Magneuris Sierra: Future St. Louis Cardinals Center fielder?

Magneuris Sierra, who was named as the St. Louis Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year, is not a name that fans should expect to forget anytime in the near future.

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This was only reinforced during Winter Warm-Up weekend when general manager John Mozeliak gave his outfield predictions for the 2018 season. It included Sierra in center, Jason Heyward in right, and either Randal Grichuk or Stephen Piscotty in left. This is not exactly a fitting endorsement of current center fielder Jon Jay and could explain why the team is reluctant to sign him to a long-term deal. Jay will be a free agent following the 2016 season.

The outfielder was recently tabbed by Baseball America as the tenth best prospect in the club’s farm system.

A product of the Cardinals Dominican Academy, the 18-year-old played for the GCL Cardinals during the past season, where he hit a league-leading .386 and topped the GCL with his 78 hits. A left-handed hitter, the outfielder ranked 3rd in on-base percentage (.434) while his thirteen stolen bases ranked ninth in the league. At the end of the season, the GCL Cardinals had finished in first place of the GCL East division with a 37-23 record.

During the month of July, Sierra had been tabbed as the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month in July after hitting .439 in the GCL.

Is this all a sign that Sierra is on to bigger and brighter things? It just might be. It will be interesting to see how the young outfielder’s numbers will translate to playing for a full season team in 2015. While Sierra is hitting the ball, the power isn’t there just yet. In 2014, he hit only two home runs but hit twelve doubles and three triples.

“There’s still time,” Derrick Goold said of the power that has yet to develop.

“Sierra didn’t draw a lot of attention after he signed for $105,000 in 2012 and made his pro debut in 2013, but that changed when he came to the United States last year,” MLBPipeline.com’s Jim Callis said in an email to Redbird Rants. “He won the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League batting and on-base titles and established himself as one of the most exciting players in the Cardinals system. When he’s fully developed, he could be a plus hitter with plus speed and plus center-field defense, and he’s also could have some power and has enough arm to play right field if needed. I’m very curious to see what he does in 2015.”

When MLB Pipeline unveiled their list of the top 30 prospects in the Cardinals organization, Sierra made the biggest jump from unranked to the sixth best prospect in the organization.