Prospect Rainiel Rodriguez getting attention

[craviduce]

Move him to the OF!

??

CT wants everyone moved to OF. JJ, Herrera, Bumbles...

ok...he's doing pretty good as a C...let him cook there for the time being...move to 3B or 2B if you must in a few years.

Bernal and Crooks appear to have a lot more promise behind the plate than Rodriguez(at least from what I have read). And could lock up the Catcher spot for the foreseeable future. With Rodriguez bat really starting to establish itself I don’t think it would be a bad idea to find him a new spot in the field to develop in the minors for the next 2-3 years so he isn’t learning in the fly(as much) by the time he gets to the MLB. Third base might be his best bet.

he was a 3B at signing in Winter 2024....3B/2B is his landing spot if catching doesn't work...but it's working right now. High A and AA will be a better test of his skill set behind the plate, imo.

[TheSolution]

I’d put a question mark on him being actually 18 but still exciting.

[Talkin' Baseball]

I don't really care if he is a good catcher or not. We have catchers. If his bat holds up, I would want him in the lineup 150 games a year. Can't do that at catcher and why tie up the DH spot if he is athletic enough to play another position?

[Ozziesfan41]

I don't really care if he is a good catcher or not. We have catchers. If his bat holds up, I would want him in the lineup 150 games a year. Can't do that at catcher and why tie up the DH spot if he is athletic enough to play another position?

+1 and if you’ve got all those better defensive catchers who can hit decently already and will probably end up moving him anyway why not move him now so he can start getting good at the position instead of waiting until he’s closer to the majors so you end up with another walker situation where he comes up and sucks on defense because he’s learning a new position

[hugeCardfan]

He's 18...long way before he sniffs MLB.

Bet he never makes it

You're on. How much?

[hugeCardfan]

I don't really care if he is a good catcher or not. We have catchers. If his bat holds up, I would want him in the lineup 150 games a year. Can't do that at catcher and why tie up the DH spot if he is athletic enough to play another position?

+1 and if you’ve got all those better defensive catchers who can hit decently already and will probably end up moving him anyway why not move him now so he can start getting good at the position instead of waiting until he’s closer to the majors so you end up with another walker situation where he comes up and sucks on defense because he’s learning a new position

He is so not like Walker.

[Ozziesfan41]

I don't really care if he is a good catcher or not. We have catchers. If his bat holds up, I would want him in the lineup 150 games a year. Can't do that at catcher and why tie up the DH spot if he is athletic enough to play another position?

+1 and if you’ve got all those better defensive catchers who can hit decently already and will probably end up moving him anyway why not move him now so he can start getting good at the position instead of waiting until he’s closer to the majors so you end up with another walker situation where he comes up and sucks on defense because he’s learning a new position

He is so not like Walker.

Why have you seen him abruptly change positions and become a good fielder immediately at the new position?

[2ninr]

18 yo??…that dude is 25. Nice numbers though. With a speed/run tool rating of 40, probably not moving to OF.

Teams caught up with the age scam long ago.

[PadsFS07]

Hopefully Bloom knows how to handle his up and comers, Moe would leave him in AAA/AA till he was 27

Yeah like Walker and Carlson. Mozeliak holds everyone back.

[JDW]

I’d put a question mark on him being actually 18 but still exciting.

Ha, but this could be great, as the last Card milb player of note that had age questions, well, it turned out pretty good.
Rainiel does remind me some of Pendleton, actually more of a Pendleton/Pujols cross, so maybe 3B could be a landing spot, but that said you leave him at C for now unless an issue crops up.

[JDW]

He's 18...long way before he sniffs MLB.

Bet he never makes it

You're on. How much?

I'm in also. $100?

[jcgmoi]

Y'all would enjoy Fangraph's take on RR from earlier this summer.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/st-louis-ca ... prospects/

[Charles King]

:d
Do we just draft catchers. We have several coming up. Let him learn a different position. A place that we are short on.

[hugeCardfan]

I don't really care if he is a good catcher or not. We have catchers. If his bat holds up, I would want him in the lineup 150 games a year. Can't do that at catcher and why tie up the DH spot if he is athletic enough to play another position?

+1 and if you’ve got all those better defensive catchers who can hit decently already and will probably end up moving him anyway why not move him now so he can start getting good at the position instead of waiting until he’s closer to the majors so you end up with another walker situation where he comes up and sucks on defense because he’s learning a new position

He is so not like Walker.

Why have you seen him abruptly change positions and become a good fielder immediately at the new position?

Walker wasn't that good at the position he was playing before the outfield. Rainiel is getting good reports on his defense now, at 18. We need to see how good he might be before pushing him around in the outfield. We don't know what will happen with Crooks or Bernal. Catching is a tough position to stay healthy... If Rainiel is the toughest of the 3 and a natural, 4 years from now he may be the catcher and hitting 35 bombs. He isn't Walker.

[Banner29]

I don't really care if he is a good catcher or not. We have catchers. If his bat holds up, I would want him in the lineup 150 games a year. Can't do that at catcher and why tie up the DH spot if he is athletic enough to play another position?

+1 and if you’ve got all those better defensive catchers who can hit decently already and will probably end up moving him anyway why not move him now so he can start getting good at the position instead of waiting until he’s closer to the majors so you end up with another walker situation where he comes up and sucks on defense because he’s learning a new position

He is so not like Walker.

Why have you seen him abruptly change positions and become a good fielder immediately at the new position?

Walker wasn't that good at the position he was playing before the outfield. Rainiel is getting good reports on his defense now, at 18. We need to see how good he might be before pushing him around in the outfield. We don't know what will happen with Crooks or Bernal. Catching is a tough position to stay healthy... If Rainiel is the toughest of the 3 and a natural, 4 years from now he may be the catcher and hitting 35 bombs. He isn't Walker.

Meh, I’d say that if he continues with this offensive upside you have to find him a spot somewhere else in the field. Obviously this is all extremely premature. But he’s already getting “star potential” projections out of him with the bat. And I’d much rather see him develop a less demanding position in the minors while he continues to hit than develop a much more demanding position in the minors while he continues to hit. That way he’s not learning in the fly when he gets into the MLB. His bread and butter as of now is clearly what he does at the plate not behind it. IMO that should be focused on and getting him the most at bats humanly possible going forward. He can always DH yes, but keeping him healthy long term should be considered here. Unless he is flashing Yadi like ability defensively I say find him a new spot and rely on Crooks and/or Bernal and continue to develop some catchers.

[JDW]

:d
Do we just draft catchers. We have several coming up. Let him learn a different position. A place that we are short on.

IF you could only draft 3 positions, it'd be pitchers, catchers and shortstops.