Lindbergh Reference or ABA Reference?
Rob Rains has a nice follow-up story online about a guy a lot of St. Louis Cardinals fans have probably forgotten: Mitch Harris, the second-round talent the Cardinals got in the 13th round back in 2008 because he was about to serve five active-duty years in the U.S. Navy. Since then he's—well, he's served in the U.S. Navy, long-tossing on the deck and otherwise unable to pitch.
At this point Harris's odds of big league success are probably about the same as the average 13th-round pick—Albert Pujols excluded—but if his forecast stint in extended Spring Training goes well and he's able to dominate the younger talent he'll face in the low minors, who knows?
The rest of the Cardinals' 2008 draft isn't exactly paying major dividends right now, in any case—Brett Wallace and Lance Lynn are the only Major League graduates, and Wallace and third-rounder Shane Peterson making up the bulk of the Matt Holliday trade is probably its greatest contribution to St. Louis's success. (Alex Castellanos, a 10th-rounder, went to the Dodgers for Rafael Furcal.)
Other extant prospects: Inconsistent infielder Niko Vasquez, injured starter Scott Gorgen... and hey, why not? Mitch Harris.
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Edited by Dan Moore
Dan Moore has been writing about baseball on the internet since that was a novel thing to do. A graduate of the University of Missouri, he lives in Springfield, Illinois. See my profile
