confident that Colby will get his opportunity to shine in 2009, even considering the slight logjam in the Cardinals OF. The problem with this situation is that it doesn’t necessarily leave the opportunity to struggle like he did in AAA-Memphis last season. The feather in the cap that Rasmus maintains is the fact that defensively, he is superior to all of their current options, and minus the lightning bolt arm of former pitcher Rick Ankiel, Rasmus will be able to hold his own.
Don’t expect monster numbers just yet, but if he gets his bat going, it wouldn’t be out of the question to have his name in the mix for NL R.O.Y. consideration.
The Deep
Brett Wallace – Third Base
A solid contact hitter, with good size and skill, Wallace is on the quick path to the ranks of being an every-day 3B for the Cardinals.
Troy Glaus’ shoulder issues should hold him out of the line-up until at least May, and with Brian Barden and David Freese as the current options to fill the void, it wouldn’t be crazy to think that Wallace may even be given a shot. Now, Wallace is very raw and with only one minor league season (and what a season!) under his belt, it wouldn’t be the style, traditionally, of the Cards’ to throw the youngster to the wolves.
After lighting it up in both A-Quad City and AA-Springfield to the tune of .337-8-36, with a .957 OPS, Wallace provided the Cards’ with the hopes of big things to come. Suggesting that this is going to translate immediately into a solid MLB career would be unfair, as he only accumulated 202 AB in his 54 game tilt.
He decided to ply his trade in the Arizona Winter Ball-League with the Peoria Saguaros, and continued to clip at a torrent pace, finishing with a line of .309-6-24, to go along with a .966 OPS. Wallace is definitely moving in the right direction. With the talent pool at the hot corner being suspect at best, he’ll get a taste of the majors very shortly. If all goes well, we see him becoming a full-time Card at 3B as soon as 2010.
