photo: Marcell Ozuna (Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports)
If it seemed to you like it has been a relatively busy off-season for the St. Louis Cardinals, it was – at least in terms of raw numbers of player movement.
On one hand, the club said goodbyes to 28 players who had been part of the organization in 2017. That was up three from the winter before.
At the other end of the pipeline, 33 players have entered the organization since the end of last season. One-third of them, 11 to be precise, are international teenagers, most likely set to intern in the Dominican Summer League, as the Cardinals expand their presence to two teams in the entry rookie-level circuit.
Of the 33 new recruits, 19 are pitchers with the other 14 being position players. 23 were free agents, six were trade acquisitions, the contracts of two were purchased and two joined the Cardinals via the December Rule 5 draft.
In the tables below, these new Cardinals are broken into pitchers and position player columns. The four horizontal groupings are based on their assignments – 40-man roster, minor league contracts with non-roster invitations to big league spring training camp, veteran minor league free agents and international free agents.
40-man roster (7)
| Pitchers | Thr | Acq | Position Players | Pos | Acq | ||
| 40-man (7) | Miles Mikolas | RH | FA | Marcell Ozuna | OF | Trade | |
| Luke Gregerson | RH | FA | Yairo Munoz | SS | Trade | ||
| Bud Norris | RH | FA | |||||
| Dominic Leone | RH | Trade | |||||
| Conner Greene | RH | Trade |
A winter after adding just three 40-man roster players, the Cardinals increased the total to seven this winter. All may be considered relatively short-term additions, with the longest organizational control of any of the five major leaguers being two years.
One is starting pitcher Miles Mikolas, while a trio of relievers are all expected to make the team – Luke Gregerson, Dominic Leone and Bud Norris. The premier addition by the club this winter was undoubtedly outfielder Marcell Ozuna.
Closing out the group is an interesting pair of minor league prospects – pitcher Conner Greene and shortstop Yairo Muñoz.
Non-roster invitees (5)
| Pitchers | Thr | Acq | Position Players | Pos | Acq | ||
| NRI (5) | Preston Guilmet | RH | FA | Francisco Pena | C | FA | |
| Jason Motte | RH | FA | Steven Baron | C | FA | ||
| Max Schrock | 2B | Trade |
Five of the 24 NRIs in MLB camp are newcomers. Of these newbies, none seem to be in a strong position to come north with St. Louis, though with a good camp and injuries to others, veteran reliever Jason Motte might have a chance to crack the Opening Day bullpen. All could start the season with Triple-A Memphis.
Except for the best prospect of the group, second baseman Max Schrock, the NRIs have prior MLB experience. Along with Motte, they include pitcher Preston Guilmet, like Mikolas back from Japan, and catcher Francisco Pena. Schrock, The Cardinal Nation’s 14th-ranked prospect for 2018, has yet to make his Triple-A debut.
Minor league additions (10)
| Pitchers | Thr | Acq | Position Players | Pos | Acq | ||
| Minors (10) | Hector Villalobos | LH | Purch | Angel Moreno (STEP) | OF | Rule 5 | |
| Nestor Molina | RH | FA | Jean Selmo | OF | Rule 5 | ||
| Edward Mujica | RH | FA | J.B. Woodman (STEP) | OF | Trade | ||
| Granden Goetzman | OF | FA | |||||
| Victor Roache | OF | FA | |||||
| Ramon Urias | SS | Purch | |||||
| Wilson Soriano | SS | FA |
The list of minor leaguers added this past off-season who are not invited to big-league camp is longer than usual – consisting of just ten players, double the total of the year before. They joined the organization in one of four ways – as a free agent signee, a Rule 5 draftee, via trade or by having their contract purchased by the Cardinals.
Half of the 10 are outfielders, four of whom are at the high-A or Double-A level. The headliner may be J.B. Woodman, received from Toronto in return for shortstop Aledmys Diaz. Free agent signee Victor Roache was a first-round draft pick of Milwaukee in 2012.
The most familiar name is undoubtedly former St. Louis closer Edward Mujica, who became a journeyman since leaving the Cardinals following the 2013 season. The other two new hurlers both pitched in the Mexican League in 2017 – lefty Hector Villalobos and right-hander Nestor Molina.
Of the 10, only two, Woodman and Rule 5 draftee Angel Moreno, are among the 32 prospects invited to the Cardinals early minor league camp, STEP Camp.
International signees (11)
| Pitchers | Thr | Acq | Position Players | Pos | Acq | ||
| International | Luis Garcia | RH | FA | Claudio Ramirez | OF | FA | |
| (11) | Miguel Maiz | RH | FA | Elvin De Jesus | SS | FA | |
| Freddy Pacheco | RH | FA | |||||
| Inohan Paniagua | RH | FA | |||||
| Josue Ramirez | RH | FA | |||||
| Saniel Santana | RH | FA | |||||
| Sebastian Tabata | RH | FA | |||||
| Nathanael Heredia | LH | FA | |||||
| Ludwin Jimenez | RH | FA |
Prior to the addition of this more recent group of 11 teenagers, the Cardinals had already signed another 16 international free agents since July 2nd. This is the first of the Cardinals’ two penalty years as the result of their unprecedented signing and spending spree the year before.
Little is known – or at least has been written – about the most recently-added 11. This should not be surprising, given the Cardinals are prohibited from offering more than $300,000 signing bonus to any individual player.
The latest to join the group was signed on February 15. Right-handed pitcher Ludwin Jimenez is a 16-year old from the Dominican Republic.
All 11 will likely begin their professional careers in the 2018 Dominican Summer League.
For more
To track the status of the Cardinals’ 40-man roster as well as all players in the system by position and level, check out the Roster Matrix, always free and updated here at The Cardinal Nation. Also included is every player transaction across the full organization all year long.
Bonus for members of The Cardinal Nation: Hitting Prospects not in BaseballHQ’s 2018 Cardinals Top 15
Not yet a member? Join The Cardinal Nation for the most comprehensive coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals from the majors through the entire minor league system. Annual members may purchase the new 2018 Prospect Guide PDF version for less than half price. In addition, our new, limited edition printed and bound Guide is now available.
Brian Walton can be reached via email at brian@thecardinalnation.com. Follow Brian on Twitter.
© 2018 The Cardinal Nation, thecardinalnation.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.