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In typical 2023 fashion we actually dropped two spots.
#STLCards will pick No. 7 in the 2024 MLB Draft. It will be their highest pick since 1998 when they took JD Drew No. 5.
The Cards entered with the fifth-best odds of winning the top selection. However, they dropped back two spots.
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) December 5, 2023
Top 7 picks for the 2024 MLB Draft, per today’s Draft Lottery in Nashville at the MLB Winter Meetings:
1. CLE
2. CIN
3. COL
4. OAK
5. CWS
6. KC
7. #STLCards— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) December 5, 2023
I’m thinking they will grab a pitcher at #7. I haven’t looked who is a potential fit, but that just sounds like something the Cards would do.
It is incredibly disappointing. The difference between #1 and #7 is over 3 million dollars for the first pick and a significant chunk of change for picks after that. Even the difference between #5 and #7 is worth about a million dollars in slot money. Combine that with the loss of draft pick from the Gray signing and the punitive rules of the competitive balance pick allowing massive spenders like the Padres to get picks while St Louis is punished for getting the most out of their small market…and we’ve lost well over $3 million in slot money this year. For some context, that’s a Nolan Gorman, Jordan Walker or perhaps a Masyn Winn and Tink Hence that won’t be in the system.
So yes…it is very disappointing.
There was upside lost, but the draw is the draw. Nobody’s fault.
Under the old rules, which were based on prior year’s win percentage, the Cards would have drafted sixth.
The Cardinals disappoint all of us one last time in 2023. Goodness, can’t even benefit from sucking. This miserable year will end soon enough.
“Isn’t anyone going to mention how disappointing this is?”
Disappointing draft slot? Oh, rest assured that Royals, A’s, and White Sox fans are mentioning it right now. And will be until the draft. 😉
I admit I naively didn’t realize this would also determine the total draft budget allocation per team. In that regard, yes this is grossly absurd and unfair — especially to the aforementioned trio of 100-loss also-rans.
I guess I am willing to endure more anguish if it means less misfortune next season.The idea of balance is terrifying in the context of our years of good fortune. I can’t take 15 years of this.
The slot values are scaled and pre-set. All they needed to know is which team to put in each spot. I don’t know how they could have broken that model. It wouldn’t make sense for the team with the top pick to not have the most money, too.
All is not lost. Although the Cards will not have the chance to draft the next Mark Appel, the real one is available, having been released by Phillies after experiencing elbow trouble in ST 2023.
After many years of futility as a starter, Appel moved to relief and had a good 2022 in AAA and MLB. In the minors, 40 IP, 3.15 ERA, 1.250 WHIP, he then was called up to MLB and did 10.1 IP, 1.74 ERA, 1.161.
He is 32, so he’d be a kid on our pitching staff, and would be team controllable until retirement. I read that he had arthroscopic elbow surgery in April 2023, so he might be ready in time for ST.
Mark Appel
32
“The Kid”
Mark the kid does not have quite the same je ne sais quoi as Billy the kid though.
25 is spot on IMO but it’s almost continuous punishment for MO and this crap FO doing such a poor job as the team was unwatchable last year. I am excited to get a pick this high so will be hawking the college game and HS info more than ever in 24. They cannot screw this high pick up.
Here’s Pipeline’s first full 2024 mock draft
December 14th, 2023
Jim Callis7. Cardinals: Josh Hartle, LHP, Wake Forest (No. 13)
As a slam-dunk starter who shouldn’t need much time in the Minors, Hartle is the favorite to be the first pitcher selected.Well here we go again with the mock draft selections. This one is a bit early but it would be wonderful to have Hartle available at #7. Remember this name.
Hartle is the most Cardinalsy guy available. High floor, very good chance to be a ML starter. Ceiling is probably a #2.
I like Smith, LHP, Arkansas, but the Cardinals would try to smooth out his motion and who knows how that would go.
There are a couple outfielders that are interesting, but with the 7th pick, there will stil be high end pitchers to be had.
I’m hardly a draft expert, especially this far removed from the draft, but any time a players floor is touted more than thier ceiling, it’s a safe bet to say that player is likely to become a Cardinal!! I just hope that the last two years worth of embarrassingly conservative draft picks is eschewed for a more aggressive approach, now that they are armed with a higher pick each round. I’m not expecting a Padres-like draft filled with upside, but maybe we’ll see a high school player drafted for the first time in a couple of years! Crazy notion, huh?? 🤣
Other high end risky picks (aka high schoolers) more recently including Walker and Winn seem to have paid off. Maybe Hence, too. Before them Gorman looks good, and Carlson hasn’t been terrible.
But in the three drafts since 2020 they have gone conservative (college) early. None of them have reached the levels of Walker and crew in the national rankings, at least yet.
How often do you swing for the fences, knowing the odds of success are probably diminished?
For 2023 and 2024, taking that risk in the first round may be even tougher since they forfeited their second rounder both years. For that reason, I expect a safe pick in the first round in 2024.
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