The Cardinals Way - Draft & Develop
For the St. Louis Cardinals, prospects are their backbone. As an organization, their product is producing talent. This is the talent at the major league level, the minor league level, and the talent that they are currently scouting. In recent years the Cardinals have been able to produce a lot of great talent, and this is largely thanks to these individuals. These individuals are responsible for finding the prospects that they want to develop as well as developing these individuals, and let's just say that they have done an awesome job in the last few years.
The Cardinals organization is known for being one that does not like to spend big and would rather build from within. This means that they like to find talent in high school, college, or internationally, and draft them in order to see them grow in the Cardinals organization. This makes it to where they are in control of developing the talent and making sure that all of their prospects' flaws are worked out by the time they make it to the major league level. Building their team from within also makes it so that they do not have to pay their guys nearly as much as they would a free agent or a proven star.
Currently, the Cardinals are finding great success thanks to their strategy of building from within. Players like Jack Flaherty, Dylan Carlson, Tommy Edman, Jordan Hicks, Ryan Helsley, Brendan Donovan, Juan Yepez, and a few others who are on the current team are there because they were drafted by the Cardinals and developed by the organization. This makes it to where the team is successful because they have so much young talent, and they are not yet at the point where they have to pay these guys big money, and so this talent is affordable and should be able to stick together for many years to come.
The guys on the current team are not the only talent that the Cardinals have produced in recent years. Through the MLB draft and International signings, the Cardinals have received a lot of great players with heaps of potential, who currently make up their Top 30 Prospects list. Names like Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn can be seen in many different articles and lists that talk about the top prospects in all of Major League Baseball. Both of these guys were drafted by the Cardinals in 2020, and are making their way up the Cardinals' farm system. To go along with these two who are said to have superstar potential, the minor leagues also house many other standouts when it comes to hitting and pitching prospects. These individuals will most likely find success at the major league level, and will hopefully polish off the Cardinals' current roster in the coming years.
In the world of baseball, these prospects can be seen as gold. They are cheap and talented, and a lot of teams would like to have them on their roster. Often times teams will try and trade one of their own proven talents who is seeking a large contract for a handful of these controllable players who will cost them next to nothing. These offers can be rather tempting as you will receive a proven difference maker for guys who could eventually be proven difference makers. This was the case when the Washington Nationals were trying to trade Juan Soto, who is one of the best players in all of baseball. The Nationals and Cardinals were in contact with one another and were working to get a deal done. However, it is rumored by many different sources and personalities that the Cardinals did not want to part with Jordan Walker or Dylan Carlson, and those were two guys the Nationals wanted. Therefore, the trade fell through. While Juan Soto definitely would have been a nice addition to the Cardinals roster, they felt as though he was not a necessary one, and wanted to hold onto their prospects. This not only proves how valuable these prospects are to other teams but shows how valuable these guys are to the Cardinals.
Trading away top prospects is also probably not something that the Cardinals seek to do much more. This is because in 2018 the Cardinals traded Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen to the Miami Marlins for Marcell Ozuna. This seemed like a good deal for both sides when it was completed, as Marcell Ozuna was a solid defensive left fielder with immense power and the Cardinals were a win now team, while Alcantara and Gallen were two pitchers with immense upside and the Miami Marlins were looking to rebuild. However, after 2019 Marcell Ozuna left the Cardinals following an injury-riddled year with decent production, while both Gallen and Alcantara would flourish. In 2022, Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen (who is now playing on the Arizona Diamondbacks) are the two favorites to win the National League Cy Young award, as both men have ERAs well below 3 and are the aces of their clubs. Not only this, but Alcantara seems to be pitching complete games every week, and Zac Gallen broke the record for the most consecutive scoreless innings with 44.1 innings pitched without allowing a run. With this being said, it is clear to see how good these two guys are, and it pains me as a fan of the Cardinals to know that both of these guys could still be on the team. A trade like this is one that they do not want to make again and probably explains why the organization is so timid when it comes to trading any of their top prospects.
While the Cardinals cannot always receive credit for making these guys the players that they are, as the players are the ones who work hard to get where they are; They can be praised for bringing these guys together and in more recent years, keeping them together. If the organization can continue to find success when it comes to getting talented prospects and developing more, while also bringing in outside talent like they have currently done with Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, then they will be able to continue to succeed for years to come. This could make it to where continuously adding onto their 11 World Series Championships could be a very real possibility.
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