Cards sign pair to Minor League deals

by FlimtotheFlam on Dec 16, 2008 8:01 PM EST Comment 30 comments

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals signed two players to Minor League contracts for 2009 on Tuesday, while details of the organization's Minor League coaching staffs for the upcoming season also began trickling out.

St. Louis signed infielder Joe Thurston and catcher Justin Knoedler to Minor League contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training. Thurston, 29, was once one of the Dodgers' more highly-regarded prospects and is coming off a fine season with the Red Sox's Triple-A Pawtucket affiliate. Knoedler came up through the Giants organization, but struggled at the plate for the A's Triple-A Sacramento club in 2008.

I was more interested in the MIF than the catcher. Here is what I have found out so far about Joe Thuston.

Scouting Report: Very good athlete with a lot of speed. Runs the bases well. Great clubhouse guy. At the plate, Thurston has a nice-looking swing, and can get the bat on the ball against less advanced pitchers. His plate discipline is average, but has improved over the years. Below average power. Good range, adequate glove. In addition to playing 2B, Thurston can also fill in at SS and OF if needed. Has the makings of an good MLB utility guy off the bench.

SoxProspect.com

The story is similar for Joe Thurston - in 2008 he hit .316 in Pawtucket, 21 points above his MiLB career .295 average:

Some more Stats

He is also CC Sabathia's first cousin

MLB.com source

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Comments

Leach Believes

that Thurston has an outside chance of making the roster out of spring training as our new Miles. I haven’t found anything on his pitching arm.

by Evilfrog on Dec 16, 2008 8:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

any GRIT ratings available?

this line is dedicated to '09

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Dec 16, 2008 10:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

he's off the charts in grittiness

Hyperventilating prospect geek @ Future Redbirds.net

by erik on Dec 16, 2008 11:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

His cousin is CC so he can give him some pointers I'm sure

by bearcatcardfan on Dec 17, 2008 12:51 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I heart Mo.

Anybody got any stats on Thurston’s range?

His error rates look good.

Though that tells us only a little about his defense.

Good pick though — older prospect, but he went from Philly where he was blocked by utley to Pawtucket where he was blocked by Pedroia — the two best 2b in the game.

The catcher makes sense as a long term J. LaRue, if he pans out. He doesn’t have to launch rockets to be a decent backup C.

by tom s. on Dec 16, 2008 8:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

FRAA

has him +19, which is pretty excellent.

Hyperventilating prospect geek @ Future Redbirds.net

by erik on Dec 16, 2008 10:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

thought to be the Dodgers’ 2B of the future. He didn’t pan out and has bounced around. Never before played SS at the major league level. His career UZR/150 is -30.1 but he’s had a total of 46.2 major league innings at 2B. He was worth a shot but is this guy really better than Barden, Hoffpauir, or Tyler Greene? I don’t see how.

by chuckb on Dec 16, 2008 8:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

he at least maximizes the number of gilligan's island jokes we can make in game threads.

They say that it's never too late, but you don't get any younger...

by Valatan on Dec 16, 2008 9:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Is Tony the Skipper

or the Professor? Is Albert “the movie star?” Who’s Mary Ann? She was always my favorite?

by chuckb on Dec 16, 2008 9:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know, but Ankiel

is definitely Ginger.

by spants on Dec 17, 2008 12:51 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

+1

got a belly laugh on that one

by The Duke on Dec 17, 2008 8:12 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

OK, now who's Gilligan?

maybe a new one each game, whoever makes the goofiest mistake perhaps?

by ArkansasTravs on Dec 17, 2008 11:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that could very well be Tony

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Dec 17, 2008 6:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

doesn't WonderBrad

have the inside rail on being Gilligan?

by the Tewk on Dec 17, 2008 6:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

provided he makes the club,

brendan ryan seems most gilligan-ish to me.

by tom s. on Dec 17, 2008 6:40 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

I wanted to rec the Tewk

but you had to go and steal it from him

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Dec 17, 2008 6:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Just looking at his minor league numbers at AAA

He is a a better hitter than those 3 by a good margin. He seems to post high BABIP’s so I would think he should have some good speed at least. He should be hitting his prime about now even if his prime is 1 year as a utility guy.

Stat Whore

by FlimtotheFlam on Dec 16, 2008 9:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Probably not, maybe, yes. That list looks like 1 WAR, replacement level, ~~1 WAR to me. Defense and position prop up Barden and Greene. That said, this is basically throwing a bunch of s~~-t against a wall and seeing if any of it sticks.

I have a lot of issues with Greene’s swing and I don’t think it would translate well to the majors at all.

Nice Robot

by azruavatar on Dec 16, 2008 9:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

(%&%#()(&^)^&$(^&$(&&^)%

I can’t wait until they allow me to deactivate those effing autosymbols. That should read “-1 WAR to me. Defense and position prop up Barden and Greene. That said, this is basically throwing a bunch of s%%t”

Nice Robot

by azruavatar on Dec 16, 2008 9:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

when you say -1 WAR, is that based on Thurston's admitted struggles in ML performance?

because his defense sounds sturdy. He’s struggled some at the plate, but his upside seems to be a high-avg, high-OBP, OPS around .780 at AAA.

If that translates at all well to the majors, then his upside would be a lot better than AK.

If somebody would take AK’s salary off our hands, I’d be happy to take whoever shows up best at ST: Thurston, Barden, the Hoff, and Greene, and Aaron Miles instead at second for the year.

by tom s. on Dec 17, 2008 12:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

or are you saying -1 WAR for T. Greene? I think I answered my own question.

Would you say Thurston runs around +1 WAR to replacement level, then?

by tom s. on Dec 17, 2008 12:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

correct.

Thurston looks a little better than replacement and isn’t an unreasonable hedging of bets against internal options. Barden and Brendan Ryan strike me as the only other viable alternatives.

Nice Robot

by azruavatar on Dec 17, 2008 1:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

sounds right to me.

by tom s. on Dec 17, 2008 1:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

As long as weight doesn't travel with cousins . . .

because a 300 pound utility guy is a scary thought.

On with the (good) youth movement!

by aet15 on Dec 16, 2008 9:24 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

looks like Knoedler is Bizzaro-Motte

http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=7835

check out that 2001 pitching line

I hate winter!!!!

by The Ghost of Todd Burns on Dec 16, 2008 10:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

it's too bad he doesn't throw left-handed, or we could pair him and Motte up as battery partners,

and just swap them around in late innings. I bet Motte could still catch a few pitches. And the psychological effect of having the catcher behind the batter stand up, and walk out to the mound, while the pitcher goes behind you and suits up would just be tremendous.

by tom s. on Dec 17, 2008 1:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

it would also make him the first

lefty-throwing catcher since Benny Distefano played 3 games in 1989. He’d be a 2-for-1 freakshow :)

http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/catchleftlist.htm

I hate winter!!!!

by The Ghost of Todd Burns on Dec 17, 2008 8:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Could the Thurston signing...

end the Rico Washington era? Be still my heart – it was good while it lasted.

by IA Card on Dec 16, 2008 10:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Remember when Will Carroll said back in July:

The team has reportedly been taking a look at Triple-A players that could be had on the cheap in hopes that they end up becoming the next Ryan Ludwick.

Let’s see:

Well-regarded prospect turned journeyman
check

Big comeback age-27 season
check

Gains maintained in age-28 season
sorta

Of course, his career was derailed by poor hitting, not the knee injury.

Being that he bats from the left, he won’t make the Cardinals barring an injury to AK#7, but Memphis could do worse. Not the next Ryan Ludwick, but maybe the next Tagg Bozied (without one of the greatest ballplayers of our time blocking his advancement).

by liam on Dec 16, 2008 10:58 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Eh...

…Having a lot of shit to throw at a wall is better to throw at the proverbial wall than having a small amount of shit to throw at said proverbial wall. Thurston is intriguing…we’ll have to see. I still like Barden as the utility guy, but we shall see. It’s a pretty fungible position.

"Your Holiness, I'm Joseph Medwick. I, too, used to be a Cardinal."-Joe Medwick, to Pope Pius XII.

by redbirdnation8206 on Dec 16, 2008 11:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs