6 Cardinal prospects whose stocks have risen and 4 whose stocks have fallen

The St. Louis Cardinals are in desperate need of some prospects to hit. After watching former prospects like Randy Arozarena, Adolis Garcia, Zac Gallen, Sandy Alcantara, Lane Thomas, and now Dylan Carlson see success outside of the organization, it becomes even more imperative that the organization have prospects play well for them.

The last time the Cardinals had a top-10 farm system in baseball according to Baseball America was 2023, but prior to that, you'll have to go back to 2014 to find a top-10 farm system in baseball. While the Cardinals have floated in the 10-15 range among farm system rankings recently, they haven't been able to find that top-10 collection of prospects in the minors.

Former top prospects Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn have graduated. Matthew Liberatore lost his prospect shine. Dylan Carlson never quite panned out for the Cardinals. Nolan Gorman started off strong, but he's fizzled out these past two seasons. The organization's drop in the league for prospects is expected.

Starting with the trade deadline last year, John Mozeliak and his team have been able to replenish the farm system slightly. Add in this year's #7 overall pick in JJ Wetherholt, and it would seem logical that the Cardinals would see a jump in the rankings. However, that hasn't been the case. Bleacher Report ranked the Cardinals' farm system 17th overall to start the year, and they dropped to 18th after the MLB draft.

The stagnation is due to a few things: Masyn Winn is no longer a prospect, some high-end prospects haven't played well this year, and other organizations have simply caught up to the Cardinals in terms of player development. The Cardinals can no longer say that they have been able to turn prospects into stars in the majors.

Despite the lack of growth as a system overall, several players have strengthened their case this year. Conversely, some former top prospects haven't quite played up to expectations, and their future heights aren't what was once expected of them.

These six players have increased their prospect stocks in 2024, and four others have seen their stocks fall this year.