Last time we looked at the past first round picks from 1990 to the present, this time let’s look at the Cardinal first round picks from 1989 to the beginning of the draft. The win above replacement totals are career totals and are from BaseballProjection.com.
My feeling is the Cardinals did pretty well, overall. Like any team, they had their share of busts and successes but the successes are pretty noteworthy.
| Year | # | Name | Pos. | HS/COL | G | WAR | Comments |
| 1965 | 20 | Joe DiFabio | RHP | COL | 0 | 0 | |
| 1966 | 7 | Leron Lee | INF | HS | 614 | 1 | Derek Lee’s uncle, hit 263 HR in Japan |
| 1967 | 10 | Ted Simmons | C | HS | 2456 | 52.1 | Best First Rounder Cardinals ever drafted |
| 1968 | 19 | James Hairston | OF | HS | 0 | 0 | No relation to other Hairstons |
| 1969 | 20 | Charles Minott | LHP | HS | 0 | 0 | |
| 1970 | 11 | Jim Browning | RHP | HS | 0 | 0 | |
| 1971 | 8 | Ed Kurpiel | 1B | HS | 0 | 0 | Legend has it he hit a 700-ft. HR in ’72 in Reno. |
| 1972 | 21 | Dan Larson | RHP | HS | 80 | -2.2 | |
| 1973 | 12 | Joe Edelen | 3B | HS | 27 | -1.1 | |
| 1974 | 13 | Garry Templeton | SS | HS | 2079 | 26 | 19 WAR in his first 6 years as Cardinal. |
| 1975 | 16 | David Johnson | LHP | HS | 0 | 0 | |
| 1976 | 15 | Leon Durham | 1B | HS | 1067 | 16.2 | Finished 7th in ’80 ROY balloting. Part of Bruce Sutter trade. |
| 1977 | 6 | Terry Kennedy | C | COL | 1491 | 22.6 | Whoops. Traded to San Diego, became 4-time All-Star. |
| 1978 | 15 | Bob Hicks | 1B | HS | 0 | 0 | |
| 1979 | 6 | Andy Van Slyke | OF | HS | 1658 | 43.1 | Traded for Tony Pena. Fail. |
| 1980 | 15 | Don Collins | RHP | HS | 0 | 0 | |
| 1981 | 8 | Bob Meacham | SS | COL | 457 | 2.7 | Traded to NYM for now bullpen coach Marty Mason. |
| 1982 | 21 | Todd Worrell | RHP | COL | 614 | 11.9 | Dominant closer for a couple of years in STL. |
| 1983 | 24 | Jim Lindeman | 3B | COL | 351 | -0.2 | |
| 1984 | 7 | Mike Dunne | RHP | COL | 70 | -0.1 | Included in Van Slyke deal, had good rookie season, career marred by inj. |
| 1985 | 18 | Joe Margrane | LHP | COL | 149 | 11.4 | Injuries. Now announcer for Rays. |
| 1986 | 23 | Luis Alicea | 2B | COL | 1341 | 12.2 | Red Sox’s 1B Coach |
| 1987 | 14 | Cris Carpenter | RHP | COL | 210 | 2 | The non “H” Carp. |
| 1988 | 30 | Brian Jordan | OF | COL | 1456 | 32.8 | Amazing athlete, and one of the better defensive outfielders of his time. |
| 1988 | 23 | Brad Duvall | RHP | COL | 0 | 0 | |
| 1988 | 22 | John Ericks | RHP | COL | 57 | 0.6 | |
| 1989 | 6 | Paul Coleman | OF | HS | 0 | 0 |
Entries (RSS)
Oh man, Jim Lindeman. I was only about 5 when he was playing for the Cards, and I remember my dad making fun of him every time he came up to bat. I can’t believe he was a first round pick, he was awful.
Pretty interesting Erik, thanks for putting that list together. Simba!
Hall of Famer I think.
Ahh. Paul Coleman. They picked him Sixth overall. Sixth! Has to be one of the all-time busts. They passed on Frank Thomas to take him!
Aarrghh!
Joe Magrane…had an 18 win season and led the NL in ERA in another. One more to add to the “what if’s” of Cardinals pitching lore.
I’m still pissed about the Van Slyke trade. Deep breaths…deep breaths…serenity now….
I believe the Van Slyke trade was made because we were counting on Linderman to be our rightfielder of the future. Strange that that Luis Alciea was a first round pick. I think the organization was dreaming about another Bo Jackson when they drafted Paul Coleman.