St. Louis Cardinals: Redbirds are equivalent to the Boston Red Sox

The St. Louis Cardinals have in their system a major powerhouse of a team in Memphis. These guys could likely go side-by-side with players in Boston.

Where Boston might have bested the Memphis Redbirds in the grass, the Redbirds have a very respected infield. Many of these prospects are in Memphis only because they are locked by the guys in the Majors.

The Boston infield from left to right is:

• Rafael Devers
• Xander Bogaerts
• Brock Holt
• Mitch Moreland
• Sandy Leon, catcher

The Memphis infield from left to right is:

• Patrick Wisdom
• Edmundo Sosa (honorable mention- Wilfredo Tovar)
• Max Schrock
• Rangel Ravelo
• Carson Kelly, catcher

Devers vs. Wisdom

Devers brings with him incredible promise and was all the rave last season when Boston called him to the majors and allowed him to make his MLB splash. Wisdom, on the other hand, is locked in Memphis and is a free agent to be after this season.

To the numbers. Devers:

Wisdom:

Advantage here is to whomever gets Wisdom after 2018. Joking aside, I have to side with Devers on this one but take nothing away from the dude in Memphis who can play both corner spots on the infield.

Bogaerts vs. Sosa

Look, this isn’t fair either but it is what it is. Let’s just jump to the numbers. Bogaerts:

And Sosa:

And Tovar (the honorable mention thanks to his being on the DL):

For this round, I feel like I should deduct points or allow some bonus points to the AAA competitors simply because of Bogaerts unnecessary “e” stuckat the back end of his name. That said, and all joking aside, Bogaerts is a great player but fans should not discredit Tovar.

Tovar’s average is better than Bogaerts’ but his power is much lower. I can tell you that Tovar is an outstanding short stop and should be a name kept on radars.

Holt vs. Schrock

Brock Holt is nothing too great nor is he anything too poor but he simply doesn’t carry with him the promise that is Schrock.

To the numbers… Holt:

Schrock:

As I alluded to above, Schrock has incredible promise. The St. Louis Cardinals organization holds him in high esteem and has great plans for him. He has just appeared in AAA and the club is not rushing him along but are instead allowing him to develop appropriately.

I give the advantage here to Schrock.

Moreland vs. Ravelo

I have written often that Ravelo was a name to watch at the trade deadline. While nothing happened to him (yet), I still believe that an MLB team could make plans around his name. Perhaps the St. Louis Cardinals are that team…

To the numbers. Moreland:

Ravelo:

This is tough and not fair because it is comparing an MLB “vet” to a rising rookie. That said, if we go off of numbers alone, I would put my vote for Ravelo who is outpacing Moreland in all categories.

Leon vs. Kelly

Kelly is – or was – the number-one prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He had fallen on some rough times of late but not in AAA. Leon, yet another veteran, is a good but not great.

To the numbers. Leon:

Kelly:

Simply put, I’ll take Kelly over Leon any day. True, Kelly has not yet figured out how to get his AAA numbers to convert to MLB but when he does, the other clubs had better watch out!

Final Score- Boston 1, Redbirds 4