The St. Louis Cardinals and the draft

Cardinals draft picks

The annual ameteur draft started in 1965 as a means to control the bonus being paid to new players by eliminating the bidding for their services. Since then, every June the major league clubs participate in the draft, picking college and high school prospects from the United States and Canada. (Foreign born players are exempt from the draft under current regulations.) I don't know all the details of how the draft system has evolved. There used to be two drafts each year - in June and January. The January one was discontinued after 1986. In addition, I think the draft used to be unlimited rounds, but now it is stopped after fifty rounds, with supplimental picks between the first and second round as compensation for free agent signings. The Cardinals have never had the top pick in the draft; the highest overall choice they have ever had was the third pick in the 1996 draft, with which the selected Braden Looper.

Since the first draft in 1965, the Cards have had about 50 picks in the first round plus the supplimental round. Of those players, 29 (drafted in 1998 or earlier) have appeared in the majors (plus two top choices from the January draft), and 10 were still playing in the majors in 2001.

Here is a complete list of Cards first round draft choices.

Here is a listing of top ten picks back to 1990:

6/2001
     1)   Justin Pope, rhp, Central Florida
     2)   Dan Haren, rhp, Pepperdine
     3)   Joe Mather, ss, Mountain Pointe HS, Phoenix
     4)   Josh Brey, lhp, Liberty
     5)   Jared Schumaker, ss, UC Santa Barbara
     6)   John Killalea, lhp, Seminole (Fla.) HS 
     7)   Tyler Adamczyck, rhp, Westlake (Calif.) HS 
     8)   John Nelson, ss, Kansas
     9)   Rhett Parrott, rhp, Georgia Tech
    10)  Seth Davidson, ss, Southern California

6/2000
     1) Shaun Boyd (of)          13th overall
     1) Blake Williams (rhp)     24th overall - Choice from Rangers as compensation for Type A free agent Darren Oliver
     2) Chris Narveson (lhp)     53rd
     3) Chase Voshell (ss)       83rd
     4) Yadier Molina (c)       113th
     5) Josh Axelson (rhp)      143rd
     6) Justin Woodrow (of)     173rd
     7) Shaun Stokes (rhp)      203rd
     8) Dan Moylan (c)          233rd
     9) John Novinsky (rhp)     263rd
    10) Carmen Cali (lhp)       293rd

6/1999
     1)  Lost pick #18 overall for signing Eric Davis from Baltimore
     1)  Chance Caple (rhp)      30th overall - Compensation for Atlanta signing Brian Jordan
    1b)  Nick Stocks (rhp)       36th - Compensation for losing Brian Jordan
    1c)  Chris Duncan (1b-of)    46th - Compensation for losing Delino DeShields
    2a)  Joshua Pearce (rhp)     82nd - Compensation for losing Tom Lampkin as FA
     3)  Brent Cook (rhp)       102nd
     4)  Benjamin Johnson (cf)  127th
     4)  Jimmy Journell (rhp)   132nd
     5)  Charles Williams (lf)  162nd
     6)  Joshua Teekel (rhp)    192nd
     7)  Coco Crisp (2b)        222nd
     8)  Skip Schumacher (c)    252nd
     9)  Paul Thames (ss)       282nd
    10)  Kevin Sprague (lhp)    312nd

6/2/1998
     1) J.D. Drew, of (5i)
    1b) Ben Diggins, 1b-rhp (Supplemental pick--32nd--for loss of Type A free agent Dennis Eckersley) - did not sign
     2) Chad Hutchinson, rhp
    2b) Tim Lemon, of (Choice from Red Sox--55th--as compensation for Eckersley).
     3) Gabriel Johnson, c
     4) Bud Smith, lhp
     5) Steve Stemle, rhp
     6) Kristopher Rayborn, lhp
     7) Brad Freeman, ss-of
     8) Greg Clark, c
     9) Jack Wilson, ss
    10) Pedro Zazueta, rhp

6/3/1997
     1) Adam Kennedy, ss
     2) Rick Ankiel, p
     3) Patrick Coogan, rhp
     4) Xavier Nady, ss
     5) Jason Navarro, lhp
     6) Bryan Rupert, c
     7) Joseph Secoda, 2b
     8) Jason Karnuth, rhp
     9) Seth Etherton, rhp - did not sign
    10) Finley Woodward, rhp

6/2/1996
     1) Braden Looper, rhp (3c)
     2) None
     3) Brent Butler (ss)
     4) Bryan Britt (of)
     5) Jeff Rizzo (3b)
     6) Jim Gargiulo (c)
     7) Kevin Sheredy (rhp)
     8) Dave Schmidt (c)
     9) Shawn Hogge (rhp)
    10) Cordell Farley (of)
    15) Stacy Kleiner (c)

6/1/1995
     1) Matt Morris, rhp (12c)
    1b) Chris Haas (3b)
     2) Jason Wood (ss)
     3) Billy Deck (1b)
     4) Brian Barfield (rhp)
     5) Cody McKay (3b)
     6) Joe Freitas (of)
     7) Matt King (rhp)
     8) Jon Ward (rhp)
     9) Ryan McHugh (of)
    10) Matt DeWitt (rhp-3b)
    20) Adam Benes (P)
    51) Todd Hogan (OF)

6/2/1994
    1) Bret Wagner, lhp (19c)
    2) Carl Dale (rhp)
    3) Corey Avard (rhp)
    4) Yates Hall (rhp)
    5) Curtis King (rhp)
    6) Blake Stein (rhp)
    7) Richard Mear (lhp)
    8) Ryan Foderaro (rhp)
    9) Antonio Abell (of)
   10) Bruce Thompson (of)
   26) Steve Reed (p)

6/3/1993
    1) Alan Benes, rhp (16c)
   2a) Nate Dishington (of)
   2b) Gerald Witasick (p)
    3) Eli Marrero (c)
    4) Darrell Nicholas (of)
    5) Marc Ottmers (rhp)
    6) David Carroll (lhp)
    7) Jeff Berblinger (2b)
    8) Rantie Harper (of)
    9) Mike Windham (rhp)
   10) Mike Martin (rhp)

6/1/1992
    1) Sean Lowe, rhp (15c)
    2) Mike Gulan (3b)
    3) Steve Montgomery (p)
    4) Mark Williams (c)
    5) Jeff Alkire (p)
    6) Keith Johns (ss)
    7) Mike Corominas (lhp)
    8) Brian Carpenter (rhp)
    9) Donnie Bellum (of)
   10) Bert Green (ss)

6/3/1991
    1) Dmitri Young, 3b (4h)
    1) Allen Watson, lhp (21h) - from Toronto for losing Ken Dayley
    1) Brian Barber, rhp (22h) - from Mets for signing Vince Coleman
    1) Tom McKinnon, rhp (28h) - for losing Terry Pendleton
    1) Dan Cholowsky, 3b (39c) - for losing Ken Dayley
    2) Eddie Williams (c)
    3) Basil Shabazz (of)
    4) Andy Bruce (3b)
    5) Darond Stovall (of)
    6) John Mabry (1b-of)
    7) Doug Creek (p)
    8) Antoine Henry (of)
    9) Dennis Slininger (p)
   10) Allen Battle (of)

6/4/1990
    1) Donovan Osborne, lhp (13c)
    1) Aaron Holbert, ss (18h) - from Red Sox for losing Tony Pena
    1) Paul Ellis, c (30c) - for losing Tony Pena
    2) ????
    3) Marc Ronan C-OF (86)
    4) Andrew Beasley C (112)
    5) Jimmy Lewis P (138)
    6) George Sells P (164)
    7) Scott Baker P (190)
    8) Mark MacArthur SS (216)
    9) Terry Bradshaw OF (242)
   10) Mark Smith OF-P (268)

June, 1989
 1)  6. Paul Coleman OF St. Louis Cardinals Frankston HS (TX)      
 2)  36. Mike Milchin P-1B St. Louis Cardinals Clemson University 39 7.44   
 3)  66. Tripp Cromer SS St. Louis Cardinals University of South Carolina 214 .219 Houston Astros (PRO) 
 4)  92. John Farrell OF-C St. Louis Cardinals Sandalwood HS (Jacksonville,FL)      
 5)  118. Tony Ochs C St. Louis Cardinals Memphis State University      
 6)  144. Todd Steverson OF St. Louis Cardinals Culver City HS (Venice,CA) 31 .256   
 7)  170. Tracey Ealy OF St. Louis Cardinals Chaparral HS (Las Vegas,NV)      
 8)  196. Anthony Lewis OF St. Louis Cardinals Rancho HS (Las Vegas,NV)      
 9)  222. Jeff Fayne OF St. Louis Cardinals Munford HS (Brighton,TN)      
10)  248. John Dempsey C St. Louis Cardinals Crespi HS (Agoura,CA)      

June, 1988
 1)  22. John Ericks P St. Louis Cardinals University of Illinois 57 4.78  
 1)  23. Brad DuVall P St. Louis Cardinals Virginia Tech      
 1)  30. Brian Jordan OF St. Louis Cardinals University of Richmond 1326 .286 Los Angeles Dodgers (PRO)
 2)  53. Mike Hensley P St. Louis Cardinals University of Oklahoma      
 3)  80. Charlie White OF St. Louis Cardinals University of New Orleans      
 4)  106. Mike Ross 2B St. Louis Cardinals Cal State Fullerton University      
 5)  132. Lee Plemel P St. Louis Cardinals Stanford University      
 6)  158. Rheal Cormier P St. Louis Cardinals Community College of Rhode Island 492 4.05 Philadelphia Phillies (PRO) 
 7)  184. Steve Fanning SS St. Louis Cardinals Troy State University      
 8)  210. Jerry Davis SS St. Louis Cardinals Lincoln HS (San Diego,CA)      
 9)  236. Mark Clark P St. Louis Cardinals Lincoln Land Community College 220 4.60   
10)  262. Joe Hall 3B St. Louis Cardinals Southern Illinois University 26 .319   

June, 1987
 1)  14. Cris Carpenter P St. Louis Cardinals University of Georgia 291 3.91   
 2)  46. Jeremy Hernandez P St. Louis Cardinals Cal State Northridge University 133 3.64   
 3)  72. Ray Lankford OF St. Louis Cardinals Modesto Junior College 1491 .269   
 4)  98. Mike Ignasiak P St. Louis Cardinals University of Michigan 79 4.80   
 5)  124. Rodney Brewer 1B-OF St. Louis Cardinals University of Florida 172 .278   
 6)  150. Antron Grier OF St. Louis Cardinals Faulkner University      
 7)  176. Dean Weese P St. Louis Cardinals U.S. International University      
 8)  202. Tim Redman OF St. Louis Cardinals Georgetown College (KY)      
 9)  228. David Tripp P-OF St. Louis Cardinals Mt. St. Joseph HS (Glen Burnie,MD)      
10)  253. Paul Splatt SS St. Louis Cardinals Community College of Baltimore