Kenny Maiques (Photo by Dustin Mattison)

There was a flurry of minor league moves on this Friday but first a dissappointing story.

Relief pitcher Kenny Maiques has been suspended fifty games for testing positive for a drug of abuse. Maiques back in extended spring training after starting the year at Double-A Springfield. The 23-year-old struggled with his command with 13 walks in only 3.2 innings. He finished his stint with a 14.73 ERA in his five appearances.

Maiques struggled through 2008 after a fantastic professional debut in 2007. He finished with 31 saves and 57 strikeouts in 53 innings. His 31 saves is the Quad Cities single season record. After the record-breaking performance, the Birdhouse named Maiques the 15th ranked prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system.

The Cardinals drafted Maiques in 2005 after the right-hander had undergone Tommy John Surgery.

Maiques is the second high profile minor league pitcher in the St. Louis organization to be suspended for a positive drug test. The Quad Cities’ Deryk Hooker was suspended for 50 games in April.

Brown To the DL; Smith promoted

First Baseman Andrew Brown has been placed on the Springfield disabled list with a left-hand injury. After a slow start, Brown had been on fire of late. In 76 at bats, the Nebraska product had posted a line of .329/.366/.447. His batting average would have put him in the top ten among Texas League leaders if he had enough at bats to qualify.

Curt Smith has been promoted to Double-A Springfield after his hot start at Palm Beach. The 2008 Appalachian Player of the Year was hitting .344/.365/.492 with five home runs and 22 RBIs during Florida State League play. That batting average was tops on the circuit while his home runs and slugging percentage ranked in the top 10.

Not chosen until the 39th round of the 2008 MLB First Year Player Draft, Smith burst on the scene by hitting .378/.418/.585 with eight home runs and 49 RBIs to garner Player of the Year honors in his professional debut.

Swauger Up; Mitchell Makes Full Season Debut

Quad Cities’ outfielder Chris Swauger has been promoted to Palm Beach of the Florida State League. The 26th round choice in last June’s draft was hitting .296/.357/.522 with four home runs and 22 RBIs in 115 at bats. The Citadel product is hitting .325 in his last 10 games including three home runs in his last seven

Travis Mitchell has been promoted to the Quad Cities. The St. Louis native was drafted by his hometown team in the 13th round of the 2006 MLB First Year Player Draft.

In three professional seasons, he has a career line of .232/.278/.310 in 568 career at bats.

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LHP Royce Ring will be activated to fill the Memphis Redbirds’ roster spots vacated by the recent promotions of pitchers Chris Perez and Mitchell Boggs. Brad Thompson was demoted to fill the other slot.

Ring was signed as a free agent this past winter and really struggled during spring training. He allowed seven earned runs in just 5.2 innings (11.12 ERA) before being reassigned to minor league camp.

With the activation of Ring, the Redbirds now have four left-handed pitchers on their active roster.

When P.J. Walters is activated on Friday, the player that is involved in the corresponding move will fill his vacated spot.

Dustin Mattison
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A seventh round pick in the 2007 MLB First Year Player Draft, the Cardinals reportedly gave Hooker an above slot bonus of $100,000.  During 2008, he reached the full season Midwest League after dominating at Rookie level Johnson City.  Between the two stops, Hooker posted an ERA of 2.77 with 73 strikeouts in 65 innings.

Hooker was rated as the number 27 prospect in the Cardinal organization by the Birdhouse.

Dustin Mattison

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Gregerson was ranked as the number 37 prospect in the Cardinals’ system after striking out 78 in 75 innings to go along with 10 saves at Double-A Springfield. The 24-year-old was named the Venezuelan Winter League’s Setup Man of the Year after allowing only a 0.82 ERA in 22 innings.

The Cardinals originally drafted Gregerson in the 28^th round of the 2006 MLB First Year Player Draft.

David Freese (Photo by Dustin Mattison)

Official Press Release: The St. Louis Cardinals have recalled non-roster infielder David Freese from minor league camp where he had been assigned on March 8.  Freese, 25, started at third base for the Cardinals yesterday against the Washington Nationals and was 2-for-4 with a double.   He is in the starting lineup for today’s game against the Baltimore Orioles.

My take: Though an injured achilles seemed to derail his chances of making the big league club, Joe Mather’s struggles at the plate have opened up another opportunity for Freese. A sure handed defender, Freese could win the starting third baseman job if he is able to consistently handle big league pitching for the remainder of camp.

Check out the interview that I did with David after he was named the Birdhouse’s Minor League Player of the year.

Dustin Mattison

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Jarrett Hoffpauir (Photo by Dustin Mattison)

The St. Louis Cardinals announced that the team has optioned Jarrett Hoffpauir and Nick Stavinoha to its Triple-A Memphis roster after Saturday’s game.

Hoffpauir, a second baseman, performed well at the plate during Major League camp this spring.  The 25-year-old hit .333/409/.389 in 18 at bats with three walks and no strikeouts.

An outfielder, Stavinoha hit .333/.400/.389 in 18 at bats during the Grapefruit League schedule.  Like Hoffpauir, the 26-year-old did not strike out while drawing two bases on balls.

Nick Stavinoha (Photo by Dustin Mattison

This leaves 44 players in Cardinals camp.

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JUPITER, Fla., March 8, 2009 – The St. Louis Cardinals re-assigned 15 non-roster players to their minor league camp following today’s game.

The players include pitchers Hyang-nam Choi, Justin Fiske, Brad Furnish, Shaun Garceau, Trey Hearne, Tyler Herron, Katsuhiko Maekawa, Ian Ostlund and Francisco Samuel; catchers Tony Cruz, Luis De La Cruz, Steven Hill and Justin Knoedler; infielders David Freese and Brett Wallace.

No real surprises sans Freese.  Going into spring training, he appeared to be the man to hold down the hot corner until Glaus returns.  Instead, he got one at bat due to his achilles injury.

Minor League spring training starts Monday.  Once the games start, Cardinals minor league director John Vuch will be sending me his ever popular daily recaps.

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Brad Furnish (photo by Dustin Mattison)

The St. Louis Cardinals invited three more pitchers to big league camp on Tuesday. Left-handers Brad Furnish and Katsuhiko Maekawa will join right-hander Shaun Garceau when pitchers and catchers report on February 14.

Dustin Mattison

Adam Kennedy at the Winter Warm UP

Adam Kennedy was released today after the club was unnable to trade him per his request.  While Kennedy’s offense left much to be desired, many defensive metrics had him as among the best second basemen in the league last year.  It is interesting that this would happen shortly after the club announced it’s plans to try Skip Schumacher at second base…

Michael Riehn

(Photo courtesy of Dustin Mattison)