St. Louis Cardinals: Cardinals 2020 MLB Draft Guide

With no baseball on, Redbird Rants has decided to bring St. Louis Cardinals fans a mini-draft guide to help fill fans in on the draft. This guide is based on who the Cardinals could potentially draft in the first round.

With the 2020 St. Louis Cardinals season being delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, fans have been mainly just looking forward to when baseball season will begin. With all of the wild division plans that have been tossed around and the feud between the owners and players, it does not seem like we have much of an idea of what’s in store for the 2020 season.

Something that has been overlooked by most through this process though is the MLB Draft. We have heard little news about it, but it seems like a definite that it will end up being pushed back by at least a month.

What we do know though is that the players and the owners agreed to shorten the MLB Draft from 40 rounds to only five and that signing bonuses will be significantly smaller than previous years. This is very bittersweet but is ultimately is the decision that had to be made, due to the lack of scouting because of the 2020 College Baseball season being canceled.

The good news though is the seniors who end up going undrafted will be able to return to school with another year of eligibility, and another shot to prove their worth to MLB teams in 2021.

Per AP Writer Ronald Blum, the MLB will meet and discuss the official date for the 2020 MLB Draft soon, but all rumors point to it being on the originally planned June 10.

The St. Louis Cardinals will still need to welcome a stud into the organization. Since the Cardinals finished the 2019 season with the 10th best record in the MLB, they will be picking 21st in the Draft. Since there was not much of a college baseball season, we at Redbird Rants decided to put together a draft guide for the fans to give them insight on some of the best options for the Cardinals.

In previous articles, I wrote about two guys who the Cardinals could draft in Mississippi State ace J.T. Ginn and Georgia’s flamethrower Cole Wilcox, so if you want to read in-depth reports about them; click the link over their names.

Top prospects like Emerson Hancock and Spencer Torkelson will be long gone by the time the Cardinals are picking so I decided to be realistic here. This draft guide consists of a few prospects who could potentially be available as well as fill needs inside the organization. So without further ado, here is the 2020 Redbird Rants Draft Guide.

Cade Cavalli, RHP, Oklahoma

In my opinion, I feel like the Cardinals’ biggest need is RHP depth in the farm system. There are already a few solid young arms but the majority are left-handers. The farm system lacks a stud RHP and it should be something hanging over Mozeliak’s head.

In Jonathan Mayo’s latest mock draft, he had Oklahoma Sooners’ ace, Cade Cavalli, going to St. Louis. Cavalli is an impressive right-hander with a huge 6’4 225 build and a ton of upside.

In 2017, he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 29th round but ultimately decided to attend Oklahoma; and now it looks like that decision is paying off as he will likely be a first-rounder in this years’ draft.

With his size comes easy velocity, where he usually sits at 93-to-95 miles per hour and can top out at about 98 mph. He has an effective repertoire with a nasty curveball as well as a solid power slider. His biggest weakness at the moment issues with command as he walked 35 hitters in 2019 and had his fair share of wild pitches and hit batters.

Cavalli is still sort of new to the position and has only pitched since his sophomore year in high school. He wasn’t even originally going to Oklahoma to be a pitcher, he was going to be an infielder, but switched to the mound after his freshman year.

Cavalli has tremendous upside and has shown a lot of growth as a pitcher over the past couple of years, but his talent comes with a price, which is command issues and a small injury history, where he missed time earlier this season with a stress reaction in his arm which affected his performance in 2020.

Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, Harvard Westlake (HS)

Though the Cardinals’ OF depth is just fine with guys like Dylan Carlson, Tyler O’Neill, and Jhon Torres; but with there not being much of a high school season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, high schoolers could see a slight bump down draft boards.

Pete Crow-Armstrong is a dynamic OF out of Harvard-Westlake Academy in California. If you are wondering why Harvard-Westlake might sound familiar, it’s because Cardinals Ace Jack Flaherty also went there and was drafted out of HS as well. So, if the Cardinals wanted to reach their hand in the Harvard-Westlake basket again, Pete Crow-Armstrong would be the pick.

The California prospect has been among the top HS position players for about a year now and he brings a lot to the table in regards to his game. He is more of a contact hitter rather than power, but he does show potential as a power hitter and can make “loud contact” on occasion. He also is an elite defensive fielder and scouts have claimed that he is the best defensive OF in this class.

Crow-Armstrong has a solid frame at 6’1, 180 lbs but he will need to put on a little bit of mass once he transitions into professional baseball. When you look at his tools, he might give you Harrison Bader vibes. A very solid athlete with plus speed and fielding ability as well as upside as a hitter with raw power. As well as going hard in the field at all costs.

Overall, Pete Crow-Armstrong has a lot of room to grow but could develop into a very solid MLB player with the right development. He could likely be gone before St. Louis even picks, but if he is there at 21, it might be a risk worth taking.

Casey Martin, SS, Arkansas

Though the Cardinals potentially have their shortstop of the future in 2019 All-Star Paul DeJong, there is very little depth in the middle infield department; with Cardinals No. 21 prospect Mateo Gil being the best shortstop in the entire farm system.

Drafting Casey Martin out of Arkansas would be a big need filler and could potentially take over at shortstop in the future for St. Louis. He has an intriguing power-speed combo which could make scouts fall in love with him since he is a shortstop. He has a solid glove, but there is still room to develop. His biggest weakness though is how raw he is as a pure hitter.

The power is there for Martin as he has hit 28 HR’s during his freshman and sophomore years at Arkansas, but he still needs a lot of growth as a contact hitter. He struck out 64 times as a freshman and 71 times as a sophomore and had 22 Ks as a junior in only 15 games. He needs serious work as a contact hitter and taking better at-bats, but the 30-30 potential is there and it’s hard to ignore.

Martin has played a big role in taking the Arkansas Razorbacks to Omaha for the College World Series in back to back seasons. Including a CWS final, where the Razorbacks were ONE OUT away from clinching a title before the Oregon State Beavers clutched out Game 2 and ended up winning the rubber match the next night, (sound familiar Cardinals fans?).

The Razorback shortstop could be a very solid pick for St. Louis if he can fix his inconsistencies as a hitter, but the struggles against higher level SEC pitching could be a turn-off for John Mozeliak and Co. Overall though, I like Martin and the potential as a hitter that he shows can’t be ignored.

Carmen Mlodzinski, RHP, South Carolina

Last year, my draft crush was Jackson Rutledge; a flame-throwing JuCo pitcher who got drafted shortly before St. Louis by the Washington Nationals. This year, Mlodzinski is another version of Rutledge.

Mlodzinski has a high octane fastball that touches 99 with plenty of movement. He only has two other pitches though, which are his changeup as well as a pretty effective slider.

His first two seasons with South Carolina were rough, throughout both seasons he struggled with inconsistencies with his control and resulted in a lot of walks and an inflated ERA because of it. Early into his sophomore year, he broke his foot and had to miss the remainder of the season; which was a huge loss for the Gamecocks.

Mlodzinski bounced back though, he decided to play in the Cape Cod League; which is one of the most prominent amateur baseball leagues, and an opportunity for further evaluation from baseball scouts as well as a good place to sharpen one’s’ skills. He had no trouble finding the strike zone and even was considered a star in the league. That breakout season alone put him on the radar for many teams in this year’s draft.

The Gamecock ace came into the 2020 season with a ton of hype, making plenty of Preseason All-American teams as well as getting first-round hype in the MLB Draft. He finished the shortened season with a 2.84 ERA with 22 K’s in only four starts.

With Mlodzinski, the team that drafts him is taking a huge gamble on his ridiculous upside. He has shown a ton of improvement from his freshman/sophomore year but still has a long way to go if he wants to succeed in the Major Leagues. With his talent though, it is a gamble worth taking.

(P.S. Mo, if you are reading this: Carmen Mlodzinski, No Matter What.)

Slade Cecconi, RHP, Miami

I might sound like a broken record at this point, but the point still stands. The Cardinals need right-handed pitching in their system. So, that’s why the majority of these profiles were about filling that need.

Not only does Slade Cecconi have the coolest name in this draft, but he has the arm talent to be a problem for hitters at the next level.

Scouts love his size at 6’4′ while weighing about 220. His fastball tops out at about 97 mph but can decrease as he goes deeper into starts, which worries scouts as well as cause debate to whether he is a reliever or starter past college. He has an effective power slider but his curveball and changeup could use some further development.

He does not have too much of a problem with throwing strikes but leaving the ball over the heart of the plate on occasion seems to be a weakness for Cecconi.

Slade Cecconi will be entering the draft as a draft-eligible sophomore and is one of the younger college arms in this class at only 20 years old. He made the rotation as a true freshman but didn’t amount to much; posting a 4.16 ERA with 89 strikeouts in 80 innings.

He still came away with Freshman All-American Honors though. He was starting to show his potential during the 2020 season before the season ended shortly.

Though he might end up deciding to stay another year at Miami since he got to play only one season at the school he was firmly committed to coming out of high school. He could have gone higher in the 2018 MLB Draft, but his strong commitment to the University pushed him to the Baltimore Orioles in the 38th Round, but he did not sign.

Cecconi is yet another pitcher oozing potential with a high octane fastball and a solid breaking ball arsenal. As stated, there are concerns about whether he can remain in a starting rotation but the talent from Cecconi is there.

This 2020 Draft is very rich with college arms. Because of this, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Cardinals take multiple early, or go with a higher upside position player with their first pick and take a pitcher later. Either way, the Cardinals will have a ton of options at 21 and in just under a month we will see who will be joining the organization.