From Delvin Perez to Aaron Judge: Rewriting the St. Louis Cardinals' draft story

What could have been.

As I watched the MLB draft, I couldn't help but think how fun the Cardinals will be if we hit on all the picks. They won’t. Does anyone remember Delvin Perez or Nick Plummer? They were first-round draft picks. 

The Cardinals have admitted the minor league system is a mess, but what if they had the best system and the best evaluators of talent in the game? What would this team have looked like if they had drafted differently?

Let’s go back 15 years and see what could have been if we had drafted just the first-round picks differently. 

YR- PICK - Player - POS

2010 - 25 - Zack Cox (3B) - Could have had Noah Syndergaard (RHP) - Pick 38
2011 - 22 - Kolton Wong (2B) - Could have had Blake Snell (LHP) Pick 52
2012 - 19 - Michael Wacha (RHP) - Max Muncy (INF) Pick 169
2013 - 19- Marco Gonzales (LHP) -  Could have had Aaron Judge (OF), Pick 32
2014 - 27 - Luke Weaver (RHP) -  Could have had Dylan Cease (RHP) Pick 169
2015 - 23- Nick Plummer (OF) -  Could have had Walker Buehler (RHP) Pick 24
2016 - 23 - Delvin Perez (SS) -  Could have had Pete Alonso (1B) Pick 64
2017 - no first-round pick
2018-19 - Nolan Gorman (3B) -  Could have had Cal Raleigh (C) Pick 90
2019 - 19 - Zack Thompson (P) - Could have had Gunnar Henderson (SS), Pick 42
2020-21 - Jordan Walker (OF)  -  Could have had Spencer Strider (P) Pick 126
2021 - 18 - Michael McGreevy (P) -  Could have had Jackson Merrill (OF)

With different drafts, we could have a team created entirely with our draft picks that looks like this:

C: Cal Raleigh
1B: Pete Alonso
2B: Brendan Donovan (7th Rd - 2018)
3B: Max Muncy 
SS: Gunnar Henderson
OF: Aaron Judge
OF Jackson Merrill
OF: Lars Nootbaar/Victor Scott II

The staring rotation could have been:

SP: Noah Syndergaard
SP: Blake Snell
SP: Dylan Cease
SP: Walker Buehler
SP: Spencer Strider 

Before you flood us with messages, I am not saying the Cardinals are the worst team ever when it comes to drafting. 31 teams passed on Aaron Judge. Cal Raleigh was the 90th pick in 2019, so every team passed on him twice, and he just won the Home Run Derby. Spencer Strider was picked 126th. 

All you need to do to see what difference a draft makes is to look at 2015 and 2016. Instead of Plummer and Perez, drafting Buehler and Alonso would have made this a completely different team. 

If an owner really wanted the best team, they should raid every other team for their best scouts and their best evaluators. You won't get it right every time, but you would have a much better chance at being right more often. Their salaries would be just a fraction of what it would cost to pick up just one player in free agency.

By most accounts, the Cardinals had a pretty good draft this year. Hopefully, we have more Judges and fewer Perezes. Maybe we are seeing the start of a new era.