Cubs' Juan Mateo to Cards (Rule 5)

[K-Town]

You guys know anything about him? Any chance AT ALL that he'll be able to stick?

[MeatampPotatoesMan]

I really don't see him sticking. the Cards? :?

 

IIRC, he played A ball last year. Almost no one sticks from A ball.

[K-Town]

I really don't see him sticking. the Cards? :?

 

IIRC, he played A ball last year. Almost no one sticks from A ball.

 

 

Right. But have you gotten a good look at the Cards bullpen lately? :lol:

[MeatampPotatoesMan]

I really don't see him sticking. the Cards? :?

 

IIRC, he played A ball last year. Almost no one sticks from A ball.

 

 

Right. But have you gotten a good look at the Cards bullpen lately? :lol:

 

Hey, you guys lost a lot of weight recently (Burger King).

[Andy]

I'm not exactly a Cubs minor league-o-phile, but I'd never heard of Mateo before.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

He had a very good season at Daytona last year, I can't believe I hadn't heard of his season until now. I'm not Raw or Outshined, but I like to think that I follow our system closely enough to not miss a guy who was as impressive as Mateo was last year. Guess not.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

He might stick...but making the jump from A ball to the majors is huge. The Cards expect to contend, so there's no way they could hide him if he struggles. My guess they felt the gamble was worth 50K.

[SouthSideRyan]

Seems like a waste of 25K. There's at least 5 guys that were unprotected that I'd see having a better chance of sticking in the bigs.

[Outshined_One]

He's a good prospect with some sleeper potential. However, I am of the opinion that his numbers benefited from pitching in an extreme pitcher's league. Originally was a reliever that was converted to a starter and put up good numbers this season down in the Florida State League He has an average fastball and a plus slider.

 

However, he's not sticking at this point in his career. My main reason?

 

G/F: 0.76

 

Yep, that's his groundball/flyball ratio from this past season. I can't exactly say I'd be thrilled if I were a Cardinals fan.

[EastonBlues22]

He's a good prospect with some sleeper potential. However, I am of the opinion that his numbers benefited from pitching in an extreme pitcher's league. Originally was a reliever that was converted to a starter and put up good numbers this season down in the Florida State League He has an average fastball and a plus slider.

 

However, he's not sticking at this point in his career. My main reason?

 

G/F: 0.76

 

Yep, that's his groundball/flyball ratio from this past season. I can't exactly say I'd be thrilled if I were a Cardinals fan.

Maybe not thrilled...but I'm pretty sure I'm happier the cards spent what they did to give Mateo a shot than I would be if they had signed Ryan/Wagner/Burnett for what they got. It's not like the bullpen is crowded at this point...if he can even be a one hitter specialist, that would fill a need.

 

I'd rather see the Cards sit out a year or two and conserve some payroll to eventually sign a good player to an obscene contract than chew up payroll by signing iffy/crappy players to obscene ones. I know that's not the popular choice what with the new ballpark and all, but that's what I think might be best for the team at this point. Eventually, those big contracts on mediocre free agents are going to get those teams in trouble(see: Manny/ARod/Hampton/Neagle/ad nauseum).

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Average low 90s FB, good slider. His ceiling is probably a 4-5 starter, but he's just too far away from that now and I doubt he can stick as a reliever. I'm a fan of his.