Cardinals News: 7 notable players who were drafted 7th overall

For the first time in 26 years, the St. Louis Cardinals were granted a draft pick in the top seven of Major League Baseball's amateur draft that was held this past weekend. With that pick, they chose shortstop JJ Wetherholt out of West Virginia University.

Wetherholt has been touted as one of the best pure hitters in this year's draft, and the fact that the Cardinals were lucky enough to have him fall into their lap is impressive. Wetherholt will slot into the top of the organization's prospect list, and he should be a key piece for the team going forward. Wetherholt may fall short, meet, or exceed the successes on these players by the end of his career, but it's a good exercise to see what past draft picks at this slot have accomplished.

I wanted to take a look back at seven of the best players who were drafted seventh overall since 1980. For the sake of numerical constancy, I found seven players who were drafted seventh overall and finished with great careers -- or are at least on their way to great careers currently. One player on this list is a Hall of Famer, another had a strong case for being in the Hall of Fame, and at least one current player is forging a path to join baseball's greatest in memory.

Frank Thomas

Frank Thomas was drafted seventh in the 1989 draft by the Chicago White Sox. He was chosen as a first baseman out of Auburn University. Thomas, 21 at the time of the draft, was drafted after his junior year of college; he finished his college career with a .382 batting average, 49 home runs, and 205 runs batted in. He was also elected to the All-SEC First Team on three separate occasions.

Thomas, obviously, was touted highly out of college. His professional career didn't disappoint. The Hall of Famer would go on to play for 19 seasons, win Most Valuable Player twice, be nominated to attend five All-Star Games, win a batting title, and bring home four Silver Slugger trophies. He accumulated 73.8 bWAR across his career, and he was able to retire with his batting average above the prestigious .300 mark.

Most of Thomas's career was played with the Chicago White Sox, but he also made stops in Oakland and Toronto in his final few seasons. Altogether, Frank Thomas is in rarified air among seventh overall picks in baseball history.