Cardinals Trying to Upset Atlanta Braves Summer J2 Plans

Mar 1, 2014; Melbourne, FL, USA; A scout measures pitch speeds with a radar gun during spring training game between the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Cardinals and Braves May Lock Horns Against One Another for International Top Prize

Since July of 2015, it has been widely reported (original source: ESPN’s Keith Law) that the Atlanta Braves have a ‘handshake’ agreement with uber-International prospect Kevin Maitan for a July 2016 signing.

Now comes word that there may be a challenge to that, and the news is a bit disturbing for Braves’ fans.

Let’s go to a chat session held four days ago by Cardinals beat writer Derrick Goold, who writes for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The question in question is about Cuban player Lazarito, but Goold takes it in a different direction:

"[Brian:] Hi Derrick, what is the Cards’ interest level in Lazarito? Seems for a team that a) is interested in getting more involved in the Cuban market; and b) has “payroll muscle” to throw around, a long-term investment in a hi risk/hi reward 16-yr-old might be appealing."

"[DG:] Agreed. The timing is right. The cost is high. Other teams are more aggressive. The Cardinals are one of the teams that has scouted Lazarito and with other teams unable to bid on him the auction-factor is lower, and the Cardinals have more room to spend. That said, as the Cardinals have discussed this year being the year to be more aggressive internationally his name hasn’t been the one offered as example. The Braves have also been tied to Kevin Maitan, the super prospect from Venezuela, and a player the Cardinals don’t seem willing to concede to others. They’ve have presence scouting him, and interest in him."

Rut-roh.

It was just last year that the Cardinals dove back into the International Market, signing multiple players to bonuses in a price range that they have not traditionally breached before, signalling a new emphasis in this market. However, this specifically comes like a shot across the bow.

If this were any other time and perhaps any other situation, there would be a technical word that we’d apply to such news.

That word would be “tampering.”

What’s Going on Here?

St. Louis has had some… let’s call them “setbacks”… over the past couple of years. Some were of their own making; nearly all were avoidable.

• Trading away Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins for Jason Heyward was viewed as a reasonable trade for the Cards if Heyward eventually opted to sign an extension in St. Louis. That didn’t happen.
• Just this off-season, they lost not only Heyward, but also pitcher John Lackey. Worse yet, the Cubs got both.
• In late 2014, top prospect Oscar Taveras got himself stupid-drunk, killing himself and his girl-friend in a single-car wreck in the DR.
• Cardinals former scouting director Chris Correa plead guilty to five counts of computer hacking 4 weeks ago – specifically hacking the Houston Astros, in an attack with related damages to them estimated at $1.7 million.

At this point, the Cardinals are preparing for a major penalty from major league baseball on the latter event, but this likely won’t happen until after Correa’s sentencing happens – which takes place on April 11.

The Cardinals don’t have any sense yet as to what their penalty might be, but it could be wide-ranging, including a financial hit, the loss of a draft pick, the loss of a player, or… multiple combinations of the above.

So St. Louis (speculation) may have decided internally that their own best options are to ‘go big’ and fight for everything they get now in the hopes of using that to weather the storm that is coming. And included with this mindset might be a fight with Atlanta for something others seem to have decided was already done.

Next: Recipe for a Theft