QUESTION: Reading your great article on the Cards' top 7 prospects, I couldn't help but notice that it didn't include shortstop and 2016 first-round draft pick Delvin Perez. Then I found out he's now ranked around No. 30. Any hope this kid figures it out?

GOOLD: He's young enough (20) to figure it out, for sure. He has been surpassed by other talents, and he did OK this past season. He's still so young -- and still so, so, so thin. If you get a chance to watch him in a game or in a workout, you see the wiry electricity to his game and how he stands out from his peers. He's just so raw that it's a fair question how he puts it together -- or whether he does. This is a big year for him coming up. There's got to be some forward progress in his game, and that has to dovetail with consistency, not just production.