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For that matter Arozarena and Garcia weren’t drafted either. They were signed as free agents so it is a bit misleading to only consider draftees in the developmental WAR chart.
If international players were included, it feels like the Cards would stay near the top of MLB in terms of WAR. With the international players included, it would likely reinforce what we already know – that they had the guys they needed to remain on top but they let the wrong ones go.
My whole point in bringing this up is that scouting and development do not seem to be the problem. I don’t think it was scouting’s call to focus on offense in recent drafts. I am assuming that was a bigger organizational decision, though I cannot verify.
I would agree with Brian. Scouting and development does not seem to be the problem. Areas of focus in recent drafts does appear to be a concern as well, but could be a result of where the Redbirds fall in the draft.
My bigger concern has been with the Front Office’s ability to identify Major League talent capable of contributing over several seasons. I recognize that any front office will have some misses. However, ownership has be be concerned with the approach when almost all of the signings do not work out. At some point, you need to step back and realize what you are doing is just not working and your need to change your approach.
The evaluation that goes into free agent signings has been disappointing at best over the past five to seven seasons. The organization has had some short-term wins, but no game changers over several seasons … Leake, Fowler, Cecil, Miller and Dickerson all fell short of expectations. Most of the pitchers acquired before the 2022 season are gone and the lone remaining player on the active roster cannot be considered a positive contributor (Matz, Naughton, Wittgren, McFarland, VerHagen and Brooks). It could be worse … the Cards pursued and lost out on Heyward and Price.
Oher areas that deserve re-evalution of contract extensions and what younger players to retain.
I agree that the Cards are among the best at turning minor league players into productive mlb players. The problem, as I see it, is a lack of star power. For the past 10-15 years (Mo era) the Cards have relied their organizational depth, augmented by a couple of stars acquired from other teams, to remain competitive. The Cards 2 best players were acquired by teams looking for salary relief & willing to accept 20 cents on the dollar in prospect quality vs quantity. Is that model sustainable moving forward? Once Goldy ages out, where will the Cards turn for impact talent? The A’s have nothing left, neither do the Rockies. Lots of pressure for Walker to become a star, not just a good player!!
You do need to keep it in perspective that the Cards are almost never picking in the top 15 players in the draft because of them being consistently good. Most of the superstars come in that top 15.
Just as an example, here are the top 18 names drafted from 2019 (we picked 19). Note that they are nearly all good MLB players now or high end Minor League prospects:
Adley Rutschman
Bobby Witt Jr
Andrew Vaughn
JJ Bleday
Riley Greene
CJ Abrams
Nick Lodolo
Josh Jung
Shea Langeliers
Hunter Bishop
Alek Manoah
Brett Baty
Keoni Cavaco (ok, they weren’t all hits)
Bryson Stott
Will Wilson
Corbin Carroll
Jackson Rutledge
Quinn PriesterThen at 19 we took Zack Thompson. You can look at every player from 19 on down through the first 3 rounds and you’ll only find about 3 real hits that have done well (yes, George Kirby was taken at 20 and Volpe at 30 so we had a chance). It’s just hard to strike it rich at the back end of round one. We couldn’t get any of those players above because they weren’t available to us. That’s a lot of potential superstars that we never had a chance to develop. And this is the area of the draft where maybe 70% of the superstars come from.
But hey, it looks like we’ll get a good shot next year.
Mark Feinsand wrote a piece and called it “match game”. He matched players that would make the best fit for the 20 “contending” teams. SIX were Cardinals: CLE-O’Neill BAL-Hicks BOS-Montgomery SEA-DeJong FLA-Goldschmidt SF-Flaherty. Unless the GM’s of these teams don’t agree its a moot article and just for fun. But just maybe he might have one right. Talk about giving fodder to the rumor mill.
Agree here re top 10 picks- the cardinals would have loved to have had johnathan india- anyone would- the fact that he even fell to where the reds got him is amazing to me.
Obviously mlb drafting is more of a crapshoot but you can’t convince me there aren’t certain higher probability prospects with higher floors that go top 10. Reds are benefitting- our model of trying to make the playoffs and roll the dice doesn’t help us draft wise.
Some Card’s fans are pleased with the streak we are on. But I got to tell you that I’m losing sleep over what Mozeliak might have in mind for the deadline.
I’m filing this under “be careful what you wish for”. Every GM in the league knows how much we need pitching, pitching, pitching and that Mo will be dealing out of desperation (which, of course, is his fault to begin with). This brings about some of his worst moves ever and I fear this scenario may have the same results.
I understand completely why you feel the way you do, Ny. I can only offer that the Cardinals are in a strong position in that at least a dozen teams want pitching right now. They should have some good offers to sort through.
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