The St. Louis Cardinals are going Global

The St. Louis Cardinals are an emerging contender in the search for prospects in the international market.
Oct 9, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak looks on before game five of the National League divisional series playoff baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. Image Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
There’s no disputing how important it is for scouting when it comes to prospects in the international market. Some of the better known Cardinals prospects in recent years have come from Latin America. All one has to say is Oscar Taveras and Carlos Martinez.

One of the biggest mistakes, however, was to pull out of the Dominican Republic over a decade ago. The organization, thankfully, has returned to the market.

While keeping an eye on the international market for players, there’s also no dispute to the fact that the Cards have the best minor league system in all of baseball. It’s seen year in and year out. When one player goes down with an injury, another gets called up immediately.

"The Cardinals had 11 players make their major-league debuts, and manager Mike Matheny’s club utilized 20 rookies. Sixty-six of the Cardinals’ 97 wins were awarded to pitchers drafted or signed as amateurs by the Cardinals. Of Baseball America’s top seven Cardinals prospects, six contributed to the club’s pennant run — including Michael Wacha’s four wins in October and being named the MVP of the National League championship series."

While the farm system was #1 entering 2013, they have dropped to #7 for 2014, mostly due to the number of prospects that saw a large amount of time in the big leagues this season.

General manager John Mozeliak did announce moves in the baseball operations departement:

"Gary LaRocque will be farm director, overseeing the minor leagues as he has been. Chris Correa has been promoted to director of baseball development, and Tony Ferreira will assist LaRocque. John Vuch will be director of baseball administration. Linda Brauer has been promoted to senior administrative assistant to the general manager."