The St. Louis Cardinals made the most out of their 23 total pick in this season's MLB Draft.
After falling apart early in the second half of last season, the Cardinals entered a full-scale rebuild, selling at the trade deadline . St. Louis continued the trend of prioritizing its farm system and adding draft compensation by trading away star players this offseason, including Sonny Gray , Willson Contreras , Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado .
While St. Louis acquired multiple prospects across various trades, the team also acquired two Competitive Balance Round B draft picks during its massive roster overhaul. The Cardinals positioned themselves well to strengthen their farm system by stocking up on draft picks, including seven on Day 1 of the draft.
Sep 17, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; Detailed view of a St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports
The Cardinals selected six players in the Top 100 of MLB Pipeline's Draft Top 250 , more than any other team in baseball. Headlined by No. 13 overall pick Trevor Condon , St. Louis' draft class was ranked the top in the league.
"It's too early to know how the Cardinals' 2026 crop will stack up against those classes. We can say this: based on first impressions, they assembled the strongest collection of talent in the just-completed Draft," MLB.com's Jim Callis wrote last week . "The Cardinals spent two of their top three selections on a pair of high schoolers: outfielder Trevor Condon (first round), who offered the best combination of hitting ability and speed in the prep class and might be the next Pete Crow-Armstrong ; and shortstop Rocco Maniscalco (second), one of the youngest players and best defenders available.
"Tennessee right-hander Tegan Kuhns' (supplemental first) stuff and strikes made him one of the best college mound prospects, while West Virginia righty Dawson Montesa (supplemental second) is an interesting upside play and UCLA righty Cal Randall (fifth) is a fast-track reliever with one of the best fastballs in the Draft. Central Florida outfielder Andrew Williamson (supplemental second), Texas Tech outfielder Caden Ferraro (third) and Kansas State shortstop Dee Kennedy (fourth) are all proven college performers."
The Cardinals' offseason decisions have been paying off great this season. Young players like Jordan Walker , Riley O'Brien and JJ Wetherholt have developed nicely, and the team is in the thick of the playoff race, holding the third wild-card playoff spot with a 51-47 record. The fact that St. Louis is performing this well and drafted such a talented class of young prospects is great for the team's future.
More MLB: Cardinals Fans Showed Up in a Big Way for All-Star Game
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/cardinals/onsi as Cardinals' Impressive Draft Class Ranked Best In The Entire League .
