My goal is to get a better idea of the big picture as to how the systems compare in terms of draft results, as well as how a good or bad draft class affects a system, the overall impact of the draft on the baseball talent pool and the circuitous ways in which draft picks are used to bolster a system for which they may never even play. This project is just a first step. I intend to expand on this information over time (including a later revisit of the 2018 class and the addition of the 2019 class next offseason) and I will share my findings as I do so.
NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Historical Draft Results from 1998 through 2017 (TO DATE)
Drafted 939 | Signed 742 | Pitchers Signed 385 | Position Players Signed 357
Total WAR 502.4
Total Players to MLB 122
Note: The following players are listed at the position at which they were originally drafted.
1998 | 7 to MLB | WAR 66.6 | High WAR 44.9, OF J.D. Drew, 1st rd
1999 | 8 to MLB | WAR 133.6 | High WAR 100.0, 3B Albert Pujols, 13th rd
2000 | 5 to MLB | WAR 39.4 | High WAR 38.9, C Yadier Molina, 4th rd
2001 | 6 to MLB | WAR 33.0 | High WAR 35.0, RHP Dan Harren, 2nd rd
2002 | 4 to MLB | WAR 3.3 | High WAR 2.4, RHP Kyle McClellan, 25th rd
2003 | 7 to MLB | WAR 29.1 | High WAR 15.1, SS Brendan Ryan, 7th rd
2004 | 4 to MLB | WAR (2.2) | High WAR 0.4, 2B Jarrett Hoffpauir, 6th rd
2005 | 6 to MLB | WAR 28.3 | High WAR 19.8, OF Colby Rasmus, 1st rd
2006 | 11 to MLB | WAR 50.5 | High WAR 14.0, OF John Jay, 2nd rd
2007 | 11 to MLB | WAR (3.0) | High WAR 1.9, 3B Daniel Descalso, 3rd rd
2008 | 9 to MLB | WAR 20.9 | High WAR 14.7, RHP Lance Lynn, 1st rd
2009 | 10 to MLB | WAR 51.3 | High WAR 25.9, 3B Matt Carpenter, 13th rd
2010 | 9 to MLB | WAR 3.7 | High WAR 3.3, SS Greg Garcia, 7th rd
2011 | 6 to MLB | WAR 14.8 | High WAR 10.9, 2B Kolton Wong, 1st rd
2012 | 8 to MLB | WAR 16.8 | High WAR 7.3, 3B Stephen Piscotty, 1st rd
2013 | 3 to MLB | WAR 2.9 | High WAR 2.4, LHP Marco Gonzalez, 1st rd
2014 | 4 to MLB | WAR 2.2 | High WAR 2.3, RHP Jack Flaherty, 1st rd
2015 | 3 to MLB | WAR 10.7 | High WAR 6.5, 3B Paul DeJong, 4th rd
2016 | 1 to MLB | WAR 0.5 | High WAR 0.5, RHP Dakota Hudson, 1st rd
2017 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A
The highest WAR to date (BY FAR!!) is that of 1B/DH Albert Pujols (1999, 13th round, 100.0 WAR) which, in turn, drives the high total WAR for 1999 as well. Seven other players signed by the Cards that year made it to the bigs, but only OF Coco Crisp (7th round, 28.5 WAR) made a really significant contribution to the total WAR for that year's draft class. Crisp, however, never played for the Cardinals, having been dealt to Cleveland in 2002 in return for one final season of LHP Chuck Finley in St. Louis. Five of the other six played for St. Louis for varying amounts of time with OF Chris Duncan (1st round, 2.8 WAR) the only of the non-Pujols seven to earn a World Series ring with the Cardinals in 2006. But obviously Pujols was the biggest contributor from that draft class and spent his most productive years with the Cardinals, compiling a 86.6 WAR with that team before signing with the Angels as a free agent in December 2011. Named National League Rookie of the Year in 2001, Pujols went on to make nine All-Star appearances as a Cardinal as well as earning six Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves and World Series rings in 2006 and 2011. He was also named National League MVP in 2005, 2008 and 2009. Not bad for a 13th rounder.
2018 DRAFT
41 Drafted | 38 Signed | 18 Pitchers | 20 Position Players
34 College | 34 Signed | 17 Pitchers | 17 Position Players
2 JC/CC | 1 Signed | 1 Pitcher | 0 Position Players
5 HS/NS | 3 Signed | 0 Pitchers | 3 Position Players
Notable: The Cardinals received one additional draft pick for Competitive Balance (Round A). They also forfeited their second round pick as a result of signing free agent RHP Greg Holland, but received a supplemental second round pick as compensation for losing free agent RHP Lance Lynn to the Twins. St. Louis signed all of their first 29 picks and 38 of 41 picks. However, 37th round pick college C Christian Caudle was reported to have signed, but was immediately released when his physical showed heart irregularities.
PITCHERS
Of the 18 pitchers signed (14 RHP, 4 LHP), all but one (college lefty Steven Gingery) logged at least some playing time. One player was promoted beyond the Short Season A* level (although that consisted of only one inning at Advanced A) and two debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Cardinals, one as a Top 10 prospect. Unfortunately, that Top 10 prospect will be sitting out 50 games in 2019 (see below). Three of the Cardinal's lower round picks were released in December (RHP Troy Montemayor, 25th round; RHP Ty Cohen, 31st round; and RHP Chris Rivera, 33rd round).
Top Prospects
🔟 RHP Griffin Roberts, 1st round, Wake Forest University, A+
9.2 IP | 8 G / 2 GS | 5.59 ERA | 1.034 | 4 BB : 13 K
(Suspended 50 games for failing a second test for a drug of abuse)
LHP Steven Gingery, 4th round, Texas Tech, DNP
Gingery had Tommy John surgery in March 2018
🔟 Top 10 Prospect
Noteworthy Debut
RHP Michael Baird, 23rd round, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, SSA
44.2 IP | 12 G / 4 GS | 1.61 ERA | 0.739 WHIP | 5 BB : 44 K
In total, the Cardinals 2018 Draft pitchers combined for a 4.03 ERA and a 1.304 WHIP over 618.1 innings as compared to the 3.67 ERA and 1.299 WHIP (average of 376.2 innings per affiliate) compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.
POSITION PLAYERS
With the exception of Caudle (see above), all remaining 19 position players signed (2 1B, 4 2B, 3 3B, 2 SS, 5 OF, 3 C) logged at least some playing time. Six players were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level (four to Full Season A and two to Advanced A). Two of the position players debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Cardinals, one as a Top 10 prospect.
Top Prospects
🔟 3B Nolan Gorman (L/R), 1st round, Sandra Day O'Connor HS (AZ), A
63 G | .291/.380/.570/.949 | 34 BB : 76 K | 13 2B / 3B / 17 HR
(Gorman led the entire 2018 Draft class in home runs)
1B Luken Baker (R/R), 2nd round, Texas Christian University, A
45 G | .319/.386/.460/.846 | 19 BB : 35 K
Noteworthy Debut
OF Justin Toerner (L/L), 28th round, California State University Northridge, A+
67 G | .312/.410/.385/.795 | 34 BB : 45 K
In total, the Cardinals 2018 Draft position players combined to hit .260/.353/.392/.745 as compared to .261/.349/.386/.735 batting line compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.
Rk = Rookie
SSA = Short Season A
A = Full Season A
A+ = Full Season A Advanced
GENERAL NOTES: Information was obtained from Baseball-Reference and the MLB Draft History site. The occasional discrepancy in historical information was resolved to the best of my ability by delving into the player information available on B-R. On the historical information, the player position in the totals reflects the position at which the player was drafted (and not any subsequent change of position). On the 2018 information, the player position reflects the primary position played in 2018 for all players who were signed and the position at which the player was drafted for those who did not sign. Prospect listings on MLB Pipeline were as of late December and may not reflect any subsequent changes to that site.
PREVIOUSLY
NL EAST
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
NL East 2018 Draft Summary
NL CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
COMING NEXT
NL Central 2018 Draft Summary
PREVIOUSLY
NL EAST
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
NL East 2018 Draft Summary
NL CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
COMING NEXT
NL Central 2018 Draft Summary
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