Posted by Jeff in MLB Draft
With several months still until the pitchers and catchers report, it’s probably a good time to see how the Cardinals got to where they are now in their farm system. And since their International operations have not yet born fruit for the big club, let’s take a look back at the MLB drafts. Obviously, the MLB draft is not as crucial for development of a team as the NFL draft is for NFL teams, but it is still informative to see what decisions the Cardinals made in the draft process. All stats are courtesy of Baseball Cube. Players with an ** before their name did not sign with the Cardinals after this draft.
This is the final installment, since AZ is covering the second guessing in the 2005 and previous drafts and I saved this for the holiday season because everyone is in a better mood. Now, that you are all in a good mood, on to the bad news. This 2004 draft was a pox on the concept of “drafting” and “developing”. The Cardinals did not go cheap in this draft, but instead went reasonably large and failed. The big problem is finding the highest profile or best draft pick in this draft by the Cardinals. It is a toss-up between Jarrett Hoffpauir, Mike Parisi or Mark Worrell. Yay, terrible choices! Without further adieu, your 2004 Cardinals draft.
Rnd Ovl Player Name Pos Age HL Drafted From Bonus
1 19 Chris Lambert P 21 MLB Boston College $1,525,000
Chris Lambert did so well in the minors he was infamously traded for Mike Maroth. He was moved to relief in Memphis in 2007 without much improvement in his numbers. He was drafted by the Cardinals after a strong performance in the Cape Cod League in 2003. If they wanted a college arm, they could have signed Huston Street as a cheaper option ($800k bonus) or if they wanted to go high upside starter like they thought they were getting with Lambert, they need to go to the high school ranks and select Phil Hughes ($1.4 mil bonus) or Yovanni Gallardo ($725k bonus) who was even cheaper. If they wanted to go another route, HS SS Reid Brignac was available. Lambert actually tasted the big leagues with Detroit and Baltimore, but in his MLB appearances he allowed almost 14 hits per 9 innings and struck out only 7 per 9. Lambert is the not too rare combination of a failed drafting AND development for the Cardinals. Plus, Lambert will continue to haunt DanUp’s nightmares.
The rest of the 2004 draft after the jump!
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Posted by Jeff in MLB Draft
With several months still until the pitchers and catchers report, it’s probably a good time to see how the Cardinals got to where they are now in their farm system. And since their International operations have not yet born fruit for the big club, let’s take a look back at the MLB drafts. Obviously, the MLB draft is not as crucial for development of a team as the NFL draft is for NFL teams, but it is still informative to see what decisions the Cardinals made in the draft process. All stats are courtesy of Baseball Cube. Players with an ** before their name did not sign with the Cardinals after this draft.
After the disasters that were the 2001 and 2002 drafts, the Cardinals made some improvements in the 2003 draft, getting some good talent and it would have been a lot better if they were able to sign two high school arms they drafted later in the draft. Let’s take a look.
Rnd Ovl Player Name Pos Age HL Drafted From Bonus
1 28 Daric Barton C 17 MLB Marina (CA) $975,000
The Cardinals picked up the slugging high school catcher in the first round. However, after 2 seasons at catcher with the Cardinals, he was moved to Oakland in the Mark Mulder deal and the A’s used him at first after that. Barton is a three true outcomes player, he either walks, strikes out or hits a home run. He fit in well with the Jack Cust-led A’s. However, looking back at older drafts made me appreciate this pick even more. The Cardinals were able to grab a high school player who played well in his first 2 seasons in the minors with the Cardinals and developed into a MLB-caliber player. However, that being said, the pick still opens itself up to criticism as Adam Jones and Carlos Quentin were picked after Barton.
The rest of the 2003 draft by the Cardinals after the jump!
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Posted by Jeff in MLB Draft
With several months still until the pitchers and catchers report, it’s probably a good time to see how the Cardinals got to where they are now in their farm system. And since their International operations have not yet born fruit for the big club, let’s take a look back at the MLB drafts. Obviously, the MLB draft is not as crucial for development of a team as the NFL draft is for NFL teams, but it is still informative to see what decisions the Cardinals made in the draft process. All stats are courtesy of Baseball Cube. Players with an ** before their name did not sign with the Cardinals after this draft.
The MLB Draft in 2002 is what is colloquially known as a “downer” as the Cardinals first and second round picks were sacrificed for free agent signings Jason Isringhausen and Tino Martinez to the Oakland As and New York Yankees respectively. So, with the Cardinals starting in the 3rd round, this draft was always going to be at a disadvantage. However, with the rest of the draft picks, the most successful player the Cardinals were able to draft was Kyle McClellan. When the best player of a draft is a middle reliever, you know the draft is not going to be good. Let’s take a look at who the Cardinals drafted.
Rnd Ovl Player Name Pos Age HL Drafted From
3 102 Calvin Hayes SS 18 A+ East Rowan (Salisbury,NC)
Mr. Hayes was signed as a high school SS and during an age 22 season at Quad Cities in which he had an OPS of .368 in 51 ABs, he retired from baseball. Since, the Cards had the last pick in all rounds in 2002 (contributing to the less than stellar haul), I will look in the following round for potential draft picks. The Cardinals could have taken Kevin Correia, who they drafted previously in 2000, Delwyn Young if they wanted a middle infielder or Josh Johnson if they wanted to go with upside high school pitching. Needless to say, a missed selection from the Cards.
The entire (yes, entire!) 2002 draft after the jump!
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Posted by Jeff in MLB Draft
With several months still until the pitchers and catchers report, it’s probably a good time to see how the Cardinals got to where they are now in their farm system. And since their International operations have not yet born fruit for the big club, let’s take a look back at the MLB drafts. Obviously, the MLB draft is not as crucial for development of a team as the NFL draft is for NFL teams, but it is still informative to see what decisions the Cardinals made in the draft process. All stats are courtesy of Baseball Cube. Players with an ** before their name did not sign with the Cardinals after this draft.
Rnd Ovl Player Name Pos Age HL Drafted From Bonus
1 28 Justin Pope P 21 AAA U of Central Florida $900,000
After 2 solid seasons in the Penn and Midwest Leagues, Pope was traded in 2003 to the New York Yankees for a 3 month rental of Sterling Hitchcock. Whenever he got to AAA, he faltered and was released by the Yankees after the 2007 season. I guess he did his job for the Cardinals, but you would expect more from a college pitcher drafted in the 1st round. Additionally, I couldn’t find any glaring misses from the rest of the players in the 1st round.
The entire (yes, entire!) rest of the 2001 draft after the jump!
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Posted by Jeff in MLB Draft
With several months still until the pitchers and catchers report, it’s probably a good time to see how the Cardinals got to where they are now in their farm system. And since their International operations have not yet born fruit for the big club, let’s take a look back at the MLB drafts. Obviously, the MLB draft is not as crucial for development of a team as the NFL draft is for NFL teams, but it is still informative to see what decisions the Cardinals made in the draft process. All stats are courtesy of Baseball Cube. HL stands for Highest Level reached.
The 2000 draft can claim only Yadier Molina amongst the players active in the Cardinals system right now. Players drafted in 2000 would be anywhere from 28 for players drafted at 18 out of high school to 32 being drafted at age 22 after 4 years of college.
Rnd Ovl Player Name Pos Age HL Drafted From Bonus
1 13 Shaun Boyd IF 18 AAA Vista (CA) $1,750,000
The Cardinals passed on Chase Utley who was drafted 2 picks later and given $30,000 more as a bonus. To say the Cardinals picked the wrong 2nd baseman would be an understatement. After 3 years, Boyd was switched to the OF and had one good year in A+ ball in his second year there and washed out of the Cardinals organization after the 2006 season having reached AAA.
The entire (yes, entire!) 2000 Cardinals draft after the jump.
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