The Cardinals left All-Star week with more than a little buzz around their future, and MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis just poured gasoline on it. Callis ranked St. Louis’ 2026 draft class as the best in baseball, a strong nod to a front office that used a busy two-day haul to stock the system with both upside and depth.
That praise didn’t come out of nowhere. The Cardinals had the most picks in the draft, and Chaim Bloom turned that volume into real value.
Across 24 selections, St. Louis landed six players who were ranked in the pre-draft top 100, giving the class a level of talent that stood out even before the signings are finalized.
A big piece of that haul came from the extra draft capital the Cardinals picked up through competitive balance rounds. They got one pick themselves and added two more in the offseason Brendan Donovan trade, and those selections gave Bloom and Randy Flores more swings at impact talent. If the majority of those players sign, the Cardinals will have added a serious wave of prospect depth to a system that already keeps growing.
The first-round choice drew plenty of attention, too. St.
Louis went to the prep ranks and took athletic center fielder Trevor Condon with pick thirteen, a player who has drawn comparisons to Pete Crow-Armstrong. Even without the same lottery break the Cardinals got when they landed JJ Wetherholt and Liam Doyle, the pick was viewed by experts as a strong one.
Day one, in particular, seemed to hit the sweet spot. The Cardinals came away with eight players that experts had little disagreement with, mixing college and high school talent in a way that drew multiple 'A' grades and even top-five draft rankings from different outlets.
By the end of the draft, St. Louis had added plenty of juice to a minor league system that was already trending up.
There is still some business to finish. As of Monday, the only Cardinals draftee who has already said he will return to college is final pick Kollin Ritchie.
The deadline for signing this class is July 27, and the coming days should bring updates on contracts and bonuses. Because later-round players still have eligibility remaining, the Cardinals could also use some of that flexibility to save money and secure earlier picks.
Of course, the real verdict on any MLB draft takes time. These players won’t be judged in a week or a month; it’ll take years to know what the class truly becomes.
But for now, the early returns are loud, and with Bloom’s recent track record, there’s plenty of belief that St. Louis has another strong crop on its hands.
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What has made the move even more notable is the way he has begun to settle in on the field. In two July starts, Cijntje allowed two runs while striking out 17 over 12 innings, a strong stretch that stands out even with a season ERA of 5.04. He has mostly worked right-handed, with only brief left-handed usage in games, but that unusual profile is part of what makes his climb so compelling for a Cardinals organization that is watching its Memphis rotation with real interest. [Read more 🡒]