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My “way too early” top 50 prospects has Condon and Kuhn in the 8-12ish range, Maniscalco and Williamson in the low to mid 20s, Kennedy mid 20s, Ferraro mid-late 30s, and Montesa low 40s. I may need to adjust after I sort through everyone here mid season. I really like the value of Kennedy in the 4th round there as he came on this year.
It sort of looks like the Cards are looking to address the 3B pipeline with SS if they have to fall back to it.
Like Kennedy quite a bit a lot of upside with him
MLB recap sums him up pretty good
Kennedy may be the most improved player in NCAA Division I this season. After batting .209 as a freshman at Texas in 2024 and topping the Big 12 Conference with 79 strikeouts in 2025 at Kansas State, he had LASIK surgery. Better vision has led to increased frequency and quality of contact, allowing him to earn Cape Cod League all-star honors last summer and eclipse the Wildcats’ single-season home run record with 20 this spring. Now that he’s seeing the ball so much better, Kennedy is chasing fewer pitches and controlling the strike zone. While the right-handed hitter still will fish for some curveballs out of the zone, he has gone from being helpless against curves and sliders to crushing them. He’s pulling balls in the air much more frequently than in the past, hitting them harder and generating plus raw power seemingly with just a flick of his wrist. Kennedy offers plenty of athleticism to go with his improved offensive profile. He shows solid speed out of the batter’s box and even more quickness once he accelerates. A second baseman as a freshman and third baseman as a sophomore, he has upgraded his actions and lateral range at shortstop, where he displays solid arm strength.
I love the Kennedy pick. Guy couldn’t hit at all his first 2 years, has lasik eye surgery, and suddenly is smashing the balm making great swing decisions.
Havent had time to really assess anything after their first pick. Kuhns i think was a stretch. If thome was still on the board they should have taken him. Kuhns seems like a lot of work. You would think with all the college starting pitchers, they could have gotten someone who didnt get sent down to the bullpen at some point to get his stuff figured out. Ill go over things tonight but right now this draft isnt getting a high grade though im far from super knowedgeable. These things take a while to really know. Ill find out more from hopefully smarter people than me when the articles start coming out.
Ferraro sounds like a bit of a Gurevitch clone.
Except Gurevitch can play defense.
Overall, I like the draft so far. The only pick that I truly did not like was Montesa, as there were a lot of more valuable players on the board.
We shall see.
Draft Day 1 is in the books. Go to The Cardinal Nation for an introduction to all seven of Saturday’s newly-selected #stlcards:@TrevorCondon8, @KuhnsTegan, @RocManiscalco, @AndrewWGNF11, @montesa_dawson, @CadenFerraro11 and @kennedee27. https://t.co/pkPf0h0g1A pic.twitter.com/YG43PZhdpi
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) July 11, 2026
Say Rocco Maniscalco three times as fast as you can.
“I just want it on record that I would have drafted Rocco Maniscalco #1 overall in the MLB Draft. He’s going to be the best player from this class”
“I know it’s crazy to say but the smoothest switch hitting shortstop I’ve ever seen. He’s basically Carlos Beltran but plays shortstop”
These are quotes from Ben Upton on X
Just posted another major update to today's FREE #stlcards Draft Day 1 article. https://t.co/wz1kR4dhDK
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) July 12, 2026
What would be the expected time track for Condon to reach the majors if things go reasonably well?
2028 or 2029?
Well i went over what was said about these guys on the cardinal nation piece. Im gonna rank em from 1 to 7 based on my thoughts on what was said but as usual my opinion.
1. Andrew williamson. Just seems like a solid pick. Good defense, above avg speed, quick hands. Uncle played 15 seasons in mlb. Good outfielder. Has done well with wood bats. Some really good power but can hit to all fields. Has a slight hitch in swing only negative i see.
2. Tegan kuhns. Had a tough time deciding him 2 or 3 but stuck with 2. Solid pitcher, has potential to be a starter but needs a third pitch. Decent speed 98mph but avg wise prob closer to 94 or so. Was projected around 25 which i think his up n down year might have cost him but i think there is plenty of potential but will be a while.
3 Dee kennedy. Guy took off after having eye surgery. Good shortstop defense, decent arm. Hits well, can steal bases. Got some pop. I think this guy might be our standout in certain ways, at least potential is there.
4 Trevor condon. Highly touted high school outfielder. Hits great, great defense but all this is high school stuff. Lot of guys do this in high school so its obvious this is a pick of hopes n dreams that what you see in high school is what you will get in pros. We will see.
5. Rocco maniscalco. Great name. Short stop, switch hitter, plus defender, avg speed, very young, only 17 so lots of potential. Long time away.
6. Dawson montesa. Kind of a toss up who to pick here. Right handed pitcher, throws up to 98 but lacks control a lot. Does have 4 pitches but if you cant get them over the plate, doesnt matter. Did struggle coming from division 2 to west virginia. He was slotted a lot further down so is suggested as a money saving pick. I dont see him long term but if control can be fixed, who knows.
7. Caded ferraro. Apparently he played mostly outfield but is listed as first base. Which means defensively he pretty much is not good. Is a decent hitter but would need to greatly improve due to lack of defense to last long. Another guy slotted way down and seems to be a money pick. I really like williamson and kennedy esp given they played 4 years of college. Some will say they arent stand outs but at least i feel they can stand in. You might can put kuhns there but he has had some issues with getting hit hard. Condon to me is a question mark.I’ll take a stab at early grades on the picks, having a chance to sleep on it:
1-Trevor Condon, B. I *think* the Cards probably liked Grindlinger (so did I), but Mo swooped in and took him out from under us. Condon is a decent fall back in the hopes that you catch lightning in a bottle a la Corbin Carroll or PCA. He’s a long ways off, but he’ll work very hard to make it, and I think he eventually will.
1CB-Teegan Kuhns, A. I personally would have liked Dietz a little more, but they are sort of interchangeable. I like that Kuhns competes and isn’t just chucking it all over the place, as evidenced by the walk rate. I think the development team will really like what they have to work with in Kuhns.
2-Rocco Maniscalco, B+. An upside bet on a good athlete with the arm for the left side. Once again, he’s far away but you could see a starting SS/3B in 2030ish from this kid (and he’d only be 21 in 2030!).
2CB1-Andrew Williamson, B+. His profile isn’t crazy exciting to me, but he will hit for some power and perhaps the dev group will limit some of the exposure that his long swing brings. Lots of lefties in this draft.
2CB2-Dawson Montesa, C. A sleeper pick to save a few bucks? It seems that way. Not that he’s not worth taking at all, but it feels a long way from last year’s pick on this area (Franklin). He does have a lively arm, like so many in the draft, but it feels like a reliever pick. We will see, as I’ll be rooting for the WVU product.
3-Caden Ferraro. C+. Will he hit like Gurevitch to justify this pick? Yet another left handed bat. I do like the profile with the bat, but positionless baseball has such a narrow success rate. He should add another nice hitter to the Palm Beach lineup if they want him there this year.
4-Dee Kennedy, A. I really like this pick. If the LASIK boost is really all he needed, then we may have gotten the steal of the draft as he played like a first rounder this year. He looks like a left side defender and can hit, and hit with pop. I’ll likely rank him higher than two, maybe three of the guys drafted before him in my rankings.
Overall, A. I was a little lower on this haul but adding Kennedy at the end pushes it higher for me. Coming in, I was hoping for Grindlinger at 13 and Dietz or perhaps Flukey falling to 32. Getting Condon was not as exciting, but Trevor may well end up a good player. Kuhns has some intrigue as a guy who can already fill up the zone and compete. There’s left side defenders, CF, some power, and more needed pitching. It’s a good job so far and I’m looking forward to seeing how things go today. Will they have enough cash left to take a bet on one of the higher upside guys left out there?
I know people are saying Ferraro played OF at Texas Tech, but he really didn’t. He primarily played DH. He was brought up in a few of the BA podcasts, where they described his position as “hitter”.
Looking up his fielding stats this year, he had 26 putouts and 1 assist on the season.
He is basically Luken Baker with better swing decisions and worse defense.
But in the era of the DH, I don’t mind using a pick on him to save money (if that is what they are actually going to do).
I *think* the Cards probably liked Grindlinger (so did I), but Mo swooped in and took him out from under us.
Yeah, Grindlinger was linked to the Cardinals a lot, and you wonder if Mo had some organizational insight or chose him to spite the Cardinals.
but it feels a long way from last year’s pick on this area (Franklin).
I don’t know. Franklin was a failed college reliever who could throw 100 mph and had two pitches. Montesa is a failed college starter who can throw 98 mph and has four pitches.
. I *think* the Cards probably liked Grindlinger (so did I), but Mo swooped in and took him out from under us. Condon is a decent fall back in the hopes that you catch lightning in a
It sounds like they got the guy they wanted. Maybe they deked Mo.
For a Cardinals organization looking to add more athleticism throughout its farm system, Condon checked nearly every box.
Cardinals believe they found the perfect fit
The Cardinals were thrilled Condon remained available at No. 13. Director of scouting Randy Flores revealed the organization became so comfortable with Condon during the pre-draft process that they barely conducted a formal interview.“We just called him in, and we didn’t even interview him,” Flores said. “We just wanted 30 minutes to hang with him because we had already felt like we were at a good spot with getting to know who he was.”
Condon felt the same way.
“Coming into it, I felt like I had a great relationship with the Cardinals,” he said after being selected.
“I’m very happy to be a Cardinal. I have a great relationship with most of the staff down there. I’m excited to get to meet everybody behind the scenes.”
His confidence was equally evident when asked about the Cardinals’ decision.
“They made the right decision,” Condon said. “I’m so excited… Let me show you guys that when I get there.”
He’s basically Carlos Beltran but plays shortstop”
I played as a kid. There were always a guy or two like that when we were 17. Way out front. They looked like world beaters. When I was in high school there was this lefty named Greg Meyer in our HS league that we faced a lot. I was a good hitter but had zero chance of hitting this guy. He ended up drafted out of high school in an upper round. A couple years later I was watching The Cardinals affiliate game in St. Pete, Florida state League I guess, and he was the visiting team’s starter. He did OK but nothing dominant. Everyone else had caught up I guess. Anyway, I wish this teenager we drafted well.
I used outfield for farraro because the article i read questioned the cardinals slotting him as a first baseman because he played more outfield than first if he played any first at all. Im old school and i dont consider dh a position. But my guess is if he sticks around which i doubt thats what he will mostly be.
Condom should be a perfect fit. I’ll have my full analysis of our draft when I have time to dive into matters after the weekend.
Cardinals just picked up cal randall from ucla. I like this pick. Right handed pitcher, can hit triple digits. Was a reliever at college and projects to be so in majors. Solid pick i think.
The first day feels like a reasonable mix of high risk high ceiling, low risk high floor picks. Pool money strategy plays in and we don’t really know the thinking there or what will happen in day two. I am conflicted about what the overall approach should be given what the current situation is and what the team is trying to do. We can’t buy high end talent, so we are going to have to develop it or do without. On the other hand, how much of your resources do you risk when you are struggling to pay the rent.
The Cardinal Nation’s #stlcards Draft Day 2 coverage begins with the fifth round pick, UCLA RHR Cal Randall, with 15 more selections coming! (free) https://t.co/Sk8w9z1YPM pic.twitter.com/B69ZSG40sF
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) July 12, 2026
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