Chat Room Session of January 21 with Guest John Vuch

[BleacherBum593]

Following is the edited chat room session of Sunday, January 21, 2007. The guest was Mr. John Vuch, Cardinals Director of Minor Leauge Operations.

BleacherBum593 Let's go ahead and get started. I like to introduce John Vuch (JV29) to the group. John is a lifelong employee of the Cards. This season will be his 29th in the organization and his 20th in player development. 2006 was a good year for him. World Series title, plus he gets promoted to the Director of Minor League Operations position. Congrats John

JV29 Thanks Mike, it was a very exciting year, both personally and professionally. The last time we won the World Series, I was a 19-year old "runner" who just worked on game days, so seeing us do it again was a huge thrill

JV29 I started with the Cardinals at age 16 as a “runner” working on game days. To give you an idea of how long ago that was, my first year with the Cardinals was Lou Brock’s last year. My early duties included taking tickets and money out to the ticket windows, running off stats and game notes for the media, and taking phone messages to the clubhouse. I worked as a “runner” all through high school and college before getting my first full-time job in the sales department. After working in the Sales Department for about 2 ½ years, I was “traded” to the Player Development Department prior to the 1988 season, and have been involved with the Baseball Operations department ever since then. My roles have varied through the years, but in addition to my player development duties, one of the constants has been working on our salary arbitration cases.

With the increased role I’ll have in player development, I wasn’t disappointed to see all of our arbitration cases settled early this year, as it will allow me to focus exclusively on preparation for our minor league spring training. Through the years I've had varying amounts of involvement with draft preparations, major league contracts, etc...

BleacherBum593 For everyone's info, the Cards recently shuffled around their responsibilities. Jeff Luhnow has taken over the Player Development area along with scouting. What will your new job entail, John?

JV29 I'll be handling the majority of the day to day duties in running our minor league department. Additionally, I'll have an increased role in the player personnel decisions involving our minor league players, working with Jeff Luhnow, Mark Riggins, Jim Riggleman and our minor league managers in helping to create our rosters and in-season transactions...

GoCrazyFolks The general consensus among the "experts" is that Rasmus is our only can't miss prospect. Is this opinion shared by the organization?

JV29 The phrase "can't miss prospect" always worries me, since the road to the major leagues is littered with "can't miss" guys who missed. That said, I think there's definitely a consensus within the organization that Colby is our top prospect, and offers the best blend of tools among our position players. But there's plenty of guys that we think have an awfully good shot at being productive major league players...


BleacherBum593 What effect will the change in the new CBA contract that eliminated the “Draft and Follow” strategy in the first year player draft have on the Cards drafting philosphy? Will it become more focused on the players that you can sign instead of taking some risk with players, such as spending a mid-teen # draft pick on an Anthony Reyes type player

JV29 That will end up affecting our scouting department, but in some respects it will makes things more clear-cut, as we won't have to devote time scouting players who are "under control" to another organization. In the past, many of the top JC players would be scouted, but then would sign at the last minute with the team that had their rights. Now it's a much cleaner process. I don't think it will have a huge effect on our overall philosophy, but that will really be dictated more by our
scouting department.

BleacherBum593 With draft/scouting & development both under Luhnow’s control (Manno's duties changing) - will we notice any changes in approach to the development of players in the minors?

JV29 I don't think we're going to make drastic changes in the player development philosophy. I think there may be a bit more of a statistical emphasis, but it's not going to be anything radically different. We may be a bit more aggressive in moving players along, but not recklessly aggressive, as you don't want to get players in over their heads.

JV29 Bruce did a great job in Player Development, so there's no need to make huge changes

Ewttexas I spoke to Cody Haerther after the season and suggested that he try 2nd base since it has been a merry-go-round for years. He said that do whatever the Cards asked of him but that it would be a natural since he is a converted infielder. Since then we signed Kennedy but Cody could be a homegrown replacement for Miles after 2007. Any thoughts and would you consider giving it a try?

JV29 Cody was drafted as a third baseman, and was shifted to the outfield a few years ago. I can't say that we've really contemplated shifting him to second base, but if he were capable of handling it defensively, he'd certainly be one of the better hitting second basemen around. The danger with moving a guy to second base without much prior experience there is the vulnerability of getting nailed on the DP pivot.

BleacherBum593 Biggest surprises from the 2006 draft?

JV29 From a pure surprise standpoint, probably Isa Garcia as a hitter and Luke Gregerson as a pitcher - although that may be more of a reflection of their draft slot, since their scouts had good things to say about them at the time they were selected. But they probably gave us some of the top production relative to where they were picked

NianguaToad Mike, Pardon me for butting in, but John just raises an interesting point that I'd like him to follow up on. In his opinion, what is it about baseball that causes the average player to be so much more removed from the major league level than most, if not all other professional sports?

JV29 I think part of what takes baseball players longer to reach the majors is the fact that baseball is more of a "skill" sport as opposed to purely physical. I think the nuances involved make it a lot tougher to get by on raw ability than in some of the other sports. There's always the exceptions (Dave Winfield, etc), but they're fairly rare..

End of Part 1

[BleacherBum593]

Part 2

BleacherBum593 With the signing of pitcher Ryan Franklin it really puts the squeeze on Chris Narveson, especially because of the Winter Warm-up comments that Franklin should be a starter. How do we keep Narvy since he is out of options, if he does not win a spot as a starter or as a reliever?

JV29 It's going to be tough - as you point out, Narvy is out of options, so I think it's tough for us to count on him making it through to Memphis if he doesn't make the major league club. For that reason, I think he'll get a long look in big league camp, and even though it's getting crowded, I think Narvy's got a good chance to open some eyes...

JV29 Since he's out of options, the only way he could get to us at Memphis is if the other 29 clubs let him get through irrevocable waivers

BleacherBum593 The following question seemed to be on the mind of a lot of our posters – the Memphis pitching staff in 2007. I’ve tried to condense all their Q’s into 1. Last couple of seasons the Cardinals have gone out and signed minor league free agents John Webb, Dennis Tankersley, Chris Gissell and Kevin Jarvis, all whom have experience at the AAA level to fill out the Memphis rotation. This season the only AAA starter with any experience they have signed that I have heard of up to this point is Mike Smith and Randy Keisler. Does this mean that besides Mike Smith, Keisler, the Cardinals are going to be looking at Hawksworth, Lambert, Pomeranz, Pals, Parisi and Haberer as starters at Memphis and could any of these players end up in the bullpen? Is there the possibility of a few more free agent pitchers, with MLB experience, being signed before spring training?

JV29 Good question - the Memphis rotation will be one of our toughest decisions, and will also likely be one of the last decisions we make this spring. The main thing that makes it so complicated is that we often don’t find out who is being sent down from the big league club until a day or two before the Major League opener. Sometimes we wind up having someone make the Major League club that we were expecting to be in Memphis - other times we end up getting somebody sent down to Memphis that we weren’t expecting to have. Typically a pitcher like that is the 12th or 13th guy for the big league club, so he’d be a top priority for us to get innings, so we end up having to shuffle guys around to make room for that kind of pitcher.

JV29 As we stand right now, the two main guys who have prior AAA starting experience would be Mike Smith and Randy Keisler. That leaves a host of guys who were at AA to compete for the remaining slots, so spring training will be vital in determining who makes the jump at the start of the year. Blake Hawksworth, Chris Lambert and Mike Parisi probably have the inside track, but Jordan Pals really looked like he turned things around late in the year, and finished up on a high note with 7 straight quality starts, so he’ll get a serious look as well. Stu Pomeranz could be in the mix if he has a strong spring, and Troy Cate showed the ability to work as a starter while pitching in the Mexican Winter League, so I think we should be able to fill at least two of the spots with our most qualified pitchers from the ’06 Springfield staff. To that end, we’ve also decided to invite Lambert and Parisi to big league camp (along with Sillman and Worrell) even though they’re not on the 40-man roster.

JV29 We’re definitely still keeping our eyes (and ears) open for a possible AAA innings-eater type pitcher, because we’re not going to rush a prospect before they’re ready to move up.

JV29 Haberer could fit in as well, although with the other candidates for the rotation, for him to make AAA, it would likely be in the bullpen. Falkenborg is in the same spot as Narvy - out of options, so he'd have to clear waivers to get to Memphis

tulcard Couldn't the AAA innings eater type pitcher be sent down after ST....such as Hancock?

JV29 That's always a possibility, although Hancock is another who doesn't have options, and has been out-righted once before, so he'd have to clear waivers and also could elect free agency rather than accept the assignment. But that's the kind of pitcher that I alluded to earlier when discussing getting somebody back form the big league club that we weren't expecting. If somebody like that got sent down, they'd certainly move to the top of the Memphis rotation

tulcard Does Thompson still have options?....Thanks.

JV29 Brad still has at least one option left

BleacherBum593 Moving onto Springfield - who is penciled in to start there or who'll be in the fight for spots on the staff?

JV29 Probably at least 2 or 3 of those slots will be the "losers" of the AAA rotation battle (ie some holdover from the 2006 Springfield rotation). But Mitchell Boggs and possible Jaime Garcia could wind up pitching there as well. Ideally, Garcia would start the year at Palm Beach, but if he is "lights out" during the spring, he'd have a shot at making the AA club.

BleacherBum593 I'd love to see that. Both have impressed me. Any chance that Boggs could make it to Memphis by the end of the year? Or do you want to see a full year out of him at AA

JV29 With Boggs I think it's a "first things first" type situation. He needs to make the Springfield club first, and then we'd see how successful he is there. The jump from A to AA is usually one of the toughest, so I don't think we'd want to get ahead of ourselves by putting a timetable for him to get to AAA, but as a general rule, if we've got a pitcher who has mastered one level, I think we'll be fairly aggressive in moving him along to the next challenge.

tulcard I know you aren't able to get into specifics JV29, but we are going to try and re-sign Eckstein are we not?

JV29 We've still got this year with David under contract - I think a lot will depend on what type of deal he'd be looking for. Obviously we're in no hurry to get rid of the World Series MVP. ;-)

bedir than average Earlier you mentioned you work for the team on arbitration, but you also know many of the "kids", how hard is it to sit on the opposite side of the table during arbitration?

JV29 That's probably the toughest part of it - With Todd Zeile, I think he took a lot of the things we said about his defense personally. It's difficult, since your obligation is to put on a vigorous defense of the club's position, but you also have to be mindful of the fact that you need to maintain the relationship with the player. The last time we've had a case actually go to a hearing was Darren Oliver (1999 I believe), so the vast majority settle prior to going to a hearing (but we usually have about a month's worth of work done in preparation for the case prior to them settling)

Goose Ok I got one. With the talk that this years draft is supposed to be one of the deeper ones we've had in a while, what direction do you see the Cards going in the draft? Do you see them drafting for need in the earlier rounds, or just taking the best overall player?

JV29 The draft question is probably best suited for the scouting guys, but while it sounds like a cliche typically it's the "best player available", since it's difficult to project what the team's needs will be 3-4 years down the line when that player would be projected to reach the majors.

End of Part 2

[BleacherBum593]

Part 3

NianguaToad I'm curious where Chris Perez is predicted to start the season.

JV29 Perez will likely start the year with Palm Beach, but he looks like he's going to be a quick mover, so I wouldn't rule anything out with him. He could potentially start higher, but that would be my guess at this point. We definitely "pencil guys in", but there's a lot of changes from our projected rosters in January, and our actual rosters in April

ArRedbird Hawksworth -- what does he need to improve on to make it to the majors?

JV29 For Blake, the biggest thing is his continued health. He's got a major league fastball and an above-avg major league changeup. I think now that he'll be another year removed from his surgery, he has a chance to pick up another couple MPH's on his fastball, but even if he doesn't, he's learned how to pitch effectively with what velocity he has now.

GoCrazyFolks Top guys to watch during ST? Who might surprise us?

NianguaToad How about Dayrl Jones? I hear some exciting comparisions when his

JV29 I get a two-for-one answer on the questions - top guys to watch and Daryl Jones. I'm going to be excited to see a full year of what Daryl can do when he's healthy. He's got a ton of ability, and is a very coachable, intelligent kid.

JV29 Other guys to watch who were somewhat "under the radar" last year, would include Troy Cate, Matt Scherer, Luke Gregerson and Cory Meacham. I always hate to make picks like that, since I always want to approach each year with a clean slate and not have my mind made up about a player before they arrive to spring training

John F John, out of curiosity, are there preventive steps taken by the cardinals or other organizations to keep minor league players and prospects on an even keel and on a leash (preventing a Josh Hamilton situation from occurring with their own minor league players)?

JV29 As far as keeping our players out of trouble - the biggest responsibility falls on the player himself. I don't think it was necessarily anything that Tampa was doing wrong, but we have a very solid EAP program that our players can access, and our managers can make referrals if they sense trouble with a player. We have organizational policies to cover curfews and things like that, but the biggest thing is that we let the players know that we'll treat them like men, but we expect them to act like men. Ultimately it's their career at stake, and the vast majority of players recognize that.

Coop Jeff Weaver and Preston Wilson?

JV29 On Wilson and Weaver, I know we've had discussion with the representatives for both players, but Walt and Mo would have a better grasp on where things stand with their negotiations...

jscott Hi John, I haven't been here the whole time, so I don't know if this has been asked yet, but what is the teams view on Thomas Pham and Jon Edwards? Also, how hard was it to get Pham to sign with his commitment to Cal State-Fullerton?

JV29 Pham and Edwards are both guys that we're excited about. Our scouts did a good job of getting a feel for his signability - a lot of teams felt that he was completely unsignable, and while he cost significantly more than "slot money", our scouts knew that going in. He's a very athletic player - there's definitely some work that needs to be done with him, especially from the defensive side of things, but he's young and has a lot of upside. Edwards is an exciting player as well, and did a nice job for us at Johnson City. Big strong kid with legitimate power. Both he and Pham will get an opportunity to compete for a spot at Quad Cities, although that's not definite, and shouldn't be looked at as a big concern if they start the year in Extended Spring Training...

Kodiak Whats the plan for Rick Ankiel? I've heard he's been working quite a bit down in Jupiter. Does the organization think Ankiel can finally put up a healthy season, and more importantly can he really become an effective everyday outfielder in the big leagues someday. Or have the Cardinals kept on to him all these years simply because they 'like' him? It seems like he has not shot to make the big club at this time but I suppose a mid-season injury on the MLB club could open a spot....

JV29 We were able to sign Rick as a minor league free agent, so he’s not subject to the major league minimum. That gives us a couple of advantages vs keeping him on the 40-man roster. The first one (and most important) is that we don’t have to worry about trying to sneak him through outright waivers in order to send him to the minor leagues, as we would have had to do if he had remained on the 40-man roster. Secondly, by non-tendering him, there’s no 20% cut limitations in relation to his 2006 salary.

JV29 That gives us an opportunity to evaluate him as a position player without having to worry about his salary playing a role in how we look at him as a prospect. His skills as a position player are legitimate - he’s got big-time power, runs well, has arm strength (obviously), and can play solid defense. The big issue will be making consistent contact, which will directly impact his ability to hit for average and maintain a solid on-base percentage. But if you didn’t see the name “Ankiel” on his back, and just watched him play, you’d still love the tools that he displays.

John F John, do you have a favorite (minor league) ballpark that you've visited during your career?

JV29 We're really fortunate in having outstanding facilities from top to bottom in our organization. That's one of the biggest changes that I've seen through the years.

BleacherBum593 Beats the heck out of New Haven and the old stadium at Little Rock, doesn't it?

JV29 I'm looking forward to seeing Batavia, but I'm sort of partial to Quad Cities, as it's a historic field, but had a full renovation two years ago, so it combines the history with the modern facilities

jscott With Luhnow taking over as Director of Player Development, will any of Manno's old policies such as high-socks and no facial hair be carried over?

JV29 We had a call with our coordinators to discuss the policies, and I think there won't be any major changes. We spoke with a couple of our affiliates and many mentioned that they received many comments in favor of the socks from their fans. To me, one of the things about the "socks up" is a nod to the tradition of the Cardinals and the origins of the team name being related to the "Cardinal red" socks, much like the Browns, White Sox, Red Sox, etc..

JV29 Nothing is etched in stone yet, and we may revisit it at the higher levels, but at least for spring training, things should be pretty similar

John F Any thoughts on the potential demise of Al Lang Field which was home to the Cards for so many springs...?

JV29 Hate to see Al Lang go - that was one of the most scenic places to watch a ballgame (and see sailboats out behind the LF line)

tulcard Have you heard anything on Chris Duncan's progress defensively. we all feel he'll obviously be productive offensively and just needs time defensively. thanks.

JV29 I think Chris has the ability to play an adequate outfield for us. He's still relatively new to the outfield and has a great work ethic, so I think he's still going to improve. And while he had a few rough moments in October, he did a decent job during most of the season. There were a few times where he looked uncomfortable, but for the most part, he made the plays that needed to be made. I think he'll ultimately get to the point where he's an average defensive outfielder putting that together with his offensive potential makes a nice combo

Kodiak As a follow up to the Duncan question. What kind of offensive production are the Cardinals predicting out of him over the course of a whole season?

JV29 I think Dunc has a good future offensively - the main thing is that he has pretty good plate discipline. He strikes out his fair share of time, but it's tolerable since he draws a ton of walks. And obviously he has "light tower power", so as long as he continues to maintain his ability to get on base, he'll be fine. He showed the ability to make adjustments last season, so I think he'll be fine...

End of Part 3

[BleacherBum593]

Part 4

jscott This might have been asked already, but which prospects will receive non-roster invites to spring training?

JV29 The majority of our minor league free agents (Smith, Gonzalez, Negron, etc) have invites, and additionally we decided late last week to extend invitations to Rasmus, Anderson, Parisi, Sillman, Worrell and Lambert

jscott Cate didn't join Palm Beach until May last year. Was he recovering from an injury?

JV29 Actually Troy started the year on the Suspended list from during his time with Seattle. Once he served his suspension, he was activated to the Palm Beach roster and then promoted to Springfield. Had great numbers at both levels and followed that up with a spectacular Winter ball session...

BleacherBum593 Let's see if I can get this right. 5 years from now. Crystal Ball Time: Greene at SS, Martinez at 2B?

BleacherBum593 Or is there someone better that you got hidden down at DSL/VSL?

JV29 They're both possibilities, although Brendan Ryan might have something to say about that as well...

jscott Shaun Boyd is still a free agent. Has there been any interest in bringing him back?

JV29 We've got such a logjam of AA/AAA outfielders, I think it would be tough for Shaun to crack that group. At first glance, there's really about 7 guys competing for outfield spots at AAA

Coop I read about the organization is setting up to have teams in Asia.

JV29 I think we're going to increase our presence in Asia, but not sure that we'll actually be setting up an academy - at least not under the current rules in place. With the professional leagues already in place in Japan, it's tough to find the caliber of players that aren't already signed to Asian professional teams that we can find in Latin America

JV29 ...but I know there's definitely plans to beef up our scouting of Asian players

jscott Dennis Dove. What is you opinion on him and what do you think the chances are that we will see him in St. Louis by the end of the year?

JV29 Dove probably has the most sheer velocity of anyone in our organization other than possibly McCormick. He made big strides after switching to the bullpen, which probably suits him best since he hasn't really developed the 3rd pitch that he would have needed as starter. We placed him on the 40-man roster, which gives a pretty good indication of how the organization values him. It may be tough for him to reach STL this year, but that may be more a result of the number of quality bullpen arms than it is anything negative about Dennis...

Kodiak What are your thoughts on Travis Hanson? Does he have the potential to one day get an infield spot for the Cards?

JV29 Hanson really struggled last year, but part of it was as a result of an illness he suffered in spring training, and he never really got his strength fully back last year. He got off to a really slow start at Memphis and had a tough time pulling out of it. I think it was a rough year mentally and physically for him. He's one guy who was happy to see the calendar switch over to 2007, and we're all giving him a clean slate this year. He's going to get every chance to give it another shot at AAA, and I think he'll be able to handle it.

BleacherBum593 Travis is a heck of an athlete. Could you see him fitting into the Spiezo type role?

JV29 To finish up on Travis Hanson, I think he could fill that Spiezio-type role you mentioned - he's played 2nd and 3rd and has the arm strength to play RF

BleacherBum593 The drafts of the last few years are starting to pay off. All the arms are starting to percolate up to the upper levels. Gonna be an exciting few more years in STL

JV29 It's been exciting to see the players we've picked up the last few seasons. Player Development can only be as good as the Scouting department. I know we've got quality instructors throughout the organization, so it's nice to see them get some quality talent to work with.

BleacherBum593 John - I went to Jupiter for the first time in 2000. Between then and 2005, it was like night and day on the backfields at Jupiter. So we have been improving by leaps and bounds in both those areas - Scouting/Development

jscott I think this is my last question. How does the Venezuelan academy compare to the one in the Dominican Republic? There was a big series in the Post-Dispatch about the DR one but I haven't hear much about the Venezeuala one.

JV29 The main difference between the Dominican and Venezuelan academies is that we own the Dominican one, while we're currently renting a field in Venezuela. I was able to join several of our instructors/managers to Venezuela this past winter and was impressed with several of the players we have there. We're one of the few teams to have full clubs in both the Dominican Summer League and the Venezuelan Summer League, so I think we'll have plenty of candidates to fill out our Gulf Coast League club.

John F John -- Super Bowl XLI: Bears or Colts?

JV29 Colts, since I've got them in our office pool...

JV29 I was sweating bullets in the first half today though

BleacherBum593 How many days till you head down to Jupiter John?

JV29 I head down on March 1. My wife's birthday is March 3, so I'm headed for my annual trip to the doghouse... ;-)

BleacherBum593 John, I know its getting late and guys will start bailing right and left now. So I want to thank you now for taking the time to come visit with us tonight. As far as I'm concerned, you have a open invite to come back anytime you want. Thank you very much.

BleacherBum593 And for the others. Cody Haerther will be joining us next week. Same time. Same Place

JV29 Well, I guess I should wrap it up. Thanks so much for all of the good questions – it's always a pleasure to discuss the organization with fans who obviously follow the team (and their farm system) closely. Thanks for having me!

BleacherBum593 Thanks for taking the time to come John. You don't know how much it means to the guys that someone of your caliber made the time to visit and answer our questions.

JV29 Hopefully I didn't miss anybody - if there's somebody's question that I missed, just let Bleach know and he'll pass it along to me

JV29 Thanks again for having me - Good night everyone!



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[Kodiak]

Bleacher has posted a Follow up Q&A that he did via e-mail with John Vuch. The following is a link to that thread.

Follow-up Q&A with John Vuch