St. Louis Cardinals: Top 10 Rookie-Eligible Prospects for 2018
We have reached the point of the offseason where prospect lists abound. We continue our top 10 prospects for every team with the St. Louis Cardinals!
Our team top 10 prospect lists at Call to the Pen are spearheaded by Benjamin Chase. Today, he gives us the top ten prospects for the St. Louis Cardinals.
This season, we will be going through teams by division, in order of 2017 record. The AL East will be first, followed by the AL Central and AL West. Then the focus will shift to the National League in the same order.
The format will be as it was last season for the same lists, with a system review, which will include last season’s list. The top 10 will follow in reverse order, two players per page in order to give adequate space to each player. Major trades or international signings will lead to an updated top 10!
Finally, don’t go away after #1 is revealed as each list will also contain a player either signed in the 2017 international free agent class or drafted in 2017 that isn’t part of the top 10 and should be tracked. Last season’s mentions in that area made over half of the top 10s this season, so this is a great way to get to know a player who could be making a big splash in the organization.
System overview
When you are typically in the playoffs or in the playoff mix as an organization, it is rare that your team is going to be picking early in the draft, so it’s imperative that you do one or both of scouting and development very well. The St. Louis Cardinals have long been a team who is one of the elite in both categories.
Though the raw talent in the system is not a top-10 farm system by any measure, the Cardinals do such a tremendous job developing their talent that it’s very feasible that 2-3 players not on this list will go on to have 4-5 impact seasons at the big league level.
Recently, the biggest issue the St. Louis Cardinals have seen in their farm system is consistency of depth. Right now, the system is loaded with outfielders and right-handed pitching, and while it’s a positive to have an abundance of a position, it’s also something that does lead to questions about the development of infield prospects within the system.
Still one of the top-half systems in the majors, the Cardinals are especially stocked with players that could contribute in 2018 in some way.
Let’s take a look at that system….
Next: #9 and #10