Major League Baseball has determined all of the compensation picks and their sequence in preparation for the June First-Year Player Draft. Despite having had nine free agents, the St. Louis Cardinals have no extra selections in 2011, the second time in the last three years they will miss out. They lost no Type A or B free agents over the winter that were compensation-eligible.
As such, St. Louis will draft 22nd in the first round, then not again until the 79th pick, as their second-rounder is pushed back by all the compensation picks awarded other clubs. St. Louis’ third round selection will be 109th and fourth pick will be at 140.
The following outlines the most recent dozen Cardinals compensation picks since 2005 by year and for whose signing elsewhere they were awarded.
Nine of the 12 additions are right-handed pitchers. Eight are still active in professional ball, though two have been traded away.
One, Colby Rasmus, has reached the majors and in fact is in his third season with St. Louis. The other five Cardinals all remain top prospects, ranking among the top 23 in The Cardinal Nation top 40 prospect rankings.
The Cardinals most recent top three compensation selections are members of the current top ten, Lance Lynn, Tyrell Jenkins and Seth Blair, so it is clear these compensation picks have value. Getting Mark Hamilton for an Abraham Nunez and Lance Lynn for the loss of Troy Percival have been among the club’s better takes in recent years.
St. Louis Cardinals, compensation draft picks, 2005-2011
| Draft | Round | Overall | Pick | Position | TCN Top 40 | Player Lost |
| 2011 | none | |||||
| 2010 | 1s | 46 | Seth Blair | RHP | #10 | Mark DeRosa |
| 1s | 50 | Tyrell Jenkins | RHP | #9 | Joel Pineiro | |
| 2009 | none | |||||
| 2008 | 1s | 39 | Lance Lynn | RHP | #3 | Troy Percival |
| 2007 | 1s | 36 | Clayton Mortensen | RHP | traded | Jeff Suppan |
| 2 | 71 | David Kopp | RHP | #23 | Jeff Suppan | |
| 2006 | 1s | 42 | Chris Perez | RHP | traded | Matt Morris |
| 2 | 54 | Brad Furnish | LHP | released | Matt Morris | |
| 2s | 76 | Mark Hamilton | 1B | #20 | Abraham Nunez | |
| 2005 | 1 | 28 | Colby Rasmus | CF | ex-#1 MLB | Edgar Renteria |
| 1s | 43 | Mark McCormick | RHP | released | Edgar Renteria | |
| 1s | 46 | Tyler Herron | RHP | released | Mike Matheny | |
| 2 | 70 | Josh Wilson | RHP | retired | Mike Matheny |
The complete list of the 2011 draft order for all 30 clubs can be seen at MLB.com.
For full coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2011 draft, check out TheCardinalNation.com.
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There are some interesting tales in the table above.
Mike Matheny scored a good deal from the high spending Giants, which his friends would applaud, but suffered a concussion. Wilson pitched well at Johnson City, but suffered a career inhibiting injury at Quad Cities in 06.
Renteria leaving not only produced Rasmus, but brought in David Eckstein, cast off by the Angels.
The Giants way overpaid Matt Morris, another deal welcomed by his fans. Morris had little left in the tank for the Giants, but we landed the very talented Chris Perez. Then injuries at 3B made us have to sacrifice Perez for DeRosa, who the Giants overpaid and who has had little left in the tank for them. Now we have Seth Blair as a Perez substitute.
The Brewers overpaid Suppan. Mortensen helped us land Matt Holliday and make the playoffs in 09. Plus we got Jeff himself back in 2010 for nothing, to help after injuries to Lohse and Penny ravaged the rotation.
We were lucky re Troy Percival, coming and going. Percival retired, but then unretired and signed with the Cards so he could play with TLR and former Angels teammates: Kennedy, Spiezio, Eckstein. Troy pitched great and landed a good contract from the Rays, but was injured again and retired for the last time. Meanwhile, our team landed big load Lance Lynn, who is one injury and one phone call away from joining the StL rotation. We got really lucky that Troy freely chose to come to St. Louis, turning down other suitors.
The Boo Birds came out in force when Mo re-upped Joel Pineiro as one of his first player moves in October 07. Some wailed big tears that Mo had been financially foolish to overpay Joel. What happens? Daddy Dunc turns Joel into a study during 09, Joel leaves to a big contract from the LAA, while we pocket Jenkins, who is a long ways off, but intriguing. Mo and Luhnow are big winners on Pineiro.
Its too bad we do not have extra picks in the 2011 draft, yet this will free up some budget to be creative, as we were in trying to woo Austin Wilson last summer, even though the outcome was unsuccessful. The financial hopes of amateurs provide some opportunities for teams to use bonus money as a backdoor way to land higher upside amateurs. Or, we can also invest more money saved from the US draft to sign international amateurs. Little Edwin Sanchez would not have cost much when signed, but his recent performances sure seem major league.
They say this draft is one of the strongest in recent history, so even without the comp picks we should get some good players.
For that matter, the 2009 draft could turn out to be a really good one for the Cards. Miller is the obvious headliner, but a bunch of those players look a lot better than their draft position suggests. Ryan Jackson in the 5th round, Matt Carpenter in the 13th, Jon Rodriquez in the 17th, Trevor Rosenthal in the 21st …
Not suggesting all those guys will pan out, but they show the kind of talent you can get without extra picks.
One thing the Cards have been doing well is signing a lot of amateurs, each year. This gives depth. Rather than overwork and risk high potential arms, the team can focus on development and maintaining good health.
Even though only a few are lucky to reach the majors, having a lot of horses in the race gives more chances for winners to develop, just as having more lottery tickets gives a better chance of a big win.
Useful players can be found down in the draft, especially if the system then gives them playing time and training. Craig (8), Freese (9), Pujols (13), Jaime Garcia (21), McClellan (22), Bob Forsch (25), Kyle Lohse and John Denny (29), Jason Isringhausen (41), Keith Hernandez (42) are examples.
All true, but the more lottery tickets you buy, the better your chances are to win… (Edit: Of course, these guys don’t come acheaply…)
Here’s one that didn’t make the related articles list.
http://thecardinalnationblog.com/2009/04/16/fewer-recent-cards-top-draft-picks-made-the-bigs/
Also, I wonder if ‘they’ tend to always hype the current year upcoming draft.
There is a significant relationship between high picks and ML performance. Scouts generally know what they are doing. The more high US amateur picks, the better, in general, the point of Brian’s post.
Then there are additional complicating factors: the free market internationally; building an effective ladder that players can climb; and bonus money distorting effects on US draft rankings.
There would also be the fact that some teams are more dominated by wonks and others by cigar chompers, and so would value players differently.
Just a crazy wild guess………..that there might be a correlation between investment and opportunities “granted” to protect said investment. Its always good for a player to have the “propaganda” PR machines on your side…………… good players don’t always surface in they don’t go high……many more obstacles to overcome.
Westie, in this instance, your wild guess sounds very plausible. The minor league system has to expel 50 players over the course of a year. Once players are at A level and above, roster slots are tight and bonus babies will get more chances to prove themselves.
On the other hand, right now Stock is on the DL at Quad Cities and Ryde Rodriguez on the DL for Palm Beach. Maybe each is truly hurt or maybe a cheaper signee has earned the playing time.
I don’t even know where Quad Cities is Jumbo……sorry.
Last summer, the Cards outbid other teams, including Yankees and Red Sox on a Dominican kid whose name kept changing and may have settled on Carlos Martinez, I forget. We forked out $1.5MM. This illustrates how, even if we do not have surplus draft picks in the US, it is possible to find premium amateurs outside the US.
Another way to do this was what we did with Tyrell Jenkins. We probably went $500,000 over the bonus expected for his draft position and thereby may have invested in more potential via $$$.
I just got back from the Royals game. I see there is a pitcher’s duel going on in LA.