Cardinals Sign Two Draft Picks, Two Free Agents

photo: Joe Freiday (Virginia Tech University)

St. Louis Cardinals press release

The St. Louis Cardinals announced today (Wednesday) that they have agreed to terms with four additional players with two from this month’s amateur draft.

Agreeing to terms today were third baseman from the University of Pittsburgh, Liam Sabino (35th round); third baseman from the University of California-Irvine, Cole Kreuter (36th round) and two non-drafted free agents, right-handed pitcher Jacob Sylvester out of Mid-America Nazarene and catcher Joe Freiday, Jr., from Virginia Tech.

Liam Sabino

Today’s announcement brings the total number of 2018 draftees signed and/or agreed to terms to 36 players.  Six of the 41 draft picks remained unsigned, with three of the players still participating in the NCAA Division 1 College World Series, Texas Tech’s Steven Gingery (4th round) and North Carolina’s Brandon Riley (14th round) and Zack Gahagan (39th round).

Cole Kreuter


Brian Walton’s take

You may be wondering about the funny math above. If 36 of 41 picks are signed, how could six remain?

Well, I believe both 36 and six are incorrect, but 41 is right, at least!

In their prior release, which came out Sunday, the team noted they had signed 32 from the draft to that point, leaving nine unsigned. Add the two new signees from today noted above and the correct total of signed draftees is 34, with seven unsigned. Counting the names in the detail following the text in their release confirms this.

Over and above these numbers, the Cardinals have not acknowledged it, but there have been news stories stating that 15th rounder Mike Brettell has come to terms with the team. However, because he is awaiting a work visa (he is Canadian), the organization has not announced his signing.

Further, while 37th rounder Christian Caudle is counted among those signed, the catcher was almost immediately released after heart irregularities were found during his physical examination. So, yes, he was signed, but no, he is not going to be playing.

I had previously written about Sylvester for TCN members here. He joined the Johnson City Cardinals in time for Opening Day on Tuesday.

Jacob Sylvester

Freiday is likely slated to step in for the loss of Caudle behind the plate. The four-year senior at Virginia Tech was teammates there with 26th round pitcher Connor Coward.

Joe Freiday

Freiday is a big man at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds and hails from Lakeville, Mass. This season, the right-handed hitter had career bests in batting average (.250) and OBP (.338), but declined in slugging from .423 as a junior to .400. Freiday also dropped his strikeout percent from 32.3 in 2017 to 20.6 this spring.

At this point, the Cardinals have not announced the initial team destinations for the other three newest members of the organization – Sabino, Kreuter and Freiday.


For more

To see who has joined the organization and who has not, check out The Cardinal Nation’s newly-refreshed Roster Matrix.

Cardinals Organization Roster Matrix: 2018 Second Half and Short Season


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Brian Walton can be reached via email at brian@thecardinalnation.com. Follow Brian on Twitter.

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