- This topic has 560 replies, 44 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 11 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
In the NFL and NBA at the very least, draft picks can and do help teams that year. It’s not so in MLB, where the payoff is years down the road. I’m split on whether draft picks should be allowed to be traded. It would make the draft more interesting, I think. Yet I do think some teams could game the system and others could really hurt their future by trading picks away.
My understanding is that MLB does not allow trading of draft picks to protect teams from themselves. The risk is mortgaging the future by clearing the decks of future picks. Yet other sports such as the NFL allow it and there are some very interesting trades as teams maneuver up or down in the draft.
I have never really understood the concept of “saving them from themselves”. An incompetent front office should pay the price for their actions. MLB turns a blind eye to teams like the A’s and others totally gutting their roster to the point of being embarrasing but oh my the horrors of trading a draft pick.
The history of the game of baseball is filled with rules designed to protect the owners from themselves.
Competitive Balance Tax (aka soft salary cap)
Draft bonus slotting
International signing caps
etc…The focus has primarily been at controlling the high end, not on the bottom feeders.
The problem with letting a bad front office (really, owner) hang themselves is that a franchise is ruined for its fans as well. I feel for the fans of the once-great A’s.
I can understand guardrails to try to prevent a few teams from gaining a huge competitive advantage but trying to prevent someone from making bad decisions seems futile.
While you cannot trade draft picks, you can trade minor leaguers.
Hockey is really the only other sport with a minor league development system.
I guess the NBA has the G League now, but its impact seems negligible.
All good points gents. Bad news though, I just saw the updated projected W/L records, and according to two of them, we are going to need something to talk about in a couple of months.
Fangraphs 71.6 – Last in the division by 12 games, can’t say I agree with the 12 games part
Baseball Referene – 71.8 – Last in the division, Pirates also under .500
PECOTA – 84.9 and actually winning the NLC, the series this weekend is a big one this earlyThose are all crap shoots of course, around .500 sounds about right to me at this point. It is officially a “rebuilding year” to say the least.
I don’t know if this is allowed to post another site, but I came across this article with different perspectives on several of the top picks.
My take away is I have no clue who I hope they take! I’m against taking any kid who projects as a 2B though. A high pick in 2024 and 2025 unfortunately could yield a couple of top tier SP’s or MOO bats.
https://futurestarsseries.com/2024-mlb-draft-top-prospects-400/
Yes, it is allowed to post links to other sites. What is not allowed is to copy other articles in their entirety.
When I read the profiles of some of these guys, I long for the days when the Cards took the fast moving, righty college arms that projected to be mid rotation starters…and they got just that. We could sure use some of the ol’ vanilla this time.
Smith sounds a lot like Zack Thompson and Cooper Hjerpe to me, so I’d be wary of picking him even if he’s available (sorry gscottar)
I long for the days when the Cards took the fast moving, righty college arms that projected to be mid rotation starters
The only one that I recall in the last 10 years or so that had reasonable success with the Cardinals was Michael Wacha.
McGreevy is an example of what you are wishing for, and they passed up a chance to choose Gavin Williams.
Since 2008, they drafted Lynn, Wacha, Gonzales, Weaver, Hudson all from the college ranks. Gonzales being the only lefty, of course. Each one of those guys provided something akin to the level of a mid rotation value for at least a year or two to the Cards, even if Weaver’s primary value was as trade fodder for Goldy and Gonzales for O’Neill.
We’d all be psyched if McGreevy or Thompson or Liberatore or Graceffo gave us anything close to what we got out of the majority of those guys (I’m talking results wise, not sabr-leaning here). They have all been solid average or above starters during a chunk of their careers. I’d love it if our system started churning those guys out again, as it would make life a lot easier with a dependable set of arms to not have to buy aging Lance Lynns or Kyle Gibsons at $10M+ each per year.
I’m not arguing that the Cardinals don’t need better pitching from their system.
But Lynn was drafted 16 years ago, Wacha 12.
Since then, the Cardinals have had plenty of opportunity to draft pitchers with upside, and instead go the “safe” route. The “safe” route has gotten them where they are today.
Smith sounds a lot like Zack Thompson and Cooper Hjerpe to me, so I’d be wary of picking him even if he’s available (sorry gscottar)
Fair comparison but I think Smith is a notch better than Thompson or Hjerpe. No way Smith would be available picking 19th or 22nd.
By the way I agree with drafting college pitchers. Actually I would go after college hitters as well. The high school route is just too hit or miss and we need more certainty.
It’s too bad we weren’t luckier in the draft lottery. If we had been picked third or fourth, Chase Burns would probably be available. He is exactly the pitcher we need. Hopefully there should be others. I saw a couple mock drafts where we pick
A lefty from Arkansas I think.The lefty you are thinking of is Hagen Smith.
You have to figure Charlie Condon & Travis Bazzana are going #1 & 2 in some order. Jack Caglianone will be another likely in the Top 7. Braden Montgomery another. Konnor Griffin another.
All of a sudden, it doesn’t seem unreasonable the Cardinals get one of the two top pitchers in the draft.
New BA mock has this:
7. Cardinals — Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
If it was me. My top 2 would be Caglianone and Kurtz. They give you the replacement for Goldschmidt at 1st in 2 to 3 years. Then I’d go Chase Burns. Hagen Smith control concerns me. Charlie Condon would have been perfect.
Those Ohio teams are in good shape. The Guardians are off to a great start and get the first pick to boot. The Reds are doing okay as well and get to pick at two.
Since the idea of the Cardinals taking Nick Kurtz came up in the Podcast (due to the BA mock draft), I will say that if the Cardinals were to take a 1B in the first round, I think it will be Jac Caglianone.
Caglianone put up 33 HRs last year, and he has 25 so far this year (compared to 17 for Nick Kurtz). Kurtz does have more doubles and seems less rigid in the field.
Caglianone’s exit velocities have been recorded as high as 115. He throws up to 100 mph on the mound (yes, he is also a pitcher, and there was one point where the Cardinals preferred players who had a fall-back) and sits in the upper 90’s.
He strikes out less than Kurtz does (14 so far this year, vs 24 for Kurtz).
Finally, Wake Forest plays in a band box. It is probably the most hitter-friendly ballpark in the ACC.
The player we need is Braden Montgomery.
Big, fast, switch-hitting outfielder with a cannon arm.
Turns 21 in two days. Plays for A&M and currently hitting .370 with a 1.400 OPS. 22 HR in 154 ABs. And get this: 41 BB with only 32 strikeouts.
Could be a game-changer.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.