St. Louis Cardinals: Four shortstops the team missed

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2010 … Andrelton Simmons, Western Oklahoma State JC (2nd round, 70th overall, to the Braves)

This is the same draft the St. Louis Cardinals drafted current reliever Sam Tuivailala as a shortstop out of Aragon High School in San Mateo, Calif. They used their 3rd-round pick (106th overall) on Tuivailala, hoping that his athleticism would translate on the baseball field. It did, just not the way the Cardinals thought. St. Louis also took current utility man Greg Garcia with the 229th overall pick. Garcia was a 4th-year senior shortstop at Hawaii, which is why he came cheap. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be pan out.

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Simmons, meanwhile, has become a Gold Glove shortstop in Atlanta, making enough highlight-reel plays  to make fans forget that his bat is no where near the level of his glove. After slugging 14 homers for the Braves in his rookie season, Simmons hasn’t hit more than seven in each of the last two seasons. But that may have more to do with a punchless Atlanta batting order.

Next: 4 World Series Takeaways for the Cardinals

The Curacao native got the call in 2012 and has either won or vied for the Gold Glove Award every season since. Spoiler alert: he’ll win it again this year. He’s already won the Fielding Bible Award, which is usually a precursor.