Please click on the blue links below for more information.
St. Louis Cardinals Draft History
All tables below are based on the amount of WAR each player produced during their first seven seasons in Major League Baseball. The WAR totals for each draft class include both Pitching and Hitting WAR, but excludes any player that did not sign with their drafting team. The total WAR also reflects the total value the drafted player provided, not just the value to his drafting team.
*Data accurate through 2019 season.
Top Five Draft Classes
Year
Team
WAR
1999
St. Louis Cardinals
76.0
2009
St. Louis Cardinals
48.2
2006
St. Louis Cardinals
43.5
1984
St. Louis Cardinals
40.6
1988
St. Louis Cardinals
39.4
Bottom Five Draft Classes
Year
Team
WAR
2007
St. Louis Cardinals
-4.1
2002
St. Louis Cardinals
-1.1
1989
St. Louis Cardinals
-0.8
2004
St. Louis Cardinals
-0.4
1975
St. Louis Cardinals
-0.3
This list excludes any season past 2010, since those draft classes have a multitude of active players.
Top Five Draft Picks
Year Drafted
Round
Overall Pick
Name
WAR
1999
13
402
Albert Pujols
53.5
1998
1
5
J.D. Drew
26.1
2001
2
72
Dan Haren
25.6
1979
1
6
Andy Van Slyke
24.9
1971
42
785
Keith Hernandez
23.8
List made from top five WAR values alone.
Five Biggest Busts
Year Drafted
Round
Overall Pick
Name
WAR
1996
1
3
Braden Looper
4.1
1989
1
6
Paul Coleman
No MLB Experience
1984
1
7
Mike Dunne
2.5
1966
1
7
Leron Lee
2.6
1971
1
8
Ed Kurpiel
No MLB Experience
List made from first round picks that produced less than 5.0 WAR in their first seven seasons and ordered by lowest overall pick.
Top Five Value Picks
Year Drafted
Round
Overall Pick
Name
WAR
1999
13
402
Albert Pujols
53.5
1971
42
785
Keith Hernandez
23.8
2009
13
399
Matt Carpenter
23.7
1984
22
554
Jeff Fassero
22.5
1970
37
811
Bake McBride
18.7
List made from top five WAR values where a player was drafted outside of the first ten rounds.
Top Five Unsigned Draft Picks
Year Drafted
Round
Overall Pick
Name
WAR
2003
43
1291
Max Scherzer
26.2
1978
3
67
Mike Moore
24.3
1974
28
587
Paul Molitor
21.6
1969
11
260
Bill Madlock
19.5
1968
38
809
Ed Halicki
16.1
List made from top five WAR values where a player did not sign with the team.