MLB Draft: Cardinals Sign First-Rounder Zack Cox At Deadline

As the MLB Draft deadline approached the Cardinals came to terms with first rounder Zack Cox, most recently a third baseman for the University of Arkansas. Various rumors floating around Twitter report that it’s a $3.2 million Major League deal.

Having already put him on the 40-man roster, the Cardinals clearly expect Cox, who hit .429 in college play in 2010, to move quickly through their system; no word yet as to whether he’ll report to a team this year, or where he might. Follow Viva El BIrdos for continual updates about Cox and the rest of the Cardinals’ 2010 draft.

KLTV is reporting that local high school pitcher Tyrell Jenkins, the Cardinals' third pick in the 2010 draft, has signed with the team and will begin his professional career this season at rookie-level Johnson City. 

Jenkins will be headed to St. Louis later this week to sign a professional contract with the Cardinals.

Jenkins will forego a chance to play football at Baylor, for a shot to play pro ball.

"I know that I will miss out on college, but me and my mom talked it over, and financially it was right, and this is the best choice for me."

In June Jenkins was chosen 50th in the MLB draft—the last pick of the first day of activity. The Cardinals were awarded the pick as compensation for losing Joel PIneiro to free agency. A two-sport star in high school, rumors of his imminent signing escalated after he turned down a football scholarship to Baylor earlier in the week. 

The Cardinals’ official Twitter is reporting that 33 of the team’s 52 draft picks have already signed, among them third rounder Sam Tuivailala, fourth round catcher Cody Stanley, fifth round outfielder Nick Longmire, and seventh round shortstop Greg Garcia.

Drew Benes, a 35th round pick and the son of longtime starter Andy Benes, also signed.

A number of these players will join the short-season minor league squads, whose year begins June 18, when the Batavia Muckdogs open play in the New York-Penn League. Benes, on his Twitter, suggested he would debut with the Johnson City Cardinals.

With their twelfth round pick in this year’s MLB Draft the Cardinals took the best remaining talent on the board, and it wasn’t close: Austin Wilson, a first round talent whose power potential was perhaps the best on the board, non-Bryce-Harper division, was a potential first rounder who scared away baseball’s 29 other teams by wanting to go to Stanford.

The Cardinals’ Jeff Luhnow has already dismissed his chance of signing as a “<a href=”http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/C62BDBB9E04B8CE78625773D00109782?OpenDocument" target="new">longshot</a>", but having him under club control for a few months has to at least make life a little more difficult for first rounder Zach Cox’s agent…

With the last pick of the first day of the MLB Draft—compensation for the Angels signing Joel Pineiro in the offseason—the Cardinals took right-handed high schooler Tyrell Jenkins.

Jenkins has an excellent fastball, but the Cardinals will have some compensation in the course of actually getting him signed; a two-sport star, he’s currently committed to go to Baylor on a football scholarship. Let’s hope he prefers pitching baseballs to throwing footballs.

With the first of two supplemental picks the Cardinals took right-handed starter Seth Blair, out of Arizona State. Blair has a low-90s fastball and a useful curveball and changeup, and early in the season briefly threw as hard as 98 miles per hour.

The Cardinals received the 46th pick as compensation for the departure of Mark DeRosa.

With the 25th pick in the first round of the 2010 draft the Cardinals took third baseman Zack Cox, a left-handed hitter from Arkansas. According to the red baron of Viva El Birdos Cox is a pure hitter with less than perfect tools:

Cox doesn't have light-tower power, even though he's certainly big enough to suggest the ability to hit the ball a long way.

What Cox does have, though, is pure hitting ability that should get him drafted plenty early. His stroke is solid, with good bat speed, and he uses all fields. I've seen his swing referred to as short, but I would quibble with that. There's a bit of armsiness there. He's polished and understands the strike zone, and doesn't get himself out very often.

The Cardinals have experience with this kind of player—in 2008 they spent their first pick on a stocky, line drive-hitting third baseman named Brett Wallace.