2011 MLB Draft: St. Louis Cardinals Review

by John Sickels on Jun 12, 2025 4:00 PM EDT

2011 MLB Draft: St. Louis Cardinals Review

This features a mixture of high school and college talent with a big focus on speed and athleticism. There is little power.

1) Kolten Wong, 2B, Hawaii: Baseball America compared him to Chone Figgins, but I'm thinking more like "Todd Walker/Dustin Pedroia hybrid with a much better glove than Walker."

2) Charlie Tilson, OF, Illinois HS: Speedy athletic leadoff type with occasional sparks of power. Firm University of Illinois commitment but I doubt they would draft him without being optimistic about his signability.

3) C.J. McElroy, OF, Texas HS: Son of Chuck, former major league pitcher. Blazing speed, 80-range, with some hitting polish. Lacks power, looks like a leadoff type. Committed to University of Houston on a football scholarship.

4) Kenny Peoples, SS, California HS: Athletic, raw, good speed. High risk high reward type.

5) Sam Gaviglio, RHP, Oregon State: Excellent statistical performance (12-3, 2.54 ERA, 116/33 K/BB in 121 innings) with average stuff, ground ball machine, should move through minors quickly. Fourth/fifth starter or durable relief type.

6) Adam Ehrlich, C, California HS: Raw catcher with good throwing arm, power potential, won't move quickly. Loyola Marymount commitment.

7) Nick Martini, OF, Kansas State: Leadoff type, fast, excellent strike zone judgment, some gap power. Profiles as reserve outfielder.

8) Daniel Miranda, LHP, Miami-Fl: Mediocre stuff but outstanding command, short reliever or future LOOGY.

9) Tyler Mills, RHP, Michigan: Former outfielder still learning how to pitch, works in low-90s, needs polish in all aspects. 5.02 ERA, 48/30 K/BB in 52 innings.

10) Lance Jeffries, OF, Missouri HS: Local kid from St. Louis, very good speed, raw at the plate, might have some power eventually despite 5-9 size.

OTHERS OF NOTE: RHP Seth Maness (11^th round, East Carolina) has average stuff but excellent performance record due to sharp control. C Aramis Garcia (20^th round, Florida HS) has a strong throwing arm and a chance to be a fine defensive catcher, but is committed to Florida International.

SUMMARY: The Cardinals were focused on speed and athleticism and picked up several players with a chance to be leadoff hitters, though only Martini has a chance to advance quickly. I really like Wong and Gaviglio is quite polished, but overall this is an undistinguished class in my view, though as with all of these drafts it will be a few years before we really know.

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Read More: Todd Walker (2B - OAK), Dustin Pedroia (2B - BOS), Chone Figgins (3B - SEA), St. Louis Cardinals

Comments

Cards Draft

As with any draft we won’t know how it turns out for 3-4 years to see how these kids develop. With that said this draft had some of the best talent I have ever seen going into a draft. Guys that were going in the 1S, 2 and 3rd Rds would have gone in the 1st Rd in almost every other year of recent history of the draft. We got a number of athletes which you noted but these types are usually high risk as they have usually don’t have very refined baseball abilities. I am all for taking a few of these guys throughout the first 10 Rds or so but we seem to have used a lot of early picks on these types of players. There were a ton of upside players available with our first 2 to 3 picks and we continuously passed on them. Sure many of them probably have a high price tag but the Cards have not been scared off by that in recent drafts. So as this draft may end of working out I must say I am quite disappointed overall with it at this point.

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by JDizzidy on Jun 12, 2025 5:17 PM EDT reply actions

The obsession with speedy outfielders this draft seems unhealthy. I’m not sure what they were trying to accomplish there.

I do like the Kolten Wong pick, though; in recent years it seems like the Cardinals have drafted with their major league team more in mind than most teams, in large part due to the “Stars and Scrubs” mentality they have to team building. Assuming they re-sign Pujols they absolutely need talent to come in from the farm, and guys like Cox and Wong should be able to provide big league value, and possibly above average big league production, during the course of Pujols’ and Holliday’s contracts.

Last draft seemed to fit into “the plan”, acquiring Cox and some college arms like Blair/Swagerty who might be able to provide something soon, whether its in the bullpen are as back of the rotation arms, now that the Cardinals should have the top of the rotation cheap for a while with Garcia and Miller/Martinez set to reach the big leagues over the next few seasons.

This draft I just don’t see the plan past the first round. These speedy high school guys could develop into useful players but none of them look like they’ll be the next generation superstars the Cardinals will need to replace Pujols or Holliday in 6+ years when they are going to be able to make a big league impact. It seems like they could have done more with those picks, but as everyone has said above, we will have to wait and see.

by oplaid on Jun 12, 2025 6:21 PM EDT up reply actions

One thing i remember reading a lot of draft day was that while they are speedy and athletic, they have good approaches at the plate, as well

That means you have athletic guys with good approaches that play at premium defensive positions.

1) You hope that the approach remains, and that they develop power, and they retain their defensive abilities, giving you an elite prospect

2) Their approach remains, and they develop power, but they can’t handle the position that they were drafted at. Since they were drafted at premium positions, they can move pretty easily to other ones, giving you a great prospect.

3) Their approach remains and they can handle their position, but don’t develop power. You develop a great leadoff hitter at a premium position

4) Their approach remains, they don’t develop power and they can’t handle their position. You have a fairly high OBP guy and not much else. But that can still be very valuable in an organization.

All of this assumes that they actually have good approaches, but if this was, indeed, what the Cardinals were thinking on draft day, then there are a lot of scenarios where the player can be successful

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by mysterui on Jun 13, 2025 11:04 AM EDT up reply actions

Interesting way to look at it

OBP/plate discipline and positional scarcity are the “premium” skills they were going for.

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by mattybobo on Jun 13, 2025 11:30 AM EDT up reply actions

I thought Whitey Herzog was back

with all of these speed guys. I like Wong a lot. Not sold so much after that.

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by Thundering Turtle on Jun 12, 2025 10:57 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

I like the Tilson pick

but that’s the most positive description of Wong I’ve heard…reminds me more of Darwin Barney

by PrincetonCubs on Jun 12, 2025 11:10 PM EDT reply actions

+1

It’s kinda funny, but I have a complete 180 view from everyone else that has posted so far. I am not a huge fan of the Wong pick. There were WAY too many high upside arms still available to take the safer college hitter route. Seems like the Cards drafted more for need than BPA at 22.

After that, the Cards filled a huge void in their system - speedy athletic hitters. Sure most of these guys won’t pan out, but if a guy like Tilson, McElroy or Peoples works out, they will have found exactly what the system lacks - guys that can hit at the top of the order with good on-base skills. They also took a handful of catchers with decent upside to be good backups or defensive-minded starters.

All in all, I think the Cards had a pretty good draft. The Wong pick weighs it down IMO.

by guru4u on Jun 13, 2025 9:44 AM EDT up reply actions

I've got no problem w/ the Wong pick, per se

My problem is that the team has essentially chosen Kolten Wong 3 years out of 4. First it was Brett Wallace. Last year it was Zack Cox. Then Wong this year. 3 years out of 4 the team has chosen the “best college hitter” out there, a guy who will move quickly through the system, who’s position is “hitter”, and who has a relatively low upside. They’re all guys who are as likely as any in the draft to make it and be relatively productive major league players but none who profile as a star.

I don’t have a problem with taking these guys occasionally. Wallace helped the team trade for Holliday (he was drafted to be traded since everyone knew he was destined for 1B) and Cox fell to the team due to relatively high contract demands. It seems to me, however, that a trend has developed and it’s one that eschews going for players with high upsides over “safer” picks. It’s notable that the 1 time out of the last 4 the team chose a “high upside” guy, they chose Shelby Miller, the team’s #1 prospect and probably a top 5 prospect in the minors. The team has to choose those guys sometimes even if it means they end up flaming out somewhere along the way.

You don’t develop All-Stars by playing it safe.

by chuckb on Jun 13, 2025 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions

Wong is a much better defensive 2B than you give him credit for. He’s no Wallace or Cox who are both still searching for a long-term position and will never find 1 that they are even close to above-average at. Wong will start and end his career at 2B and be a solid defensive 2B in the majors if he hits enough to make it there.

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by Fla-Giant on Jun 13, 2025 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions

" It’s notable that the 1 time out of the last 4 the team chose a "high upside" guy, they chose Shelby Miller, the team’s #1 prospect and probably a top 5 prospect in the minors. "

The last two times when they have eschewed safety and gone pure upside they’ve gotten a fantastic return.

Colby Rasmus circa 2005

They have hit on the last two high school kids they’ve taken in the first round, failed nearly every time they’ve went for “safety”(I mean is it really safer in the end to be shackled with inferior talent?).

Yet they keep going to the well with these “safe” Div 1 guys.

I’ve never really gotten the feeling that the Cardinals were really committed to building playoff caliber teams through the draft. Despite what Chairman Bill Dewitt II or John Mozeliak have said to the contrary.

You can’t build a real winner unless you have the guts to draft and spend money on star caliber talent. And the Cardinals haven’t really shown but the absolute minimum of willingness to do so.

Tilson was a great pick though. Probably the best pick in their draft in my opinion.

Albert Pujols is a god, and you my friend should be doing no less than groveling at his feet.

by CoolCat23 on Jun 13, 2025 7:21 PM EDT up reply actions

"They have hit on the last two high school kids they’ve taken in the first round,"

Correction two out of the last three drafts in which they took a high school player, they’ve made a hit.

I forgot Pete Kozma in 2007. But then again that was neither a safe pick nor a high upside pick, that was just a completely unjustifiable pick which still makes absolutely no since whatsoever.

Albert Pujols is a god, and you my friend should be doing no less than groveling at his feet.

by CoolCat23 on Jun 13, 2025 7:30 PM EDT up reply actions

i think you and chuckb are under valuing the upside of cox and wong. going “safe” by drafting “best college hitter” in the draft is not a bad strategy at all. it is different than the previous cardinal strategy of going “safe” by drafting any college player over a high school player. that thinking lead to chris lambert over phil hughes.

“The last two times when they have eschewed safety and gone pure upside they’ve gotten a fantastic return.”

that tells me they are doing a better job of evaluating talent, not that they should pick every toolsy player on the draft board. if you draft based purely on upside potential you’ll probably end up with one all-star and a dozen busts.

why doesnt anyone mention tyrell jenkins as an upside pick?

by dmb60614 on Jun 14, 2025 10:00 AM EDT up reply actions

I don't mind the Cardinals drafting for need

For most teams that strategy just doesn’t work, but the Cardinals are in a fairly unique situation. They spend more than most teams, but not as much as the real big spenders, so they have to rely on their farm system somewhat. The guys they have spent money on, though, are mostly elite level, assuming they re-sign Pujols. That means they need cost controlled talent in the other spots, but it doesn’t they don’t have to worry about getting the superstar talent like a team such as the Kansas City Royals or Tampa Bay Rays do when they are figuring out how they are going to be in contention. They just need guys that can play at a solid major league level during the course of the Pujols/Holliday/Wainwright contracts.

That’s why I don’t mind it much, especially at this point in the development of the team.

The other thing getting guys like this does, like with Brett Wallace, is acquire a guy who can be flipped much more easily than a high school player. Considering the pieces the Cardinals have already that’s pretty valuable.

by oplaid on Jun 13, 2025 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Disagree

Not sure this makes sense to me. Its almost like your saying all we “need” in our system is guys that can play a role but not be superstars to fill out our roster in the bigs. I would disagree that you should always want guys that can be highly above avg to superstar talents. At worst you have some of the best trade bait in the league. At best you have a guy that comes up that is extremely valuable at a very very low cost. Why would you want just avg guys that are “fillers” instead of potential impact players if you had a choice? I am not saying you want to pick high upside with every pick but if you decide to go high upside in every draft with one of your top 2-3 picks and then a high floor guy to mix in as well that gives you nice diversity of prospect types. I just can’t get onboard with your line of thinking on this.

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by JDizzidy on Jun 13, 2025 8:57 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m not advocating drafting “need” and “safe” players with every pick in the draft either, but using their first pick on players like Cox and Wong, who they probably also see as decent talents at their draft position, is a better idea for the Cardinals than most other teams in the league.

That said, their policy in this draft in particular after the first round leaves me completely befuddled. I’m not entirely sure what they were doing.

Of course the flip side is I don’t have any empirical evidence on how long it takes for these “safe college bats” to produce at a big league level and how much value they actually provide over the course of their cost controlled years, so perhaps I’m completely off base but it seems like a sound policy for this particular moment in the Cardinals competitive cycle.

by oplaid on Jun 14, 2025 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions

One of the worst drafts, IMO

I figured the Cards would go for one of the high upside arms in the first, like Guerrieri or Norris. When they went with Wong, I figured they passed on both of them to go with signability picks. But then they took Tilson in the 2nd, who will take a decent overslot bonus to pry away from college. They took zero impact talent and aren’t really going to be saving a ton of money. Bizarre.

by RynoRooter on Jun 13, 2025 11:29 AM EDT reply actions

Not a Huge Fan of This Draft Either

Kolten Wong in the 1st round was fine. He will be a .300, 10-15 HR, 10-15 SB player. Dustin Pedroia is his upside and he isn’t far from it. Calling him a non impact talent is crazy. Cardinal fans will love having this guy as a core player at 2B for 8+ years.

Charlie Tilson in the 2nd round I was also fine with. Although raw HS athletes RARELY turn out to be good major leaguers, I like it when combined with a safe bet in Wong. Tilson also isn’t extremely raw. His bat has a little polish to it.

I’m not a fan at all of McElroy and Peoples in the 3rd and 4th round. Why continue to gamble on raw, HS athletes with high picks? You can find players like these in the 7th-10th rounds. Lance Jeffries is an example. I like Jeffries as much as I do Peoples, who most didn’t have as top 5 round talent.

There is a myth going around that the Cardinals needed speedy athletes in their system. They didn’t…at least not THIS badly. They just took Nick Longmire, Anthony Bryant and Reggie Williams in the top 15 rounds last year and they have guys like Virgil Hill, Ronny Gil, Steven Ramos and Cesar Valera also in the lower minors. There is no need to stock up on guys who bust at the highest rate. Charlie Tilson, Nick Martini and Lance Jeffries was more than enough.

Also, Sam Gaviglio isn’t that good. Maybe you saw him in the Super Regional against Vanderbilt but these guys are a dime a dozen. At best he is the former Cardinal reliever Brad Thompson…a guy with good but not great stuff but he’d be really good if he had 3-5 mph on all of his pitches. More than likely he is just another PJ Walters.

by UncleBuck44 on Jun 13, 2025 8:55 PM EDT reply actions

Wong

I think you are a little too high on Wong. As Pedroia might be his ceiling (and thats questionable) it is more likely he will be a slightly above avg overall player at a premium position. Will he be better than Skip? Absolutely. But will he contend for all-star votes…highly unlikely. He might be a .300 and might his 10-12HRs but you won’t see him steal 10-15 bags…his speed is not that good. He is a smart baserunner so you will see him take an extra base when he can and always play the game the right way and hard. He will not hurt you on D but he won’t wow you either. He is a fine prospect…but when you have some of the extremely high upside arms available with that pick you have to jump on them IMO. There are at least 3-5 arms that are #2/#1 type starters and those don’t grow on trees. Like I continuously say….its not that I don’t like Wong or think he will be a bust….I just didn’t like the pick with so many other talented players available.

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by JDizzidy on Jun 13, 2025 9:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Wong's Speed

He’d probably grade out as average to a tick above average in the speed department. He could easily swipe 10-15 bags with his speed and his baserunning instincts.

And I do think a 2nd baseman that hits .300 with 10-15 HRs and 10-15 SBs can get a lot of All-Star votes as long as he is consistently putting up those numbers and in the voter’s minds.

IMO, Wong is the best bet to hit .300 in this draft class. The kid can hit and scouts always note surprising power and good enough speed.

You’ll love having this kid at 2B. He’ll put a stop to the revolving door we’ve had there since Fernando Vina.

I would have taken Guerrieri but Wong is faaaar from a bad pick(I know many who have said he is). This kid will be a major leaguer and a good one at that.

by UncleBuck44 on Jun 13, 2025 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Wong

I agree he could be a staple at 2B for the Cards but my whole point was with so many upside arms still around (Guerrieri, Norris, Stephenson, Meyer and Owens to name a few) I am disappointed with our pick. I continuously say I like Wong…just don’t love him like I would have any of those arms or Josh Bell if we were fairly confident we could sign him (which I think will happen for $3.5-4.5M). Wong will be a fine 2B and he will probably be a solid #2 hole hitter (to me this is where he projects the best as he does many things well including using the whole field). But that doesn’t mean I am not disappointed because of who we let pass.

BTW - I still see more of a 7-10 SB guy. Still if he can hit around .300 with an OBP of .360+ and 10-12 HR’s and hopefully 30+ doubles then I would be very happy. But that is a ceiling to me.

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by JDizzidy on Jun 13, 2025 11:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Kolten Wong

Where are you getting that kind of ceiling from?

That is insane.

Albert Pujols is a god, and you my friend should be doing no less than groveling at his feet.

by CoolCat23 on Jun 13, 2025 9:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Wong

What? .300, 10-15 HR, 10-15 SB?

.300 hitter: Comes from him being an outstanding hitter. He hit .341 in the Cape Cod league last summer. I’d imagine no one complains about this. The kid can hit.

10-15 HR: Most will just look at his frame and say no way but many scouts say he has surprisingly decent power. 15 MAY be high but 10 HRs isn’t a stretch at all.

10-15 SB: Its not that hard to steal 10-15 bases in the majors. Especially if you reach base as much as Wong is likely to and aren’t a snail. Wong’s speed isn’t plus but it is certainly average and some might say a tick above average. He also combines that with very good instincts on the bases.

Dustin Pedroia’s average season: .300, 15 HR, 18 SB. He gets 47 2Bs a year but take a look at the left field wall in Fenway Park.
Pedroia has 115 2Bs in 1381 PAs in his career at Fenway vs. 65 in the exact same amount of PA on the road. That’s the Green Monster at work right there.

There is nothing insane about saying Wong’s ceiling is a Pedroia type hitter. His bat is the reason he was rated as a 1st round pick in a great draft all year long. The kid is going to hit.

by UncleBuck44 on Jun 13, 2025 10:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Baseball America

Says Wong should hit 10-15 HR a year as a pro. So I guess I’m not too far off on that one.

by UncleBuck44 on Jun 13, 2025 10:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Ceiling

That is a legit ceiling for Wong on the hitting side (except I don’t see quite that many SB’s). But we are talking ceiling…many players never hit their ceiling so just keep that in mind.

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by JDizzidy on Jun 13, 2025 11:06 PM EDT up reply actions

re: Gaviglio

Let’s look at all the 5th round picks since 1990 that have 10 WAR or more:
Javier Vazquez
Brad Penny
Joe Crede
Michael Young
Aubrey Huff
Ryan Howard
Ray Durham
Bret Boone

So that is eight produtive players in lets say a 16 year span (lets just throw away a handful of years for the newer guys). So that is once every other year there is a productive 5th round pick in the MLB draft.

Now, lets look at Sam Gaviglio:
2.58 GO/AO ratio
8.65 SO/9
2.46 BB/9

In the best conference in the college baseball. Those numbers are every bit as good (and better than some) as Cole, Gray, Jungman, Barnes, Bradley, Reed, Anderson who were all top 20 picks.

PG had Gaviglio ranked #117 and BA had him #172, the Cards picked him #170. Those publications are mostly scouting based. The pick was FAR from bad. In addition PG has his FB as 89-91 compared to BA 86-89. But that has tons of movement on it, not everything is about velocity. Will he be able to become the Webb/Lowe that you would dream upon him, probably not. But for a 5th round pick he seems like a pretty good chance to do something in the majors, which easily less than 5% do.

by bigboy1234 on Jun 14, 2025 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Best Conference in College Baseball?

That would be the SEC, without a doubt.

BTW, Gaviglio was mostly around 86 MPH in his start against Vanderbilt. He may have been a little tired but the 89-91 is likely incorrect.

And you’re right, velocity isn’t everything…but it is damn close. How many RHPs do you see having successful careers throwing 86-89? Not many. Even if the pitch has good but not great movement like Gaviglio’s does. Plus Gaviglio’s offspeed stuff isn’t good enough to get away with throwing that slow.

I don’t want to complain too much about a 5th round pick because, as you pointed out, these picks rarely turn out to be anything good. But I don’t see Gaviglio being anything more than a solid roster filler in the minors(from Low A to AAA). Maybe he has a few good years in the bullpen but that is a stretch in my eyes.

by UncleBuck44 on Jun 14, 2025 2:14 PM EDT reply actions