St. Louis Cardinals: Three Potential Rule 5 Picks

Feb 24, 2016; Goodyear, AZ, USA; Cincinnati Reds pitcher Zack Weiss poses for a portrait during media day at the Reds training facility at Goodyear Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

With the Rule 5 Draft coming up, who might the St. Louis Cardinals have interest in?

The St. Louis Cardinals are now only a week away from the annual Rule 5 Draft. For those who don’t know, the Rule 5 Draft is a minor league player draft, that occurs during December’s Winter Meetings.

The purpose of this Draft is to help minor league players, who are potentially major league ready, who are being stockpiled in their teams minor league system. This could be because they are being blocked by a current player, their team has no room for them on the 25-man roster, or because they are being undervalued by their organization.

In order for a player to be eligible for the draft, the player must have have been signed when he was 18 years old and have played in the minors for five years, or signed when he was 19 years old or older and have played in the minors for at least four years.

If and when a player is selected in the draft, the team that drafted him must pay $50,000 to the team from which they took him.

In addition, after being drafted, the player is added to that team’s 40-man roster, and the player must remain on that team’s 25-man roster for the entire season. If the team wishes to remove the player from their 25-man roster, they must first offer the player back to the team he was selected from for $25,000.

Last year, the St. Louis Cardinals took a chance with the former Mets AAA pitcher Matt Bowman, who not only made the 25-man roster, but became a critical piece of their bullpen.

The Rule 5 Draft, while risky, can be a rewarding and valuable tool for teams who wish to partake. With names like Jose Bautista, Josh Hamilton, Johan Santana, and Roberto Clemente being taken with former picks, every draft has the possibility of leaving a substantial impact on the team that is willing to take the chance.

With the Rule 5 Draft coming up on Dec. 8, let’s take a look at a couple of players the Cardinals might be interested in taking.

3. Kyle Wren – OF Milwaukee Brewers

For starters, the St. Louis Cardinals could take a shot at Brewers minor league outfielder Kyle Wren. Wren, originally an 8th round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in the 2013 MLB Draft, was traded to the Brewers in 2014, in exchange for starting pitcher Zach Quintana.

Wren, had a bit of a breakout season last year while playing with the Brewers AA- and AAA-affiliates. Between the two, Wren batted .322/.412/.412 while stealing twenty-nine bases and hitting two home runs. At 5’10”, Wren isn’t going to develop much more power, but he could have a very successful career as a speedy, contact-hitting outfielder.

Wren, could be a very valuable asset to a team like the St. Louis Cardinals. With a center fielder almost guaranteed to be acquired this offseason, the Cardinals could use Wren as a fourth outfielder.

The Cardinals, almost humorously, finished 2nd to last in all of Major League Baseball in stolen bases last season. As a TEAM, the Cardinals stole a whopping thirty-five bases, and got thrown out stealing twenty-six times.

Just for reference, on average, teams stole eighty-five bases. I also just checked the distance between the bases at Busch Stadium, and “apparently” they’re on par with every other stadium in baseball. Doubtful.

So Wren, not only could implement speed into the Cardinals lineup, but could also help to cut down on strikeouts. Through his minors career, Wren has only struck out 15% of the time.

Defensively, Wren can also be of use. In the minor leagues Wren has played all 3 outfield positions, with his most innings coming from CF. He currently owns a .985 fielding percentage in CF, with only ten errors, eleven assists, and a range factor of 2.31.

While Wren may not posses the same power potential of Tommy Pham, he can add speed, defensive versatility, a top of the lineup bat, and he can, “say it with me,” put the ball in play.

Mar 19, 2015; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (13) tags out New York Mets second baseman Phillip Evans (28) on a stolen base attempt at Roger Dean Stadium. The Mets defeated the Cardinals 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

2. Phillip Evans – SS/2B/3B New York Mets

The St. Louis Cardinals could wager on a small sample size, and draft Phillip Evans. Evans was drafted in the 15th round of the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft by the New York Mets. Evans is 5’9″, 220lbs, and 24 years old.

Before this season, Evans wasn’t making any prospect spotlights. He batted .248/.323/.344 with the Mets low A-affiliate, and then batted .238/.307/.309 with the Mets high A-affiliate. But before you get too excited, don’t worry, he turned it around this year.

With the Mets AA-affilate Mr. Evans batted .335/.374/.485 in 386 PAs in 2016. Small sample size? Very. But, this is what the Rule 5 is for. It’s for taking chances, nothing is certain, if he doesn’t work out guess what? They can have him back.

During this campaign, Evans hit eight home runs. Which isn’t a lot. But his size and swing is designed for gap power. Which is why he hit thirty doubles. Also, Evans didn’t strike out a lot this year. Only sixty times to be exact, which gives him a 15% strikeout rate for the season.

The Cardinals could use Evans and his versatility as a utility infielder. Currently, the Cardinals have Greg Garcia as their utility player. The thing about Greg is that he gets on base. Kind of a lot. But, Greg lacks power, even gap power. He only had eleven doubles and four home runs in 257 PAs. Which is fine, but Evans could add a much bigger boost to the bench with his bat.

Defensively, Evans is about even with Greg. Garcia might have a slight advantage at shortstop, but Evans is said to be solid at 3B and 2nd, and not going to hurt his team at short.

There’s no reason not to give Garcia a little competition in the upcoming Spring Training. Competition is good, it reminds players that someone always wants their paycheck.

1. Zack Weiss – RHP Cincinnati Reds

Lastly, the St. Louis Cardinals could steal Zack Weiss from the Cincinnati Reds. Weiss was originally drafted by the Reds in the 6th round of the 2013 Draft.

While Weiss didn’t pitch in 2016 due to an elbow injury he obtained during spring training, he has shown flashes of brilliance in the years prior. In 2015, Weiss pitched 63.2 innings between High-A and AA as his teams primary closer, finishing the year with thirty saves in thirty-two chances.

Weiss was untouchable in 2015 with 12.7 strike outs per nine, giving him a total of ninety on the season. But unlike most strikeout pitchers, Weiss limited his walks as well. Weiss only walked fifteen that year, giving him 2.1 per nine innings. Which is really good.

Weiss got to play in the Arizona Fall League in 2015, but wasn’t quite as sharp. Weiss gave up six runs on eleven hits, in nine innings. But he also struck out eleven, and only walked one.

Weiss has the potential to be a very dominant reliever for any major league team. If Weiss is capable of staying healthy, he could compete with Seth Maness and Johnathon Broxton in the for a spot in the bullpen this Spring. The Cardinals also need to be weary of Trevor Rosenthal. While he can be very dominant, he can also be very wild. He lost his spot as the teams closer, and now needs to prove himself this Spring Training. If not, he could find himself in AAA, or with another team’s jersey.

At only 23 years old, Weiss could have a very productive career ahead of him. All he needs is a chance to prove what he can do. I think it was a huge mistake for the Reds to leave him off their 40-man roster.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have some decision-making to do in the next couple of weeks. If these players are available when the Cardinals draft comes up, I hope they take them into consideration.