Cardinal first round picks, spanning the last decade
Posted on May 19th, 2009 by erik in UncategorizedThere’s been a lot of talk about first round picks here lately with draft day quickly approaching. Obviously, no teams want to biff their first round pick given the amount of money they invest in them every day, but according to at least the last decade, 62% of all first rounders were considered busts, making the draft a risky business. In the 90′s, the Cardinals actually did pretty comparatively to other teams in major league baseball, and you get see more about that at this post I wrote at BtB.
For a more in-depth look at who the Cardinal drafted, I put together this handy-dandy spreadsheet with who was picked, where they were picked and the scouting director who picked them.
| Yr. | Pick | Team | Player | Position | HS/COL | WAR | Scouting Director |
| 90 | 13 | STL | DONOVAN OSBORNE | LHP | COL | 4.7 | Fred McAlister |
| 90 | 18 | STL | AARON HOLBERT | SS | HS | 0 | Fred McAlister |
| 91 | 4 | STL | DMITRI YOUNG | 3B | HS | 5.8 | Fred McAlister |
| 91 | 21 | STL | ALLEN WATSON | LHP | COL | 0 | Fred McAlister |
| 91 | 22 | STL | BRIAN BARBER | RHP | HS | 0 | Fred McAlister |
| 92 | 15 | STL | SEAN LOWE | RHP | COL | 0 | Fred McAlister |
| 93 | 16 | STL | ALAN BENES | RHP | COL | 0.9 | Fred McAlister |
| 94 | 19 | STL | BRET WAGNER | LHP | COL | 0 | Marty Maier |
| 95 | 12 | STL | MATT MORRIS | RHP | COL | 16.6 | Marty Maier |
| 96 | 3 | STL | BRADEN LOOPER | RHP | COL | 3.8 | Marty Maier |
| 97 | 20 | STL | ADAM KENNEDY | SS | COL | 12.7 | Marty Maier |
| 98 | 5 | STL | J.D. DREW | OF | COL | 27 | Ed Creech |
| 99 | 30 | STL | CHANCE CAPEL | RHP | COL | 0 | John Mozeliak |
| 00 | 10 | STL | SHAUN BOYD | 2B | HS | 0 | John Mozeliak |
| 00 | 24 | STL | BLAKE WILLIAMS | RHP | COL | 0 | John Mozeliak |
| 01 | 28 | STL | JUSTIN POPE | RHP | COL | 0 | N/A |
| 03 | 28 | STL | DARIC BARTON | C | HS | 1.9 | Marty Maier |
| 04 | 19 | STL | CHRIS LAMBERT | RHP | COL | 0 | John Mozeliak |
| 05 | 28 | STL | COLBY RASMUS | OF | HS | 1 | Jeff Luhnow |
| 05 | 30 | STL | TYLER GREENE | SS | COL | 0.1 | Jeff Luhnow |
| 06 | 30 | STL | ADAM OTTAVINO | RHP | COL | 0 | Jeff Luhnow |
| 07 | 18 | STL | PETE KOZMA | SS | HS | 0 | Jeff Luhnow |
| 08 | 13 | STL | BRETT WALLACE | 3B | COL | 0 | Jeff Luhnow |
WAR stands for wins above replacement, and they are only for the players’ first six seasons in the big leagues, which is the span the player is under team control. Barton has only played two seasons and we know he was traded, and of course we know Looper, Kennedy and Young were traded. I even included Colby’s WAR totals, just because I think it’s cool that he already has one.
Fred McAlister’s long-term as scouting director, at least in the 90′s, wasn’t so hot, at least not with his first round draft picks. Dustin did a really excellent piece on Cardinal drafts since, well, ever in Maple Street’s 2009 Cardinals Annual, I suggest you check it out.
Marty Maier on the other hand had some pretty nice drafts. Looper wasn’t that good early in his career, but he helped the Cardinals get Renteria. Kennedy was actually pretty good once upon a time, and he of course was the key piece in the Edmonds deal. Jocketty may have laid waste to the farm system, but we all know he did an amazing job flipping prospects for established players.
I’m not sure I was aware that Mo was the scouting director at one time. He did indeed biff it with the 1st rounders, but hey…the man drafted the Albert Pujols in the 13th round, so I think we can cut him some slack.
The jury is out on Luhnow’s drafts, it’ll be interesting how history tells it. I think we mostly feel pretty good about this Rasmus fellow, and I don’t foresee the Walrus busting. Greene is in the big leagues, which is more than I thought he would accomplish a year ago.
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I like Mozeliak and all but thank God Luhnow came along when he did. I don’t think I could take anymore Mozeliak picks.
It’ll be interesting to see how the SS situation plays out. Maybe they decide that T. Greene is the guy going forward, maybe they sign another vet in the offseason, maybe…who knows? It sure would have been nice if we could have gotten a deal done for Yunel Escobar – but it just wasn’t going to happen based on what we would have needed to give up.
Seeing Sean Lowe’s name on there brings back bad memories. I remember seeing that Baseball America ranked him barely in the top three rounds (if even that high if I am not misremembering) and then listening to Fred McAlister say on the radio that he reminded him of Roger Clemens except he didn’t throw as hard and wasn’t as tall.
Moz’s picks aren’t exactly stellar. Shaun Boyd busting (in front of Chase Utley) at 10 is just horrible.
Caple,Boyd,Williams, I believe those were Jeff Scott’s picks not MO, Jeff Scott was the Director of Scouting. Pujols was picked when Scott was the Director also. Rumor has it that Scott never saw Albert play. Marty Maier was the Director when the Cards took Justin Pope in 01.
I would have to agree with Erik. . .please don’t draft a h.s. pitcher in the first round. I’m no draft guru, but my observations from following it for nearly 20 years is you get more bang for your buck with either a top h.s. hitter or top college lefty hurler, in that order, followed by a college hitter and THEN a h.s. pitcher.
I’m not even sure if I want J. Turner. I don’t think Boras will give the Cards a hometown discount for the Missouri kid.
what is most important to note in the above numbers is where the Cardinals actually drafted. holding Luhnow’s picks all equal does not do him justice as we see had 3 of the worst draft slots in the past 18 years
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Mo’s drafts were BAD, wow, at least the first round picks when he was in charge.