Cardinals top OF prospects since 2009

[Ace07]

Here are the prospects who have been #1 overall on MLB.com for the Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus, 2009 1st
Oscar Taveras, 2013 1st
Stephen Piscotty, 2015 1st
Dylan Carlson, 2020 1st overall
Jordan Walker, 2022 1st overall

Obviously different stories for each, but what an awful ROI on these players.

[Absolut]

Piscotty was 1 overall?

[sikeston bulldog2]

Here are the prospects who have been #1 overall on MLB.com for the Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus, 2009 1st
Oscar Taveras, 2013 1st
Stephen Piscotty, 2015 1st
Dylan Carlson, 2020 1st overall
Jordan Walker, 2022 1st overall

Obviously different stories for each, but what an awful ROI on these players.

Quite a bit of bust in there. So to the argument- do I pay high prices proven talent or do I count on the farm.

[Cardinals4Life]

Here are the prospects who have been #1 overall on MLB.com for the Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus, 2009 1st
Oscar Taveras, 2013 1st
Stephen Piscotty, 2015 1st
Dylan Carlson, 2020 1st overall
Jordan Walker, 2022 1st overall

Obviously different stories for each, but what an awful ROI on these players.

On the positive side, Rasmus was shipped out and we won a WS from it!!

[An Old Friend]

Piscotty was 1 overall?

No. Like... not even close.

MLB had him at #90 pre-2015 - https://www.baseball-reference.com/regi ... scot001ste

I don't think MLB.com was listing their own rankings in 2009 when he indicates that Rasmus was. On his player page, MLB is not listed for prospect rankings. He was #3 in Baseball America and #8 in Baseball Prospectus... and they key player in a trade that helped the Cardinals win a World Series, which I'd consider a solid ROI - https://www.baseball-reference.com/regi ... smus001col

MLB had Carlson at #17 pre-2020 - https://www.baseball-reference.com/regi ... rlso000dyl

No idea what Ace is talking about... or, more accurately, Ace has no idea what he is talking about.

[Jatalk]

Here are the prospects who have been #1 overall on MLB.com for the Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus, 2009 1st
Oscar Taveras, 2013 1st
Stephen Piscotty, 2015 1st
Dylan Carlson, 2020 1st overall
Jordan Walker, 2022 1st overall

Obviously different stories for each, but what an awful ROI on these players.

Quite a bit of bust in there. So to the argument- do I pay high prices proven talent or do I count on the farm.

Good organizations do both. Cardinals have done both in the past and were successful. Obviously they have changed course in an unsuccessful way.

[BrockFloodMaris]

Here are the prospects who have been #1 overall on MLB.com for the Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus, 2009 1st
Oscar Taveras, 2013 1st
Stephen Piscotty, 2015 1st
Dylan Carlson, 2020 1st overall
Jordan Walker, 2022 1st overall

Obviously different stories for each, but what an awful ROI on these players.

Were these outfielders #1 Cardinals prospects? Or #1 MLB prospects? I think they were the former. Is that correct?

[rage-STL]

Here are the prospects who have been #1 overall on MLB.com for the Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus, 2009 1st
Oscar Taveras, 2013 1st
Stephen Piscotty, 2015 1st
Dylan Carlson, 2020 1st overall
Jordan Walker, 2022 1st overall

Obviously different stories for each, but what an awful ROI on these players.

On the positive side, Rasmus was shipped out and we won a WS from it!!

Hear, hear!

[ecleme22]

Sometimes you draft Carlsons.

Sometimes you sign Arozarenas.


From there, that’s when the ability to evaluate talent comes in…

[Red Bird Classic]

Here are the prospects who have been #1 overall on MLB.com for the Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus, 2009 1st
Oscar Taveras, 2013 1st
Stephen Piscotty, 2015 1st
Dylan Carlson, 2020 1st overall
Jordan Walker, 2022 1st overall

Obviously different stories for each, but what an awful ROI on these players.

Don't keep up with MLB's prospect rankings, but it's hard to imagine that Stephen Piscotty, Carlson, Rasmus, or Walker were ever that highly regarded by anyone.

You might want to find a superior service to rank prospects.

[An Old Friend]

Here are the prospects who have been #1 overall on MLB.com for the Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus, 2009 1st
Oscar Taveras, 2013 1st
Stephen Piscotty, 2015 1st
Dylan Carlson, 2020 1st overall
Jordan Walker, 2022 1st overall

Obviously different stories for each, but what an awful ROI on these players.

Don't keep up with MLB's prospect rankings, but it's hard to imagine that Stephen Piscotty, Carlson, Rasmus, or Walker were ever that highly regarded by anyone.

You might want to find a superior service to rank prospects.

Carlson, Rasmus, and Walker were all top-10 type guys across the rating agencies.

[Absolut]

Piscotty was 1 overall?

No. Like... not even close.

MLB had him at #90 pre-2015 - https://www.baseball-reference.com/regi ... scot001ste

I don't think MLB.com was listing their own rankings in 2009 when he indicates that Rasmus was. On his player page, MLB is not listed for prospect rankings. He was #3 in Baseball America and #8 in Baseball Prospectus... and they key player in a trade that helped the Cardinals win a World Series, which I'd consider a solid ROI - https://www.baseball-reference.com/regi ... smus001col

MLB had Carlson at #17 pre-2020 - https://www.baseball-reference.com/regi ... rlso000dyl

No idea what Ace is talking about... or, more accurately, Ace has no idea what he is talking about.

Maybe he meant as cards prospect? But I don’t recall piscotty being 1 there either

[Red Bird Classic]

Here are the prospects who have been #1 overall on MLB.com for the Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus, 2009 1st
Oscar Taveras, 2013 1st
Stephen Piscotty, 2015 1st
Dylan Carlson, 2020 1st overall
Jordan Walker, 2022 1st overall

Obviously different stories for each, but what an awful ROI on these players.

Don't keep up with MLB's prospect rankings, but it's hard to imagine that Stephen Piscotty, Carlson, Rasmus, or Walker were ever that highly regarded by anyone.

You might want to find a superior service to rank prospects.

Carlson, Rasmus, and Walker were all top-10 type guys across the rating agencies.

I'll buy that. Each was probably the top Cardinal prospect at some point. But that's not the same thing as being the overall #1 prospect in baseball.

Even Tavares wasn't the top prospect in baseball. You'd have to go all the way back to JD Drew to get a Cardinal outfielder who was the #1 prospect in baseball.

[Cranny]

Here are the prospects who have been #1 overall on MLB.com for the Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus, 2009 1st
Oscar Taveras, 2013 1st
Stephen Piscotty, 2015 1st
Dylan Carlson, 2020 1st overall
Jordan Walker, 2022 1st overall

Obviously different stories for each, but what an awful ROI on these players.

Taveras? A tragedy. Not the Cardinals fault for ROI.
Walker? Way too soon to judge.

[An Old Friend]

Here are the prospects who have been #1 overall on MLB.com for the Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus, 2009 1st
Oscar Taveras, 2013 1st
Stephen Piscotty, 2015 1st
Dylan Carlson, 2020 1st overall
Jordan Walker, 2022 1st overall

Obviously different stories for each, but what an awful ROI on these players.

Don't keep up with MLB's prospect rankings, but it's hard to imagine that Stephen Piscotty, Carlson, Rasmus, or Walker were ever that highly regarded by anyone.

You might want to find a superior service to rank prospects.

Carlson, Rasmus, and Walker were all top-10 type guys across the rating agencies.

I'll buy that. Each was probably the top Cardinal prospect at some point. But that's not the same thing as being the overall #1 prospect in baseball.

Even Tavares wasn't the top prospect in baseball. You'd have to go all the way back to JD Drew to get a Cardinal outfielder who was the #1 prospect in baseball.

MLB Pipeline had Walker at #1 in May 2023 after some promotions ahead of him.

[Red Bird Classic]

Here are the prospects who have been #1 overall on MLB.com for the Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus, 2009 1st
Oscar Taveras, 2013 1st
Stephen Piscotty, 2015 1st
Dylan Carlson, 2020 1st overall
Jordan Walker, 2022 1st overall

Obviously different stories for each, but what an awful ROI on these players.

Taveras? A tragedy. Not the Cardinals fault for ROI.
Walker? Way too soon to judge.

Taveras never did anything on the field to suggest he was any better than Walker or Carlson. If anything, he was worse.

Taveras was bad, bad with a glove and bad with a stick. He didn't run well and lacked range in the outfield. He never got a chance to prove he could do better with time, but he was bad.