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In Mayo's most recent mock draft, he had Manaea going to the Cardinals at No. 19 overall.

STL_Cards wrote:

In Mayo's most recent mock draft, he had Manaea going to the Cardinals at No. 19 overall.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/05/m ... price.html

MinorLeagueGuy wrote:

STL_Cards wrote:

In Mayo's most recent mock draft, he had Manaea going to the Cardinals at No. 19 overall.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/05/m ... price.html

Even trying to sign him would send ripples through our draft. Not good ones. He won't sign for slot, Scott Beelzbub wants the world. Even attempting to would put the rest of our picks in a wait and see pattern. This has 'Appel' written all over it.

lukethedrifter wrote:If Manea has representation, ie Boras, then he can't go back for his senior year like suggested earlier, right?


Or does that rule just apply to basketball players?

MrCrowesGarden wrote:

lukethedrifter wrote:If Manea has representation, ie Boras, then he can't go back for his senior year like suggested earlier, right?


Or does that rule just apply to basketball players?

That's just NFL and NBA. Boras can only act as an "advisor" at this point.

The scoop
There is a feel across the scouting ranks that the talent level in this year's Draft class is down a bit from 2012. However, the Cards are intrigued by several standout college and high school pitchers, as well as a few college bats. In terms of top talent, the Draft seems to be deeper in pitching than with position players. However, because pitching is so widely coveted, the expectation is that the top hurlers will come off the board quickly.

First-round buzz
With little clarity as to which players will go off the Draft board first, it's nearly impossible to predict who St. Louis will select with its first-round picks. In his latest mock Draft, MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo had the Cardinals taking Indiana State lefty Sean Manaea at No. 19 and Florida right-hander Jonathon Crawford at No. 28. The Cardinals like the idea of taking college pitchers with their early picks, so don't be surprised if the organization does go that direction.

Money matters

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, each team has an allotted bonus pool equal to the sum of the values of that club's selections in the first 10 rounds of the Draft. The more picks a team has, and the earlier it picks, the larger the pool. The signing bonuses for a team's selections in the first 10 rounds, plus any bonus greater than $100,000 for a player taken after the 10th round, will apply toward the bonus-pool total.

Any team going up to five percent over its allotted pool will be taxed at a 75-percent rate on the overage. A team that overspends by 5-10 percent gets a 75-percent tax plus the loss of a first-round pick. A team that goes 10-15 percent over its pool amount will be hit with a 100-percent penalty on the overage and the loss of a first- and second-round pick. Any overage of 15 percent or more gets a 100-percent tax plus the loss of first-round picks in the next two Drafts.

The Cardinals, who have 11 picks in the first 10 rounds, have been assigned a pool of $6.9079 million. That total ranks 11th most in the Majors. The values assigned to the Cards' first-round picks are $2.0558 million (19th) and $1.7853 million (28th).

Shopping list
The Cardinals will approach the Draft with the intention of taking the best players available -- not filling specific areas of positional needs. Because it typically takes several years for Draft picks to rise through the system, the Cards are not going to Draft based on current holes on the Major League roster. That said, the organization has seen recently how imperative it is to have a farm system stocked with pitching. The Cardinals would like to add some additional high-impact arms through this Draft class.

Trend watch
In four of the last five Drafts, the Cardinals have used their first selection to snag a college player. The only exception during that span was in 2009, when the organization chose Texas high school pitcher Shelby Miller. While the Cards are not opposed to taking a high schooler early, if all else is equal, they'll likely lean college.