Archive for the “MLB Draft” Category

Thanks again to Wachto for dropping the link to Keith Law’s next mock draft in the comments of my post yesterday, giving me some fuel for my post this afternoon. Here’s the mock, it is insider only. After the jump, let’s take a look at who he mocks to the Cardinals and the other names he drops that we haven’t covered already.

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With the College World Series just a month away and the draft before even that, draft boards are starting to solidify, at least in the college ranks. College prospects don’t fluctuate as rapidly as high school prospects in the estimation of scouts but there are still definite emerging trends this year among collegiate players in the Cardinals’ range. Here are a few such players:

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Due to popular demand, I present to you a look at how draft boards have been moving as of late and how some of the recent action might affect the Cardinals picks

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Last week I talked about a few picks that fit the Cardinals’ drafting style with the logic that past success will lead to repetition despite the personnel changes that have occurred throughout the organization. This week (and perhaps also in the coming weeks), I take the opposite hypothesis, foreseeing a change in philosophy due not only to the aforementioned personnel differences but also to the surplus that such a consistent style has created.

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For all the turnover we saw in the organization this year, it’s hard to envision too many changes in their philosophy. Last year’s wall-to-wall success probably means we’ll see a smooth continuation of what has worked in the past. We’ve already seen it: success with Dominican prospects like Oscar Taveras and Carlos Martinez has led the Cardinals back to the well with another major signing in 17 year old pitcher Andres Serrano (as a note of warning, Andres Serrano is also the name of a famed corpse photographer. Google Image search at your own risk).

Of course, with so many picks, we should expect some variety at the top of the draft (maybe even a left handed pit–no, it’s too far-fetched to hope for) but predicting the draft is a crapshoot anyway and past tendencies are often the best predictors we have. More likely than not, this will mean more collegiate pure hitters, more groundballers and more raw, possibly multi-sport athletes from the draft this year.

With that in mind, here are a few guys who fit into the Cardinals mould.
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MLB Mock Drafts are not quite as big as NFL Mock Drafts (Which are done year round and at least a year in advance) – but there are already a ton of MLB mock drafts out there that will give us at least an idea of who is currently projected to be available at the Cardinals selections.  Let’s take a look at the 4 guys mocked to the Cardinals at 19th overall.

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[azru: In past year's when I've asked for feedback on the site, one of the things that came up was more pre-draft coverage. So this year, I found someone to provide some fodder for our draft discussions. Leading up to the draft, purple_haze will introduce you to players that you should know to be prepped for the draft. When the draft is here, Future Redbirds will, as we have for the last several years, track each draft pick through the first 10 rounds and then group posts for each 10 rounds after that.  The difference will be that this year, you may already know some of the names we draft thanks to purple_haze. Make sure and check in each Tuesday for draft coverage. Enjoy!]

Just as I was beginning to feel as if 2011 was a fairy tale so distant that it could not possibly be true, baseball returned and brought me sharply back into the present. And even though the dramatic finish of that season seemed to be the conclusion of an era of Cardinals history, they did not simply dissolve the franchise right then and there. Yep, it seems they’re doing it all over again this year and I couldn’t be happier. Everything is renewed this spring, with a new CBA, new management and a new farm director to determine the influx of new ballplayers from what should be a fruitful draft.

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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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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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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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