The Royals have been major players in the free agent market, making a big run at Andruw Jones while signing Jose Guillen, but they did lose David Riske to the Brewers.
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Colby Rasmus, the 21-year-old top prospect of the Cardinals' organization, looks set to become one of baseball's next great five-tool center fielders.
With a great combination of power, speed and defense (his arm is legendary already), Rasmus will potentially become for St. Louis at the top of the order what Grady Sizemore is for the Cleveland Indians. Even though Rasmus is on the verge of the big leagues and one of the most celebrated prospects in all of baseball, he doesn't speak with even the slightest hint of arrogance and readily acknowledges that much of his work is still ahead of him.
In 2006, Rasmus played his first full minor league season, splitting time between the Midwest League and the Florida State League. Rasmus hit .310/.373/.512 while in Iowa and then his numbers dropped when he moved to high-A, hitting .254/.351/.404.
I asked Rasmus if adjusting to the quality of pitching was difficult and he said that it was decidedly not the case.
"The ball doesn't carry as much down there and it was my first full season, so I had lost a lot of weight," said Rasmus.
Heading into 2008, there was a legitimate chance Rasmus would skip straight from Double-A to the big leagues, skipping Triple-A altogether and his performance this spring certainly warranted the debate. Rasmus ranked 53rd amongst all hitters in FIC, a stat I use to determine productivity. He had a robust 1.069 OPS and three homers in 43 at bats, while drawing 13 walks and striking out eight times.
Pairing his Spring with how he positively broke out in Double-A Springfield last season, it was mildly surprising that the Cardinals decided his readiness for the big leagues was still inconclusive. With Rick Ankiel in center, Chris Duncan in left and Skip Schumaker/Ryan Ludwick filling right, the Cardinals do have a lot of talent already in the outfield and finding Rasmus consistent at-bats would have been problematic.
Rasmus hit .275/.381/.551 with a remarkable 29 homers, 37 doubles while striking out 108 times and walking 70 in 2007. The season also included what Rasmus describes as the highlight of his minor league career during last September's Texas League Playoffs against the Tulsa Drillers when he hit a walk-off homer.
The decision to leave Rasmus behind in Triple-A, however, appears to be sound at the moment. Here at the outset of the season, he is off to another slow April start, batting just .192 with one homer, 11 strikeouts and nine walks in 52 at bats.
"From High-A to Triple-A there is a big difference with the pitching," says Rasmus.
Rasmus, an unswerving pull hitter who loudly mangles balls deep to right field, is making a concerted effort to spray the ball around the field in Memphis.
"Hitting the ball the other way is my biggest weakness, but I've hit more balls the other way this season than I did in a whole half last year."
Rasmus and I talked about what it would mean to make the big leagues and join a line-up that contains Albert Pujols, safely the best hitter in the NL, if not in the entire MLB.
"Coming from where I come from it will be pretty unbelievable," said Rasmus excitedly.
Rasmus' father Tony was drafted in the 10th round in 1986 by the Angels, but he never panned out, so the family (including three brothers) scraped by in Alabama and lived in extremely modest conditions in a trailer for most of his childhood.
"I was 11 years old when I told my father I wanted to become a major leaguer and he worked with me and was my coach up until my senior year of high school."
Rasmus played in the 1999 Little League World Series and his Russell County High School baseball team (coached by Tony) was ranked first in the country.
Rasmus had signed with Auburn University and took a wait-and-see approach to the 2005 draft, which was (as we all well know by now) uncommonly filled with talent.
"I didn't think I would get drafted that high," said Rasmus.
Rasmus was selected 28th overall by the Cardinals, who received the pick as compensation from the Red Sox when they signed Edgar Renteria via free agency. The Braves, who Rasmus grew up following albeit not religiously, drafted pitcher Joseph Devine one slot ahead of him. Atlanta traded Devine to Oakland during the winter to rent Mark Kotsay until Jordan Schafer, who, they selected 107th overall in that same 2005 draft and is currently serving a 50-game suspension, is ready be their center fielder to replace Andruw Jones.
In a tight National League which routinely sends the Cardinals and Braves to the playoffs, this decision to pass on Rasmus may eventually be judged a rare stumble for Atlanta and a substantial windfall for St. Louis.
"I was a fan of the Cardinals when I was in high school," said Rasmus, who received a $1 million bonus from the club upon being signed.
Liking certain players more than specific teams, his favorites growing up were Ken Griffey, Jr. and Jim Edmonds and Rasmus said it is "pretty special" to be Edmonds' heir apparent in St. Louis.
Rasmus, like Edmonds, will save a lot of runs with his glove, but he told me he'd still rather produce a run at the plate than save one in center field; hitting lead-off ahead of Pujols and Ankiel, a lot of runs will eventually be produced.
Last season, with David Eckstein primarily batting lead-off, the slot slugged .346 and had an OBP of .323. A run was scored in just 11.6% of the 755 plate appearances, which was well behind division rivals like the Cubs who scored 16.6% of the time and the Brewers who scored 17.7%. The lead-off slot is now typically being manned by Schumaker and it is now producing far more effectively, with a run being scored 22.4% of the time with a .912 OPS.
Whether or not the Cardinals' ragtag slugfest outfield plays out for the entire season is yet to be seen, but Rasmus should be in St. Louis by late August with the center job earmarked for him in 2009.
- Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM and the creator of the Reina Value.
