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If they choose to, yes, teams can go to 105% without significant penalty. However, in 2025 for the first time in a long time, the Cardinals stayed just under 100%.
Cardinals Spend Just Under 100% of their Draft Pool Allocation
It would be nice to see the Cards draft this guy this year although taking another catcher might be a stretch.
Arkansas has erupted for an 8-run eighth to go up 12-4 over Missouri State.
Ryder Helfrick hit this one 361 feet. TJ Pompey added a 406-foot homer a couple of ABs later. pic.twitter.com/HtGNloQ1Qz
— Matt Jones (@ByMattJones) April 22, 2026
I want Helfrick in the Redbird fold. Draft him and then we can dangle Pozo and Jimmy Lee Crooks out as trade bait.
ESPN has the Cardinals taking a prep OF/LHP in the first round
The 13 draft spot likely means we miss out on some of the guys I really like, but maybe there is a shot one of them makes it to 13. I don’t like this draft class as much at the top though.
There are rumors in the industry by scouts is that college bats have modified to be even hotter so it makes it hard to eval hitters this year. The college pitching group is horrible beyond Jackson Flora. High school pitchers are just a no for me unless they look like a generational talent.
Here are my top guys who I like and I am hoping one of them makes it to 13
1. Roch Cholowsky – this guy feels like he will be quick to the majors and with his glove he will be a above average regular.
2. Grady Emerson – probably has the highest ceiling and may make me regret not having him #1.
3. Eric Booth Jr – pure athlete who has power in his bat and obvious chance to stick in CF
4. AJ Gracia – I really like Gracia’s combo of power potential and hit tool with a decent chance of sticking in CF
5. Drew Burress – guy is a performer but I hope the tools live up as college stats don’t matter at the end of the day
6. Jackson Flora – best SP in the class
7. Tyler Spangler – He has been injured this spring but the tools he does have seem really interesting. Good contact skills with power projection as he fills outMaybe Burress is there at 13 and Spangler has the best odds but the rest will be gone. Spangler to me is the best opportunity to get a high upside talented guy and I take that shot but plenty will change between now and July. I also haven’t gotten to know all the guys in the class and there will be high school SS who rocket up the board in show cases that will go in the Cardinals range.
The Cards will get someone with some potential at 13, for sure. But just like every year, there will be guys at their other slots who could turn into MLB players. That’ll be the key for them. They need a 2020-like draft where they get multiple starting caliber players out of the group of 6 in the first 86 picks. It’s fairly exciting from a prospect watching standpoint to know that there’s a good shot that we collect 5 or 6 more “instant” top 50 prospects in July’s draft.
Keith Law’s top 100 prospects in the draft is out in the athletic… just by going with that the Cardinals would get: (Likely will get none of these 5)
13) Hunter Dietz LHP Arkansas Univ.
32) Landon Thorne SS High school in Illinois
50) Taj Marchand SS Charleston SC High school
68) Coleman Borthwick P Florida High School
72) Ty Head OF NC State
86) Beau Peterson 3B High School in KansasHere are my top guys who I like and I am hoping one of them makes it to 13
1. Roch Cholowsky – this guy feels like he will be quick to the majors and with his glove he will be a above average regular.
2. Grady Emerson – probably has the highest ceiling and may make me regret not having him #1.
3. Eric Booth Jr – pure athlete who has power in his bat and obvious chance to stick in CF
4. AJ Gracia – I really like Gracia’s combo of power potential and hit tool with a decent chance of sticking in CF
5. Drew Burress – guy is a performer but I hope the tools live up as college stats don’t matter at the end of the day
6. Jackson Flora – best SP in the class
7. Tyler Spangler – He has been injured this spring but the tools he does have seem really interesting. Good contact skills with power projection as he fills outI don’t know why you are mentioning Cholowsky, who is projected to go 1-1 or Emerson, who is projected to go 1-2, in this conversation. Booth & Flora will also come off the board in the Top 6.
That leaves Gracia, Burress and Spangler as potentials, with Spangler the only one ranked low enough to realistically be on the board when the Cardinals draft. Burress may fall due to his size.
Gracia seems like a good fit, but if there is one outfielder I would like the Cardinals to draft based on hit tool, it is Logan Hughes out of Texas Tech, who will likely go in the second round. The knock on Hughes is that he never played outfield until college, so is not the best fielder, but the collegiate performance and loud exit velocities would be a great fit for a system lacking impact bats in the outfield.
HS shortstops, yeah, Spangler or Ebel.
Keith Law’s top 100 prospects in the draft is out in the athletic… just by going with that the Cardinals would get: (Likely will get none of these 5)
13) Hunter Dietz LHP Arkansas Univ.
According to MLB pipeline, Dietz has four pitches graded as a 60…He is only in the Cardinals range because he missed two years due to injury.
The folks at BA have stated there is not a lot of separation between players in the range of 8-32. So, I wonder if this would be a year to try an underslot deal with someone like Mason Edwards, who leads the NCAA in strikeouts by a wide margin, then stockpile savings to go after HS players later in the draft.
I don’t know why you are mentioning Cholowsky, who is projected to go 1-1 or Emerson, who is projected to go 1-2, in this conversation. Booth & Flora will also come off the board in the Top 6.
I’m just listing players in the whole class I like and not just who the Cards may get. I like to eval the players and make my own board for some of the 1st round. Started in 2024 and my eval was #1 JJ Wetherholt, #2 Bryce Rainier, #3 Konnor Griffin. 2025 was #1 Aiva Arquette, #2 Eli Willits, #3 Ethan Holliday.
The 2024 rankings I feel good about, but 2025 we will see as I don’t think Holliday will hit enough and didn’t at the time but thought the raw power would give him a big ceiling.
2026 I haven’t looked as deep yet, but the top 2 feels easy. I’ll make sure to give get enough evals that when the Cards do pick I have the person on my board I would take.
ESPN has Cole Carlton from ASU getting picked with latest mock draft. Interesting pick. We may be trying to corner the market on lefty pitching.
I maybe looking too long in the future, but beyond our possible 2026 draft picks, we might have the rookie of the year and a competitive balance post 2nd round pick. I know the rules may change, but I would also angle to acquire more competitive balance picks at our trade deadline. Just call them players or picks to be named later. If we deal Romero, Nootbaars, or May I hope we get a haul.
If it’s a college pitcher @ 13 have to think one or 2 of these will be available Dietz, Flukey, Carlon or Peterson….ESPN has Dietz going at 30.
If it’s a college bat some names may be Bell, Gracia , Curiel, Hacopian….would think you have to throw LeBron in here as well (had a down year and expectations were high), but if he could have came out last year he probably was a top 7 pick …Have seen some mentions of both Gracia and Curiel to St. Louis in some mocks at 13 that would make sense as both are OF’s
If it’s high school, I have no clue.
The Cardinals have such a large bonus pool and so many high picks that it’s really hard to fully project what they might do. I’m hopeful that we are debating the Top 50 this fall with at least 5 or 6 new faces meriting status.
.would think you have to throw LeBron in here as well (had a down year and expectations were high), but if he could have came out last year he probably was a top 7 pick
LeBron has had a down career at the plate. He has never performed well in conference. The BA guys say he has “about 70” grade on all other tools, but the hit tool means he will likely never be even average at the plate.
If it’s high school, I have no clue.
If Gio Rojas is not taken by the Pirates at 5, the Royals at 6 or the Braves at 9, he will likely be on the board at 13. The Orioles, A’s and Angels are out on him before the draft starts…
HS – the name I have seen most often is Jared Grindlinger, a LHP/OF from Southern California. I also saw one mock with Trevor Condon, an OF from GA. In one of their podcasts, BA mentioned Luke Williams, a SS from PA, linked to the Cardinals, but I did not get the sense that was at 13.
I prefer taking a pitcher like Flukey or Carlon, if one is still available, with Flukey being my first choice. Flukey reminds me of our own Uncle Charlie, Waino. I wanted us to take Doyle last year, which was a first.
I think I would prefer Gracia or Curiel at 13
And then a pitcher at 32, and hopefully a Mason Edwards (USC) or Dietz is there.But really it should be the Best Player Available at those spots
Think at some point they need an OF that can hit b/c …the minors seem a little shallow here…..though Peete has had a nice start at Peoria
How come the Peoria team is called the Chiefs? Every other Cardinal minor league affiliate is called Cardinals or Redbirds, so what’s the story with this team in Peoria? I can’t and won’t afford this oddball team any credibility with a name like, Chiefs…It’s almost as if they’re trying to appeal to fans in Atlanta, Cleveland or KC. In any case, it needs to be looked at, addressed, and put right…
1TD – Peoria has been the Chiefs for 30 or 40 years. I know they were the Chiefs when they were part of the Cubs organization. Must be a local thing.
Yes, it was to honor the local Peoria tribe. But they shifted the focus to fire chief instead of Indian chief about 20 years ago. The ownership is local, so they can name the team as they choose.
Yes, it was to honor the local Peoria tribe. But they shifted the focus to fire chief instead of Indian chief about 20 years ago. The ownership is local, so they can name the team as they choose.
There was a lot going on with Indian tribes back before they renamed the team. Some of might of had had to do with the closing of the burial pit at Dickson Mounds which had some ancestors of the Peoria tribe buried in it in the 1000-1200 AD about a decade or so earlier. I think the owners just didn’t want to have protests and decided to switch it up.
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