National scouting outlet awards Cardinals with best value pick of 2024 MLB Draft

Before the 2024 MLB Draft got underway, I was very clear that the dream scenario for the St. Louis Cardinals was that West Virginia's JJ Wetherholt would fall to them at the seventh overall pick.

Prior to this year's college baseball season, Wetherholt was the consensus favorite to be drafted number one overall, and for good reason. He had a mind-boggling sophomore season that showcased his plus-plus bat and plate discipline, and his exciting power potential mixed with encouraging defense and speed made him the complete package. Even with the hamstring injury concerns, Wetherholt was someone who talent-wise should go at least top three in the draft.

Well, Baseball America seems to agree.

According to a recent ranking they did, Baseball America ranked the Cardinals' selection of JJ Wetherholt as the number one best value pick in the entire draft according to his landing on the outlet's top prospects list and the signing bonus the Cardinals were able to secure him at.

Wetherholt instantly became the Cardinals' number one prospect upon his selection, and both Wetherholt and Cardinals' pitching prospect Tink Hence rank in the top 25 prospects in baseball, according to Baseball America's rankings.

When it comes to any professional draft, there's a bit of luck involved when a talent like Wetherholt falls to you. First, the six teams before you needed to pass on that guy, which was shocking in itself. Then the player, in the case of the MLB Draft, needs to be willing to accept a signing bonus that the club is comfortable handing out, which again was the case with Wetherholt.

The shortstop has already begun playing games for the Cardinals' Low-A affiliate in Palm Beach and has been tearing the cover off of the baseball in the process. At the time of writing this, he's posted an .883 OPS and .975 xOPS, 70% Sweetspot%, 98.6 AVG EV, and is chasing just 4.5% of the pitches he sees. Obviously we are at the very beginning of his professional baseball development and he is facing some of the lowest levels of talent possible, but he's doing everything you could ask for from a prospect of his pedigree so far.

Selfishly, I hope they promote Wetherholt to High-A Peoria soon so I can get out and watch him in person frequently before the season is over. I think it is probably best for fans to keep their expectations low in terms of how quickly he can move through the system, but he is the type of talent that I could see accelerating through the ranks quicker than most.

The Cardinals had not picked in the top ten of the MLB Draft since 1998 prior to their Wetherholt selection. The Cardinals never get the opportunity to add a player of his pedigree to their system right off the jump. Sure, we've seen guys like Jordan Walker, Dylan Carlson, and Nolan Gorman become top 25 prospects in baseball in recent years, but none of them were viewed in that light when they were drafted.

I'll be keeping a close eye on the Wetherholt and you'll be sure to see coverage of his development on the site frequently. Personally, it's exciting to me that we are not just hearing Cardinals people share their excitement about the talent Wetherholt has, but baseball people across the industry seem to believe the Cardinals have a good one here.