FanPost

MOD: St. Louis Cardinals #1

Hey all,

I need to find an Assistant Scouting Director who can take my place on June 5th in case I'm unable to make it. I know there are plenty of Cardinal fans out there that follow the draft as in depth as I do and also post on minorleagueball.com. With that said...let's talk draft.

Mock Draft Selections:

1st round (25th overall)
Supplemental 1st round (46th overall)
Supplemental 1st round (50th overall)
2nd round (75th overall)
3rd round (106th overall)

Recent Draft Picks:

2009:
Shelby Miller-RHP-Texas High School
Robert Stock-C-USC
Joe Kelly-RHP-UC Riverside

2008:
Brett Wallace-3B-Arizona St.
Lance Lynn-RHP-Ole Miss
Shane Peterson-OF-Long Beach St.
Niko Vasquez-SS-Nevada High School

2007:
Peter Kozma-SS-Oklahoma High School
Clayton Mortensen-RHP-Gonzaga
David Kopp-RHP-Clemson
Jess Todd-RHP-Arkansas
Dan Descalso-2B-UC Davis

Draft Budget:


It's not likely that the Cardinals will take high bonus players(way above slot and/or near 7 figures) in rounds 1A through 50. However, the selection of Shelby Miller mixed with some big latin signings(and one big unsigning) shows that the Cardinals are willing to spend to get a young player that they like. The Cardinals came out in the past and said that they regret passing on Rick Porcello. When they drafted Miller you knew they weren't lying.

If a player like Austin Wilson or AJ Cole falls to the 25th pick, the Cardinals could be ready to pounce. However, it's not likely that they will pounce after the 1st round ends. They continually passed on St. Louis native Tim Melville in 2008(most draft followers knew it was a wise decision). They continually passed on Matt Harvey in 2007. And they went for TCU LHP Brad Furnish over Brett Anderson in 2006. The Cardinals tend to play it safe as the draft moves along.

Real Life Draft Strategy:

Cardinal's Scouting Director Jeff Luhnow has only taken two high school players in the supplemental 1st round and 2nd round combined. They were Tyler Herron and Josh Wilson, both selected in Luhnow's first draft in 2005. Since then, the Cardinals have selected the following players in each round:

Supp 1st round: Chris Perez(RHP), Clayton Mortensen(RHP), Lance Lynn(RHP)
2nd round: Brad Furnish(LHP), Shane Peterson(OF), Robert Stock(C), David Kopp(RHP), Jess Todd(RHP), Mark Hamilton(1B), Jon Jay(OF)

It's interesting to note that Luhnow has never selected a position player with any of his 5 supplemental 1st round picks. Including the last time he had two supp 1st rounders when he picked Wilson and Mark McCormick.

Luhnow's first rounders: Colby Rasmus(OF), Tyler Greene(SS), Adam Ottavino(RHP), Peter Kozma(SS), Brett Wallace(3B), Shelby Miller(RHP)

4 of 6 are position players, 3 of 6 are high schoolers. No real pattern. The 25th pick could be AJ Cole, Matt Harvey, Justin O'Conner, Bryce Brentz or Kolbrin Vitek.

Mock Draft Strategy

Everyone's an option. I don't expect anyone with price tag issues like Cole, Nick Castellanos or Austin Wilson to fall in the mock draft as no one is really sure of exact asking prices plus everyone wants to take BPA. If they do fall then the only reason I wouldn't draft them is because of better options.

After the Cardinals gutted their farm system through trades and graduations we have plenty of needs. As I said, everyone's an option.

Possible Targets

25th pick: Kaleb Cowart, Justin O'Conner, Matt Harvey, Brett Eibner, Brandon Workman, Bryce Brentz, Yasmani Grandal

Supp 1st round: Barret Loux, Mike Foltynewicz, Sammy Solis, Seth Blair, Micah Gibbs, Drew Vettleson, Sam Dyson, Cam Bedrosian, Kyle Parker, Derek Dietrich, Robbie Aviles

2nd round: Delino DeShields, Kellin Deglan, Tony Wolters, Jacoby Jones, Adam Plutko, Stefan Sabol, Kyle Blair, Kevin Munson, Michael Lorenzen, Chad Lewis

Let me hear some opinions!

Trending Discussions