St. Louis Cardinals: Why the Delvin Perez Pick is the Right Move

There has been a ton of outrage after the St. Louis Cardinals selected Delvin Perez in the first round of the MLB Draft, but it is the right move.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been known for years as the organization that “does things right” and that they live and die by the “Cardinal Way”. This is largely still correct, but they are turning more and more into an organization that believes in doing things to help the team succeed. This is what we see with the Delvin Perez pick.

In case you have been living under a rock, the Cardinals decided to use their first-round draft on 17 year-old SS Delvin Perez who failed a PED test one week prior to the draft. As expected, many are outraged that the team made this decision in light of the checkered past with Mark McGwire and the fan base’s colorful accusations of Jake Arrieta and Barry Bonds.

Unfortunately, everyone is missing the fact that this is a 17 year-old prospect who can only improve from here. They are missing that this kid is a prospect who the Cardinals believe they can turn into a better person and help him learn from the mistake of taking PEDs.

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I understand that we have built ourselves up to view ever PED case as the worst possible offense one can commit in the sports world. We have labeled guys like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds as cheaters and have barred them from entering the Hall of Fame (yet somehow can’t allow Jim Edmonds).

However, here we have a young kid just trying to do whatever it takes to make it to the major leagues and provide for his family that has done what they can to put him in this position in an impoverished country. Oh by the way, Perez is going to make a small portion of the money that other Latin American players will be getting in about a month.

Interestingly enough Delvin Perez is not the first Cardinals’ shortstop prospect to get into hot water before becoming team property. Before he was signed by the Cardinals in 2014, Aledmys Diaz had to sit out a year of free agency because he lied about his age. That’s just as much of a “cheating advantage” as Perez’s failed PED test in my opinion and you don’t hear anything about that today.

As I mentioned before, the important part for the Cardinals is that Perez is a very talented player who has a bright future and the Cardinals are in the business of developing players on the cheap. So, now the Cardinals have a guy who was valued as a top five pick before the positive test and now have him on the value of a #23 overall pick which is quite a bit of difference.

Next: The First Round of the Draft was Executed Perfectly

In a division where the Cardinals are no longer the top team and no longer have the top overall farm system in the division, this is very important. The same importance will be placed on what the team can do during the upcoming July 2nd international signing period.