St. Louis Cardinals prove to be the best team at drafting mid-round players

For many teams throughout Major League Baseball, the dividing line between good organizations and great ones can be found with how they draft players. Teams that find value picks in the middle rounds of the MLB Draft are typically the ones that perform well across the board. Since 2012, the St. Louis Cardinals have been one of the best teams when it comes to drafting players in the middle rounds of the draft.

Outside of the last three years, the Cardinals haven't been able to nab high lottery picks due to plenty of regular-season success. Therefore, they've been forced to win on the margins when it comes to drafting and developing. Finding valuable players in the middle rounds of the draft is vital to the prospect health of the organization, and St. Louis has been fantastic at that.

The Cardinals have received great praise from several draft pundits regarding their work this year in the draft. They drafted high schooler Trevor Condon in the first round, but they also had several great draft picks in the later rounds. Below you'll find their list of draftees in the fifth through tenth rounds. These are the rounds where the Cardinals have historically found success.

• Round 5, No. 146 overall: RHP Cal Randall, UCLA (MLB Pipeline rank: No. 219)
• Round 6, No. 175 overall: SS Owen Henne, Seton Hill
• Round 7, No. 204 overall: RHP Derek Shaefer, Arizona State
• Round 8, No. 234 overall: LHP Luke Harrison, Texas
• Round 9, No. 264 overall: C Jayden Lobliner, San Diego
• Round 10, No. 294 overall: RHP Nick Bonn, Cal Poly

The St. Louis Cardinals have been the best team at drafting players in the 5th through 10th rounds of the MLB Draft since 2012.

According to an analysis done by Robert Frey, the Cardinals have accumulated the most bWAR of any other team with players drafted in the fifth through tenth rounds in the bonus pool era (2012-present).

The Cardinals lead the pack with 51.9 bWAR from draftees in these rounds. Rounding out the top five are the Cleveland Guardians (37.3), Detroit Tigers (24.5), Philadelphia Phillies (18.8), and San Francisco Giants (18.8). It's not even close.

Some big-name players whom the Cardinals have drafted in these rounds since 2012 include Tommy Edman, Ryan Helsley, Brendan Donovan, and Lars Nootbaar. These players have all been selected in the fifth through tenth rounds.

Tommy Edman leads this bunch in bWAR, but he's far from the only contributor as a mid-round pick for the Cardinals. Below is the leaderboard for Cardinals drafted in the fifth through tenth rounds by bWAR. WAR totals are those only when the player was with the Cardinals.

If the St. Louis Cardinals are looking to get creative with player development, they'll need to continue to separate themselves when it comes to drafting in the middle rounds of the MLB Draft. This is where true value can come for a team. Up to this point in the Bonus Pool Era, the Cardinals have done exceptionally well in these middle rounds. They'll look to continue that trend with the latest Draft as well.

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