St. Louis Cardinals MLB Draft: Best first round outcome

The 2016 MLB draft was tonight, June 9, and the St. Louis Cardinals were blessed with three selections in the first round.  Let’s look at these and the best outcome that can befall from them.

The St. Louis Cardinals, under the direction of first-time draft liaison Randy Flores, entered tonight’s 2016 MLB draft with three first round selections.

The first selection made by the Cardinals was that of short stop Delvin Perez.  Perez, who is just seventeen years old, was- at one point- lauded to be selected as high as number two in this year’s draft but had fallen in expectation of late due to a positive PED result.

All of that aside, Perez comes with pretty high praise.  This Puerto Rican player has been praised as the third fastest player in all prep players by Perfect Game USA (thank you, Amazin’ Avenue of SB Nation).

When looking at the Cardinals organizational chart, Perez could well see a long future.  In short, the minors aren’t too strong today with middle infielders and this could spell a very low ceiling.  In truth though, it will likely take a few seasons of seasoning (and clean PED testing) to get Perez to climb.

My prediction: Perez does sign with the Cardinals.

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The second selection of the 2016 draft saw the Cardinals picking high school outfielder Dylan Carlson.  Carlson, 6’3″, 195 pounds, is committed to Cal State Fullerton.  That aside, Carlson is mentioned as having average stuff.

When I first read about Carlson, I wasn’t too impressed until I read our friends over at The Cardinal Nation who mentioned that Carlson was a safe bet and an inexpensive bet with some strong upside too.  Add to this the fact that Jennifer Langosch reported that Carlson was already reporting he would forego his collegiate commitment to sign with the Cardinals.

My prediction: Carlson does sign with the Cardinals.

The third selection of the 2016 draft saw the Cardinals picking Mississippi State’s right-handed starting pitcher, Dakota Hudson.  Hudson has impressive stuff and impressive numbers.  Hudson commands a 95 MPH fastball, a slider that presents with cutter-like characteristics, and an average changeup.

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Hudson’s best stats to-date came in the Cape Cod league wherein he posted a 1.69 ERA across 42.2 innings pitched.  In these, he recorded 41 strikeouts and only eight walks.

All of that said, as is reported at The Cardinal Nation (see the link above), Hudson might not last as a starter.  This stated, Hudson has good enough stuff for him to “try” to be a starter for a few seasons as he matures.  This- in short- was a great pick by the Cardinals.

Added intrigue: Hudson is set to be the starting pitcher of tomorrow night’s (6/10/16) game for Mississippi State.  One can only imagine that many eyes will be tuned in on this game!

My prediction: Hudson does sign with the Cardinals.

Next: MLB Draft Preview: Catcher, a Position of Interest

So did we see the best draft outcome of the first round?  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if a catcher had been found.  Putting that to the side, the fact that I think that all three players will sign makes this- in my opinion- the best first round for the Cardinals!