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Where to place the #stlcards’ draft class into The Cardinal Nation’s Top 50 Prospect List led to a lot of discussion by @kyler416 and me. Our new rankings are free, but to see our individual votes and read our detailed commentary, please subscribe. https://t.co/XJlMl5oRGX pic.twitter.com/Zxn2ZObmzS
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) July 21, 2026
Derrick Goold wrote that Maniscalco signed an over slot deal, but I don’t have a PD subscription so I don’t know the number.
I didn’t know Horn wasn’t signed. Does he have much leverage? His last 2 years went from ecvellent results to terrible.
Unless Horn gets more than $150K, the Cards have spent 99.78% of their slot budget. Apparently they’re not going over 100% for the second straight year. They could spend $867K more without significant penalty.
Based on reported numbers ($3,200,000 for Maniscalco and $501,300 for Randall), the Cards will either spend under the pool amount again (by $36,900) or could sign Horn for $186,900 or less to stay under. They would have up to $867,515 to spend, so either Freshcorn or Ritchie could get about $1.02M if all parties were so inclined.
It would seem likely that Horn would get slot or under. Maybe he and his agent are being underwhelmed by the Cards offer. I was also surprised that Schaefer, a graduate student, would get slot value.
I was also surprised that Schaefer, a graduate student, would get slot value.
The Braves are ruthless when it comes to senior signs and grad students. They used to give them $10k. Now they are giving them $500.
Talk about being penny wise & pound foolish. In the grand scheme of things, what’s $800,000 to the Cards if it means being able to be more aggressive in the draft, perhaps taking another top 100 prospect or a couple of mid-high upside high school kids?
Also, I’m stunned that Rocco got so much! He’s getting more than most of the guys taken 15-20 spots ahead of him. Did the Cards float him down to their slot? If they wanted him that badly & were unsure if he’d be there in the 50’s, why not take him at 32? In all that I read prior to the draft, Rocco’s stock was falling & he was drafted roughly where he was supposed to go. The fact that he could leverage that & get so much money over slot is impressive work by his agents!
In looking at the picks made later in the draft, while they’re surely not as low-celling as typical picks from the Mo regime, they clearly leveraged resources for a single player, bypassing higher upside players along the way.
A team that won’t pay for high-end free agents has to find stars homegrown. The best way to do that, at an affordable price, is to swing big in the draft (as many times as your budget will allow). Love what they did on Day #1, but feel like there was meat left on the bone…about $800,000 worth on Day #2.
Cardinals just announced the signing of their draft picks and UDFAs. Horn was on the list of guys signed. Still haven’t seen an amount for him.
I know that’s just the way the system works.
But, for me, handing over 1M$ +++++
to some teen or twenty something kid is still mind boggling. Not all of these kids will benefit from the money. But at least they’ll have a tale to tell.Glad Maniscalco and Randall are signed for my own selfish reasons. And I hope they are successful no matter what.
BA looked at the draft and noticed the Cardinals drafted the shortest average pitchers. I noticed it last year and others did too looking at the player heights, but I had not noticed it this year.
12 pitchers:
5’11 = 1 (Horn)
6’0 = 1 (Freshcorn will not sign)
6’1 – 3
6’2 – 2
6’3 – 4
6’4 – 1So, one guy out of 11 to sign is under 6’1. Is that concerning?
For a recap of the #stlcards 2026 draft class signings, including bonuses and cap utilization, check out this free article at The Cardinal Nation. https://t.co/N9ywJTjI6o pic.twitter.com/hHG70W7b4x
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) July 22, 2026
Good question Brian. I just read their summary data and they listed in average the Cardinals as the shortest. Maybe it isn’t as much this year they targeted undersized pitchers, but instead they didn’t target large pitchers. Either way, their pitcher drafted height was the shortest, but height at least isn’t a good indicator of potential either.
Manalscalco was way overpaid. Randall was underpaid. All my opinions obviously and based on different scouting reports on them. Randall is thought of as a player that could contribute now at the mlb level, that kind of talent should get paid. Manalscalco is very young and has a lot of holes in his swing. So basically we are paying on hope and prob to keep him from going to college being players there get paid now for some reason. The hope thing still alive in cardinal management practice.
Sooner asked:
Is there a source to see videos of our draftees other than X. I just don’t do social media
For reference, there are multiple videos for each draftee in the two free draft day articles on our front page. One stop shopping.
1982 willie – I get your real world logic about what’s fair to pay a teen or twenty something kid who still teases his sister and gets reprimanded by his mom for not keeping his room clean. But I don’t feel a bit apologetic about giving this kid, or any of these kids for that matter, only a half million bucks.
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