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Cardinals1964 wrote: ↑22 Dec 2025 00:10 am When is the last time the Cardinals had a truly great 1st round pick. I’ll go with Ted Simmons. Who’s your choice?

ICCFIM2 wrote: ↑22 Dec 2025 00:39 am

Cardinals1964 wrote: ↑22 Dec 2025 00:10 am When is the last time the Cardinals had a truly great 1st round pick. I’ll go with Ted Simmons. Who’s your choice?

If the requirement is to become a HOF, you boiled the list down to the only one....

They have had some picks who had pretty good ML careers.

Garry Templeton 1974
Andy Van Slyke 1979 (never should have been traded.)
Todd Worrell 1982
Joe MaGrane 1985
Brian Jordan 1988
Matt Morris 1995
JD Drew 1998 (He debuted in his draft year!)
Lance Lynn 2008 (here is part of the problem, 10 years between Lynn and Drew)
Kolten Wong 2011
Jack Flaherty 2014 (I know some hate him on this board, but he has put up a few good seasons)
McGreevy 2021 may be OK. But the point of your post and the problem is we have now had another 10 year donut hole.

nighthawk wrote: ↑22 Dec 2025 06:10 am So, the now appears to be when was the last time the Cards had a first round pick who became a HOFer. Okay, how does it compare to all major league teams first round pick HOFer. What percentage of first round picks become HOFers?

Cardinals1964 wrote: ↑22 Dec 2025 02:53 am

ICCFIM2 wrote: ↑22 Dec 2025 00:39 am

Cardinals1964 wrote: ↑22 Dec 2025 00:10 am When is the last time the Cardinals had a truly great 1st round pick. I’ll go with Ted Simmons. Who’s your choice?

If the requirement is to become a HOF, you boiled the list down to the only one....

They have had some picks who had pretty good ML careers.

Garry Templeton 1974
Andy Van Slyke 1979 (never should have been traded.)
Todd Worrell 1982
Joe MaGrane 1985
Brian Jordan 1988
Matt Morris 1995
JD Drew 1998 (He debuted in his draft year!)
Lance Lynn 2008 (here is part of the problem, 10 years between Lynn and Drew)
Kolten Wong 2011
Jack Flaherty 2014 (I know some hate him on this board, but he has put up a few good seasons)
McGreevy 2021 may be OK. But the point of your post and the problem is we have now had another 10 year donut hole.

Thanks for the list. You got me with Todd Worrell. I wouldn’t call any of the others truly great though. I thought of this question when reading responses to getting nobody for some of our recent trades. The truth is, most people don’t know who’s going to be an elite player.

nighthawk wrote: ↑22 Dec 2025 06:10 am So, the now appears to be when was the last time the Cards had a first round pick who became a HOFer. Okay, how does it compare to all major league teams first round pick HOFer. What percentage of first round picks become HOFers?

OldRed wrote: ↑22 Dec 2025 06:50 am

nighthawk wrote: ↑22 Dec 2025 06:10 am So, the now appears to be when was the last time the Cards had a first round pick who became a HOFer. Okay, how does it compare to all major league teams first round pick HOFer. What percentage of first round picks become HOFers?

Was Steve Carlton a first round pick?

Cardinals1964 wrote: ↑22 Dec 2025 00:10 am When is the last time the Cardinals had a truly great 1st round pick. I’ll go with Ted Simmons. Who’s your choice?