The St. Louis Cardinals are projected to snag a pair of high school position players in the latest mock draft from MLB.com prospect guru Jonathan Mayo. Given that the Cardinals have more picks than most teams in this year's draft, including two first round selections, many analysts expect them to be more aggressive than others in taking high-risk/high-reward players.
With their first pick in the draft, 19th overall, Mayo sees St. Louis nabbing Northwest Cabarrus HS infielder Corey Seager:
The Cardinals have two picks in the first round and thus have a little flexibility should they want to be more aggressive. That could come in handy in landing Seager, whose older brother Kyle plays third base for the Mariners, and a high schooler rumored to be tougher to sign.
Just a few picks later at No. 23, the Cardinals are slotted to pick once again, and Mayo sees them taking Pace HS shortstop Addison Russell:
Russell got himself in terrific shape last offseason and has shown many scouts that perhaps he can stay at shortstop with a ton of offensive upside. He had a tremendous performance at the Florida all-star weekend, which means he could go earlier than this pick.
These picks would certainly help to bolster a farm system that's not exactly loaded in quality infielders. At the moment, the organization's most impressive infield prospects are third baseman Zack Cox, second baseman Kolten Wong and shortstop Ryan Jackson.
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