In a pair of moves Thursday and Friday, the Cardinals released a total of 14 minor league players. Two of them, pitcher Blaine Neal and infielder Dave Berg, began the season in the major league camp. The other assigned to Memphis’ working roster was left-handed pitcher Carlos Artiles.
From Springfield, the cuts were right-handed pitchers Roberto Batista and Jaymie Torres. The five off the Palm Beach working roster are lefty hurler Chris Noonan, righties Justin Brown and Quinton Robertson, infielder Ryan Dorsey and outfielder Rodney Medina.
The final four players released were working out with Quad Cities. They include pitcher Kevin Fitzgerald, infielder Jose Delgado and a pair of first basemen - John Skorupski and Geoff Desmond.
Cardinals Director of Player Development Bruce Manno told me that he now has the minor league rosters down to their optimal size and wants players to become accustomed to playing with their projected regular-season teammates from this point forward.
Manno said to expect a final round of five to six cuts sometime next week. Likely this will be a by-product of the last cuts made on the major league club.
Remember to click on the player’s names to view their free Scout.com player pages, with biographical information, story links, news and much more. They also can be accessed from The Birdhouse home page “Minor League Rosters” dropdown located on the upper right of that page.
Brian Walton can be reached via email at brwalton@earthlink.net.
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