After a disappointing summer, the future for three top Royals’ prospects is perhaps looking a little brighter.

The Arizona Fall League hit its midway point last week, and its top prospects were invited to a Rising Stars game, which featured the likes of Bryce Harper and Mike Trout and the top pitchers selected in last June’s draft.

The prospect rich Royals sent three to the Rising Stars game who had fallen short of expectations last season. Great performances by the trio hopefully symbolize their development in the fall league and portend the stardom that was expected from each.

Outfielder Wil Myers, infielder Christian Colon and pitcher Jeremy Jeffress each played a key role in the AFL West’s dominant 11-2 win over the East, which boasted Harper, Trout and the number one pick in the 2011 draft, Gerrit Cole.

Wil Myers had a rough go of it in 2011, but showed in the Rising Stars game he belongs in the upper echelons of outfield prospects. Maybe he hasn’t earned the right to be mentioned with Trout and Harper just yet. But his 3-5 with two RBIs demonstrated his immense potential.

Most rankings of Royals prospects will place Myers in the top two or three for next season. That ranking will be based more on scouts’ opinions of his potential than his 2011 production. Myers battled an injury and never quite conquered the pitching at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. His .254 average, .393 slug and .745 OPS were less than awe-inspiring.

Myers is not going to return to Springdale, however. The subject of much trade banter in recent days, Myers may net the Royals some pitching help. If not, he’ll be moved up to Omaha, where he will most likely spend the entire season, since Alex Gordon and Jeff Francoeur won’t be going anywhere soon.

The West team turned in several good pitching performances, but perhaps none was better than the inning thrown by Jeffress. Jeffress struck out every batter he faced, including Harper.

If Myers’ 2011 season was one of fits and starts, Jeffress’ season went in reverse. Viewed initially as a component in the KC pen, Jeffress earned not one but two demotions before the year was over.

Considering his age (24 years old) and his experience (24 big league appearances), Jeffress’ performance in the All-Star game should come as no surprise. Many of the East squad’s hitters were 20 and 21 year olds – Harper just turned 19.

But wiT. Jeffress, talent is not the concern. Harnessing his stuff is the issue, and three strikeouts with no hits or walks is encouraging regardless of the competition.

Colon singled once in two at-bats. That’s an accomplishment for the thus-far light-hitting first round pick from 2010. But the story behind the story is that Colon played second base in the Rising Stars game. Primarily a shortstop in the Royals’ farm system, a shift to second may be imminent for Colon.

A good showing in some exhibition game against young, inexperienced competition is nothing to jump up and down about. But for three guys desperate for some good news, the Rising Stars game had to be refreshing.

Fans should take notice, with cautious optimism, of one great game for three more of the teams’ many prospects. The minor league cupboard needs to be replenished, and the Royals need for this trio to live up to their billing.

During the offseason we have been taking a look at the past, giving readers a timeline of St. Louis baseball throughout history. Last time we learned about Cardinal teams that could never quite put it all together. Unfortunately, the trend would continue…

What do you say to an aging superstar who has obviously seen better days but is not convinced that it is time to hang up the spikes? If you are the Cardinals, and your aging superstar is Bob Gibson, the answer is this: not one word. 1974 had been brutal to him, and his statistics were across the board the worst he had seen since 1960, when Solly Hemus was making his life miserable by jerking him from the rotation to the bullpen and refusing to put his talent to good use. But after his marriage broke up, Gibson had nothing to lose, and shuffled back out on the mound in 1975. He needed one more year of baseball. He could not walk away.

Life was miserable for Gibby in ’75. He had lost control and velocity. Walks, hits and ERA soared, strikeouts tanked, and the once great pitcher had become a mere mortal. At the All-Star break the big righty was shipped to the bullpen. In early September he came in to a game and gave up a grand slam to journeyman Pete LaCock. Gibson was mortified. Manager Red Schoendienst came out to get the ball, and Gibson walked off the mound with his head down. He never pitched another ball in the majors. It was a sad end to a truly Hall of Fame worthy career.

Al Hrabosky

The team as a whole felt unremarkable, finishing at 82-80, ten and a half games back of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Catcher Ted Simmons was the catalyst of the lineup, leading the team in almost every statistical category, as well as calling 157 games behind the plate, all at age 25. The pitching staff had a couple of names that jumped off the page – Bob Forsch and Al Hrabosky. The pair of 25 year olds were the leaders of the staff. Forsch went 15-10 with a 2.86 ERA over 240 innings. “The Mad Hungarian” was something else – turning in a career year by posting a 13-3 record, 22 saves, a 1.66 ERA and a 1.079 WHIP, which earned him a third place finish in the NL Cy Young Award voting.

The Cardinals in 1976 were young. Only four players on the roster were older than 30, and only two (37 year old Lou Brock and 33 year old Don Kessinger) had any significant playing time. So how did the kids do? Not very well. They were not strong hitters, scored very few runs, were dead last in the league in home runs, and that was just the hitters! Their pitchers were eleventh out of twelve in strikeouts, tenth in wins and walks, and just seemed to fall flat everywhere. Nothing was remarkable about this team, and a 72-90 finish, good enough for fifth in the six team NL East, just validates that thought.

Owner Gussie Busch was, once again, getting very impatient. It had been 8 full seasons since his team last saw a pennant flag rise above Busch Stadium, and that was just unacceptable to the beer baron. He decided that Schoendienst was just too soft on his players, and booted him out for Vern Rapp, a man that Gussie saw as someone who would be tough and get the boys to grind out the wins.

Vern Rapp

Rapp had been a career minor league catcher, playing for parts of sixteen seasons from coast to coast, never sticking with one team for long, and even being a player manager for a little one year. He had eleven seasons of managing in the minors (with a relative measure of success) before getting the call to St. Louis. He brought a no-nonsense, extremely conservative and yet stern look to a team that was not looking for someone to treat them like Marines. He installed a strict curfew, forced the players to cut off all facial hair, and held team meetings just to yell at various players who needed to lose a few pounds or cut their hair.

Players wanted to mutiny. Keith Hernandez’s star was on the rise in baseball, but he felt like his team was fighting against not only the rest of the National League, but the front office and managing staff of their own team as well! Despite it all, the team as a whole rebounded from their abysmal 1976 campaign, and went 83-79, to push them back up to third in the East. The team still did not have any real firepower, landing in the cellar in home runs (for the hitters) and strikeouts (for the pitchers). Ted Simmons , Keith Hernandez, and Garry Templeton were all hitting, but there were not enough pieces in place to make a strong enough dent in the standings.

Things got worse. Rapp was out of control, suspending his closer in Hrabrosky because Al refused to cut his hair and Fu Manchu and calling fan darling Simmons “a loser.” Gussie realized that this was not going to work out, and sent Rapp packing a mere seventeen games into the 1978 season. In to replace him was the amiable Kenny Boyer. While Rapp was harsh and cruel, Boyer fit a lot more into the Schoendienst model of nurturer and letting the boys play. Unfortunately, the record shows that Boyer fared no better than Rapp in the standings. It is hard to find positives about a team that finished 69-93, but here goes nothing…

Keith Hernandez won his first Gold Glove. Starters John Denny and Pete Vuckovich both pitched well, despite less than stellar W-L records of 14-11 and 12-12, respectively. Possibly the most important thing that happened was that Boyer installed Hernandez as the everyday first baseman, rain or shine, slump or hot streak. This played an important role in 1979.

Hernandez was feeling down at the beginning of the season, hitting an anemic .232 for the month of April. Boyer went to his still young (25) player and told him that no matter what, he would be the third place hitter for the season. The solidarity of that statement spurred him on to have his best year in the majors, hitting .344/.417/.513. He was in the top five in every major offensive statistical category, and led the league in batting average, runs, and doubles. Boyer had helped install a confidence that pushed a young player from a .232 first month of the season to an MVP award.

Ted Simmons

Despite bringing in very few new faces in 1979, the team as a whole fared better. Whether it was getting all of the players a year older, wiser or better or they just all happened to have better seasons that year is unknown, but one thing that is seen easily is that the bats are what carried them back up to third place in the East with a record of 86-76. Cardinal hitters were first in the National League in hits, doubles, triples and batting average over the course of the season. They took few walks, but they slapped the ball around and ran with it. Hernandez was the star, but guys like Templeton, Simmons, and “Silent George” Hendrick all had strong seasons at the plate as well. Even 40 year old Lou Brock, in his last year in baseball, put together a .304/.342/.398 batting line before hanging them up.

Maybe, once the kids all started growing up and really becoming ballplayers, things would turn around and push the team back to the top…

Angela Weinhold covers the Cardinals for i70baseball.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries. You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.

During the offseason we have been taking a look at the past, giving readers a timeline of St. Louis baseball throughout history. Last time we learned about how Roger Bresnahan helped create catcher’s gear and Branch Rickey’s start in baseball.

In the executive branch of the Baseball Hall Of Fame there are many legendary baseball names. Some were commissioners such as Ford Frick and Kenesaw Landis. Some were owners such as Tom Yawkey and Walter O’Malley. However, if you as a baseball fan are unaware of the impact that Branch Rickey has played in baseball, you have missed a tremendous story. He is definitely worthy of his own story, but it is safe to say you readers will be reading his name a lot over the next few weeks from me.

"Gorgeous George" Sisler

In 1915, George Sisler, who had been signed with Rickey’s help and played in half of the season, was already showing signs of the player that was to come. He hit .285 that first year while also pitching 70 innings over 15 games (yes, he was also a pitcher his first two years in the bigs). Over the next five years Sisler emerged as one of the league’s top offensive threats.

1920 was an incredible season for Sisler. Not only did he bat .407 with 19 home runs (remember – this was the Dead Ball Era – home runs were not expected from anyone) and a 1.082 on-base plus slugging percentage, but he slapped 257 hits and picked up 399 total bases. In my research I was shocked to see that “Gorgeous George” did not pick up the 1920 MVP award. Then I caught on – the MVP was not awarded between the years of 1914 and 1922. Tricky!

Unfortunately for Sisler and the Browns, one great player does not a contender make. In fact, the Browns never broke 80 wins in this time period. Better days were ahead, but they would happen without their trailblazing general manager.

After the 1915 season a shake-up happened in the Browns front office. Robert Hedges sold his share in the team to Phil Ball, and Mr. Ball wasted no time making changes. His first act was to remove Rickey from his managerial position and relegate him to just working in the front office and working with purchasing and moving excess minor league players. Why the switch? The answer is prohibition.

Phil Ball was a former cowhand whose lifestyle never changed after he made his millions. Branch was a prohibitionist lawyer who had at one time toured the country in support of a national ban on alcohol. Ball was not going to have someone like that on his team, and said as much. Rickey was hidden away in the Browns front office for the entire 1916 season, and thought he was going to be stuck there forever until he received a visit from another attorney – James C. Jones, attorney for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Jones laid it out like this: the Cardinals had played miserably since their inception in 1899, finishing higher than fourth one time in eighteen years. Helene Britton, who had inherited the team six years ago, was looking to sell, and unless someone came up with the $350,000 that Mrs. Britton was hoping for, the Cardinals would probably be moved out of St. Louis. There was a plan in place, however, and if it worked it would make history. So Jones made it simple for Rickey – if it works and the team stayed in St. Louis, would he switch sides and take over as team president?

Rickey did not hesitate. It hardly mattered what this grand scheme was, because at that point all that mattered was getting out of the Browns’ front office and away from Phil Ball’s unwavering anger towards Rickey’s prohibition ways. As it was, however, the investors that were hoping to buy the team had a revolutionary idea that would change baseball, and they simply called it ‘the Knothole Gang.’ What would happen is that the public would be able to buy stock in the Cardinals, and in exchange for every two shares bought, a season ticket would be given to an underprivileged boy in the St. Louis area. The brilliance of this plan was that not only would the franchise would be able to stay in town, but with so many stockholders now based in St. Louis and all of the Knothole Gang tickets, the fanbase took a tremendous swing from watching the mediocre Browns to the abysmal Cardinals.

Rickey making the jump from the American to the National League St. Louis team did not provide the immediate boost that the Cardinals pretty desperately needed. Eventually the Knothole Gang idea took off, but it took a season to really get going. 1917 was not kind to the Cardinals, and things were made worse when the American League got its revenge for luring Rickey to the NL by snatching manager Miller Huggins away with a huge contract and a chance to manage the Yankees. To make matters worse, World War 1 called and stole away Rickey to train soldiers in the field of chemical warfare, thereby causing him to miss the entirety of the 1918 season. Luckily for the Cardinals, the war ended and Rickey returned to the team before the start of the 1919 season.

Rogers Hornsby

Before the 1919 season, the franchise was starting to circle the drain. The vultures gathered, offering exorbitant amounts for basically the only player on the team that had any kind of start power – Rogers Hornsby. The New York Giants called a meeting with Rickey and offered the Cardinals $150,000 – the exact amount of the Cardinals’ debt – in exchange for Hornsby. Rickey said no. Rickey then turned the tables and offered the Giants $50,000 for a youngster named Frankie Frisch. Charles Stoneham, owner of the Giants, was dumbfounded. Rickey didn’t have $50,000 for some kid that had just been signed and had zero experience in the majors. Rickey didn’t have a quarter for a meal!

Determined to land his man, Stoneham upped his offer for Hornsby – $300,000, take it or leave it. John McGraw, the Giants owner, told Stoneham he was out of his mind. No player was worth that much, much less a player that had yet to really earn any recognition. Rickey held firm. He wanted Frisch. Baffled and outraged, the Giants went to the papers, declaring Rickey and the entire Cardinals organization a bunch of fools. Rickey knew better. The Cardinals needed a savior. They needed money. They needed talent.

They needed a farm system.

Rickey launched his plan. He sold 4,000 more shares of stock in the team and raised $100,000 in capital. New majority owner and team president Sam Breadon had given Rickey full reign to do as he pleased with the team, and with that in mind went to work. The first order of business was to convince Phil Ball and the Browns to let the Cardinals rent Sportsman’s Park for home games so they could sell League Park and get out of the red. After the Board of Education and Public Service Corporation bought the land for a combined $275,000, the team was back in the black and ready to get busy with this new plan of purchasing a farm system.

After the 1919 season Rickey purchased half of the Fort Smith, Arkansas franchise in the Class C Western Association. With that agreement the organization said they would not sell minor leaguers out from under Rickey’s nose. The main problem was that this was a Class C team. What would happen when the players were ready to move up the ladder to the next level of the minors? It looked like Rickey needed to buy another team. Find out more about this one next week!

Angela Weinhold covers the Cardinals for i70baseball.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries. You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.

At the halfway mark in the 2010 season, the Cardinals have not lived up to the hype. A team that was expected to run away with the division finds itself in second place to a Reds team that has surprised many. However, all is far from lost in Cardinal Nation. Some players have struggled, and many have shown that they are above their pre-season projects. Let’s take a look at the some of the players on either side of the line and see how the team stacks up.

Unnecessary

Say what you want about Aaron Miles, Randy Winn and Jeff Suppan. Whatever it is, it probably is not a kind review. The team started the year with the ‘Baby Bench,’ made up of several players that were key members of the 2009 AAA Memphis Redbirds team. Slowly but surely they were all shuttled back to Memphis, despite solid play by Jon Jay and Allen Craig, among others. Instead, ownership and the coaching staff made moves for the three veterans, all of which have been designated for assignment at some point in this season. Their play is inconsistent and has seen much better days, but they are constantly being run out there by Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan. It is frustrating and, ultimately, unnecessary for pretty much all three players to be on the major league roster.

Frustrating

Brendan Ryan: The entertaining and fairly well-loved shortstop has not been able to get it together this year. His bat, which had steadily improved since arriving on the major league scene a few years ago, has plummeted. His batting average is hovering around .200, frustrating the emotional player to the point that his defensive play has also lapsed. His defense, which was so good that he was a dark horse candidate for a Gold Glove at the beginning of this year, seems to be made of swiss cheese at times. Plays that seem routine he throws wildly, using a sidearm throw that looks more like a slingshot than a throwing motion. He still has stellar range and makes great plays, but poor Brendan is, in his own words, just not having any fun out there.

Skip Schumaker: The outfielder turned second baseman is also having a bizarre year. The team’s .300 hitting leadoff hitter has dropped off the map, also watching his batting average drop into the lower .200’s. While his replacement level defense was solid enough to be accepted when he was hitting as a consistent leadoff hitter, less than stellar defense and struggling at the plate is cause for Skip to lose his hold on the top spot in the order. He now finds himself out of the order altogether more often, and hitting in the seventh or ninth spots when he does start.

(Dis)honorable Mention: Yadier Molina. Yes, I have an All-Star starter listed as ‘frustrating.’ Yadi is also struggling at the plate, middling in the .220 range for a good portion of the season, when he had been in the .300 range for much of the past two seasons. His defense is still outstanding, gunning down runners that dare to challenge him with a nonchalant air, and calling such a good game that Jaime Garcia admitted in an interview with FOX broadcaster Tim McCarver that he has only shaken off Yadi’s call once. What happened? “It didn’t go very well for me. I don’t shake off Yadi anymore.”

Slightly Frustrating

Albert Pujols: Yes, another All-Star. Buckle up; it will not be the last. I chronicled in my first piece here at i70 Baseball that Albert has had a rather un-Albert like first half, but what the counting numbers don’t show is that he has also expanded his strike zone more than necessary. While he continually contests that there is no issue with his surgically repaired elbow, Albert has taken some ugly swings and has often looked like he is just missing pitches he usually clobbers into the upper deck. Very few want to contest that Albert Pujols is struggling, because usually the day after someone ventures to suggest it we see a 3-4 and 3 RBI day, but this season as a whole has not lived up to normal Albert standards, and he will be the first to agree.

Chris Carpenter: One of the toughest pitchers in baseball, Carp has been through it all in a big league uniform. He has won a Cy Young. He has missed entire seasons. He has won the Comeback Player of the Year Award… twice. This year, there have been several games where that dominant pitcher has looked somewhat lost. His curveball, one of the best in the game, has been hit around a little, and he has lost a little velocity on his fastball. I will say this for Carpenter: the man is a beast. His fire and intensity on the field means he will battle through it all and work his way out of some tough situations. However, you can tell by watching him though that something is not quite the same as it used to be.

Matt Holliday: I want to glaze over this one because so much has been made of Holliday’s ‘slow’ start to the season, the first season since signing the richest contract in Cardinals’ history. Right now Matt is putting together a very solid road trip, stringing together hits, making solid contact and driving in runners. Matt has agreed to participate in the Home Run Derby over the break, and considering his current hot streak, he should be ready to go to swing for the fences.

Slightly Surprising

Colby Rasmus: Last year was a decent rookie year for the young center fielder. Due to inconsistent playing time and getting used to the grind of the long season, Colby struggled to find his footing. This year he has been a much more consistent and patient hitter. His walk rate has gone up, which has led to a higher on-base percentage. He has faced more left-handed pitching this year and had more success there as well. Although he has been largely overlooked in the grand scheme of things, Colby has been a quiet contributor on this team.

Adam Wainwright: It hardly seems fair to say that a pitcher who was third in the Cy Young voting last year is having a surprising year this year, but the fact remains. Adam has been better! He has been more economical in his pitches, while striking out more and walking fewer batters per game. He has had four complete games already this year, one of which was a two hitter against Milwaukee in early June. His eight strong innings Friday against Houston has moved him ahead of teammate Jaime Garcia for second in the National League in ERA, sitting pretty with a 2.11.

Jon Jay: It is hard to say what I would give to see Jay on a more consistent basis. The rookie performed well in limited at bats at the beginning of the season, hitting roughly .300 in mostly mop-up and late game replacement duties. When the Cardinals brought in Miles and Winn, Jay was one of the ‘Baby Bench’ that got sent back down to Memphis to make room. The company line was that Jay was going down to get more consistent at bats in the minors and be able to play every day, which was not the case when he was in St. Louis. Now, with David Freese and Ryan Ludwick both on the disabled list with various injuries, Jay is back, and carrying a 10 game hitting streak into Sunday’s game against the Houston Astros. This is one rookie that wants to stay with the big club, and has played well enough to do so.

Surprises

Jason Motte: Last year, everyone thought that Motte was going to be given the closer’s job, but after a shaky start to the year he was quickly removed in favor of Ryan Franklin, who retained the job heading into the current season. In the meantime, Motte has put together a very strong season, at one time retiring 32 consecutive batters, spanning from May 11 to June 6. His flame throwing ways and intense antics on the mound have earned him the nickname ‘Mayhem,’ and he has been causing plenty of mayhem on the diamond. He has finally become the flame-throwing reliever the organization wanted him to be.

Blake Hawksworth’s last few starts: After a rough last half of May, which eventually saw Hawk’s ERA to balloon to 6.11, he was thrust into a starting role due to the injuries of both Brad Penny and Kyle Lohse. Make no mistake – Blake is not the most stellar pitcher on the team. Far from it. However, a pitcher that had been reduced to mop-up duty earlier in the season has made good, making it at least five innings and allowing three runs or fewer in all three of his starts since joining the starting rotation at the end of June. Considering he was a last resort, Dave Duncan has been pleased with what Blake has been able to accomplish, and has agreed that every start has been good enough to earn him another.

David Freese: After a frustrating 2009 season in which he missed much of the season with various injuries, Freese came into 2010 having much to prove, both to a fanbase that was judging his character after a DUI earlier in the year and to an organization that was willing to give him a shot to play every day on the major league team. After a few rough defensive innings in Milwaukee in early April, Freese has silenced the critics in a major way, hitting just under .300 and flashing a stellar glove. Unfortunately, after a misstep rounding the bases rolled his ankle, Freese has been sitting on the disabled list for the past few weeks. Hopefully he will make a return to the lineup soon!

Jaime Garcia: I would be remiss to end this list with anyone besides young Garcia. The rookie has been simply amazing. He began the year fighting in Spring Training for the opportunity to start, and made his way from third in line for the fifth spot in the rotation to the top of the pile, outlasting bullpen stalwart Kyle McClellan and free agent signee Rich Hill. Since then he has been in the top five in the NL in ERA all season, mixing in several solid pitches and having 14 quality starts (6+ innings pitched allowing 3 runs or fewer) in 17 starts. Oh yes, to top it off, he has done all of this after spending all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, and is now making a strong case for Rookie of the Year.

As a whole, the Cardinals honestly do have more ups than downs among the players. The problem has become that on any given day, the lineup is unable to hit consistently, the defense breaks down, or (on rare occasions) the bullpen or starting rotation simply gives up too many runs for the bats to overcome. At times it seems that right as one thing comes together, another falls apart. Thankfully it is a long season, and there are still many games to play. Whether or not the Cardinals make a push depends on the surprise players to keep on going and the players dealing with some frustration to rise above their first half issues. Time will tell for these Cardinals, but time could run out quickly if the team is not watching.