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Looking at an earlier portion of this thread I was left with the impression that the Cardinals were picking from the 7 dwarfs…That’s okay, Hack wilson was 5-6 and ran the bases on tiny little footies.
Just updated to include all eight #STLCards picks today. Read about and see video of draftees, including @andrewdutkanych, @cademcgee12, @bryce_madron (p) with more to come at The Cardinal Nation! https://t.co/oe50lXuBSY pic.twitter.com/rl1RmZbqva
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) July 15, 2024
Worth remembering, the Cardinals forfeited approx. $2.1mm of additional slot money (and the associated high 2nd round pick) to sign Gray. Their total bonus pool is $10.2mm (plus an additional 5% they can go over without penalty). If Wetherholt signs for an amount meaningfully over the $6.8mm slot, things start to get a little tight with the rest of the pool.
He’s a college SS, which is not the same as a MLB SS. We will have to see what he looks like. Won’t be able to tell much until he’s in AAA playing against big kids.
bccran, do you have the current trade values for Walker, Gorman and Burleson? If not, maybe somebody else has them. TIA. Also, I, too, am curious if the Wetherholt selection makes Gorman more expendable. Maybe the Cardinals brass are getting weary of all the strikeouts. I know, I am. #8 in the lineup is a good place for him, right now.
Well, that’s true of practically any college player making the transition to professional baseball. I’m simply curious as to why they thought it wise to snag another middle IF’er.
1TD, they went for the best player available rather than perceived need. Wetherholt was the best player on the board when they picked, and the fact that he was a middle infielder was secondary. I think he is a great selection.
I do understand the idea with the injured guys. Get them cheap and hope 1 pans out. Also, I don’t mind a few more college organizational fillers. Even if they don’t pan out, they may help the teams win more than some of these kids who are athletic but just can’t hit. I really feel like prospects develop better when they are enjoying the ride.
They’ve done a pretty good job so far, with the financial limitations that they have. For instance, let’s look at the OPS of the position players drafted so far.
Wetherholt – 1.061 (8 HR in only 124 AB)
Campos – 1.071 (11 HR in 236 AB)
Kross – 1.076 (19 HR in 221 AB)
McGee – 1.070 (15 HR in 188 AB)
Madron – 1.046 (12 HR in 211 AB)That’s pretty strong.
All the pitchers drafted average more than a K per inning.
Holiday’s stats are especially nice. Struck out 128 in 113 innings while only walking 19. BAA of .199.I think it would be great if one of those catchers could develop as a position player and still catch a couple times a week so that he could serve as a third catcher. I just say this because the scouting report on each is not positive on their defense. Sort of a poor man’s Dalton Varsho. Could be useful to be called up for 27th man for a doubleheader.
If Edman comes all the way back, I’m okay with letting him play 2B in 2025, and trading Gorman for a high ceiling pitcher over the 2024-2025 offseason. Every now and then, Gorman finds his groove and shows his immense offensive potential. But all those strikeouts make me willing to trade him for the right pitcher. Also, his defense is impressive at times, but there are plays that a really good defensive second baseman, like Tommy Edman, would make that Gorman doesn’t make. Trade Gorman, but there’s a lot of risk because of his potential, so just make sure you get something back with the same potential.
FWIW, Pedro Martinez is listed at 5’11, and incidentally, Tink Hence is now listed at 6’1. I’m pretty sure that Hence was originally listed by Baseball Reference at 5’10.
This is one weird draft. It looks like they’re going to save as much money as they can in order to sign Wetherholt, Dutkanych, and Findlay. It will take extra money to sign Wetherholt, presumably, because Wetherholt knows he can get it if he waits. It will take extra money to sign Dutkanych because he knows that if he comes all the way back from TJ surgery, then pitches another year and shows he’s healthy, he knows he can get more money. The same goes for Jack Findlay who also had TJ surgery. We’ll have to wait and see what actually happens.
Well, if they chose the best baseball player available when it came their turn, I’d say they had a good day.
The 11th round is often where teams get aggressive & draft a HS player or other upside play & then go over slot. We’ll see if that happens tomorrow. If not, it’s fair to wonder is Weatherholt worth punting on the other 18 rounds the draft vs. drafting someone like Montgomery (at slot( & then being able to be more aggressive throught the rest of the draft?? My working theory, completely unsubstantiated, is that the Nationals, armed with the extra 2.5 million in pool money from their trade with KC, were floating Weatherholt down to them.
The lack of a second round pick and the pool seems like it really took the wind out of the second day. I had imagined a more exciting crop picking near the front of each round. I get the money aspect, but I feel disappointed,
The issue was they apparently promised Wetherholt way above slot for him to tell other teams his bonus demands and had to take savings everywhere else to make that happen.
As for the loss of the second round pick – they accomplished their goal of becoming a wild card team!!!
Alluding to a Ted Simmons comp that is a topic of another thread, this kid Josh Kross we drafted looks the part. Hitting first prep catcher, switch-hitter from the upper Midwest.
Man, almost a Simmons clone. Teddy was from Michigan and this guy is from Ohio.
Simmons never went to college, bc. He was playing baseball games in the Big Leagues when he was 18 years old.
Yeah, Teddy grew up in Southfield, MI. I worked with a guy back in the late ‘70s who was from Southfield, and Simmons was a family friend – Simmons mostly knew this guy’s older brother.
That guy told me a great story about Simmons. He said they would play at a lot in their neighborhood that was bordered by two streets in the outfield area. He said as teenagers, Simmons was the only kid who could hit a ball onto the street both left handed and right handed.
Sorry, I know Ted, but I was mixing him up with Matheny, who was from Ohio and played at U. of Michigan.
I hadn’t remebered where Simmons grew up, but knew he played in his firt Big League game at an age which a lot of people are still in HS. As far as never going to college, I’d say there’s a good chance I’m wrong about that. He probably received some sort of college education either during or after his Big League career was over.
Up thread someone guessed he will open at Peoria in August.
In my mind, it would make sense to start him with PB so they can see him in game action there at the complex for evaluation purposes. But then again, if it is true they are dumping $8 million of the $10+ pool on him, then they may act like he’s the next Jackson Holiday and beam him up to the upper levels. Pushing him straight up until he hits a wall, then back off, in other words.
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