St. Louis Cardinals’ Jordan Walker might be baseball’s top prospect by 2023

Jordan Walker was just ranked the St. Louis Cardinals’ top prospect, but he could be baseball’s top prospect by 2023.

The Jordan Walker hype train is in full swing. The St. Louis Cardinals infield prospect has gone from a well-regarded part of the team’s future to being a prominent part of it, recently being ranked as the best prospect in their farm system.

But the hype isn’t stopping there.

Walker, 19, may soon be the best prospect in baseball, Baseball America recently opined, saying that he “definitely has a chance” to be the No. 1 prospect in 2023. We have heard a lot of praise for Walker since last season, but this is the strongest praise yet. And honestly, from talking to scouts and reading reports from Walker who watch him on a daily basis, it’s deserved.

Walker, like Nolan Gorman, has 70-grade power, according to Baseball America. His calling card is his offensive tools and he has the offensive production to back it up. While he is still in Single-A, it is reasonable – perhaps even expected – that he advances to Triple-A by the end of the 2022 season. After that, all bets are off on when he may debut for the Cardinals.

But it could end up being among the most hyped major-league debuts in recent Cardinals history. There were plenty of teams who tried to pry Walker away along the way, with his name being frequently asked about in trade talks, but the Cardinals have long resisted. While president of baseball operations John Mozeliak seeks to build a competitive team each season, he wants to build for the future as well.

That means no trades involving Walker, Gorman or Matthew Liberatore will be seriously considered unless blown away with an offer. Yes, the lack of big moves besides Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt are a source of frustration for Cardinals fans, but Mozeliak clearly has a plan and is executing it.

And it might just mean the Cardinals have the No. 1 prospect in baseball before too long while having a realistic chance of winning the World Series in 2022. Pretty, pretty good.