Looking To The Future

Last night was the deadline for signing picks from the most recent draft.  Without a contract in place by midnight, those players would go back to school and re-enter the draft pool at some future date.  The Cards were able to land a couple of their big fish, but one of the biggest, as expected, got away.

Right after the midnight Eastern deadline, the Cardinals announced that they had signed Zack Cox to a major league deal.  I don't remember the Cards handing out a deal like that in the past, meaning that Cox starts out on the 40-man roster and begins burning options I assume immediately. I'm not completely sure, but it would seem like the first option would get used this year when they send him to the minors, meaning that he'd have to be in St. Louis for good by the start of 2013.  Being that he's a college player and fairly polished, along with being a hitter and not a pitcher, that might be a reasonable expectation, the thought being that if he isn't there by then, he's not going to be there.

The Cardinals were also able to sign first-round supplemental pick Seth Blair and second round pick Jordan Swagerty, to go along with Tyrell Jenkins, a first-round supplemental who had already signed.  The organization feels like they got at least three if not four first-round-caliber players, so the draft was a strong success in their eyes.

However, it could have been even more wonderful had they been able to sign Austin Wilson.  From reading about this guy and hearing what the team said when he had his day on the field earlier in the summer, he really sounded like an elite talent that could work his way up the minors quickly.  Odds are the Cards won't have another chance at him, but it sounds like they did all they could, Wilson just really wanted to go to college.  Hard to blame a kid for that.

Yesterday being an off-day also afforded Albert Pujols the opportunity to have his annual golf tournament.  All funds, of course, are for the Pujols Family Foundation and all the work they do in the Dominican and the US.  I thought it was neat that AP is expanding what he's doing down in the Dominican to bringing baseball to that part of the island.  Imagine if the next great Cardinal star is down there, learning the game from equipment given to him by Pujols!

Lots of celebrities played in the golf tournament--Shaquille O'Neal, Ozzie Smith, Bo Jackson, Bobby Knight--but one guy that probably didn't get quite the following was Adam Wainwright.  The Post-Dispatch ran a story this morning basically lining out the rationale behind the now-common phrase in Cardinal Nation: Waino is bueno.  It was interesting to hear Wainwright basically admit that contract stuff was getting in his head, which is why he signed early so he could pitch without distractions.  So many players say that doesn't play a role, so it's good to hear someone admit that it could.

Wainwright is a special talent and, from all appearances, a fairly good personality as well.  Another season like this one and he'll be right there at the top of all the lists for great pitchers in the game.

Waino doesn't go until tomorrow, so tonight we see Jaime Garcia face off against the Brewers and Dave Bush.  I'm a bit surprised that the Cardinals didn't try to rest Garcia, given the fact that there are two off days this week.  Wainwright could have pitched today on full rest, with Westbrook going tomorrow, then Carpenter, Garcia and Wainwright this weekend.  Garcia has been struggling recently, posting an ERA close to 7 in August.  He's done very well against Milwaukee this year, though, putting up a 1.42 ERA in three starts with 16 strikeouts in 19 innings.

Bush has only thrown six innings against the Redbirds this year, giving up three runs but striking out seven.  With Cincinnati out in Arizona, the Cardinals need to get to Bush early and put the pressure on them to win to keep the NL Central lead.  We'll see if they are able to do that!