MLB: Cardinals: Jeff Luhnow chat transcript

“Cardinals executive answers fans’ questions about prospects”...and I thought only the Pirates did this.

Q: Jeff: Richard Castillo dominated the MWL at age 18—a very rare feat, obviously (Castillo was in fact the youngest starter in the entire league). Yet Baseball America omitted him from the league’s top 20 prospect list. Any guess why?

Luhnow: Maybe because he’s a six foot right hander… those guys don’t tend to get a lot of love from the scouting community. Richard is a prospect and probably should have been on the list, but he hasn’t received much publicity and isn’t as high profile as many other players. I’m OK with that. The other player that should have been on the prospect list, this time for the NYPL, was Frederick Parejo. At 18, playing a premium position, an All-Star on the championship team? Come on…

Q: With the Cardinal system having so many prospects, will you consider taking higher risk, big tool players in the later rounds such as the Red Sox and Angels have done?

Luhnow: Last question… we do take some risks, and we will continue to search for guys with major league upside. Some of the big bonus late round players are not guys we feel are worth it, but we have and will continue to look for them.