Cardinals Days Away From ‘Unpredictable’ Franchise Decision

Who are the St. Louis Cardinals going to select with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft?

ESPN released its latest mock draft and David Schoenfield predicted that the Cardinals will select high school shortstop JoJo Parker.

"No. 5. St. Louis Cardinals," McDaniel said. "Pick: JoJo Parker, SS, Purvis HS (MS). Cardinals GM Schoenfield: The Cardinals haven't drafted this high since taking J.D. Drew fifth in 1998 after he went unsigned the year before. That turned out pretty well, as Drew gave them five solid seasons (although not the superstar seasons predicted) and was then traded for Adam Wainwright. The Cardinals usually prefer college players in the first round, but they did take high schoolers Jordan Walker in 2020 and Nolan Gorman in 2018 and chief baseball officer-in-waiting Chaim Bloom might have a different philosophy from John Mozeliak.

"Parker is projected to have an excellent hit tool, similar to JJ Wetherholt, last year's first-round pick. Parker probably slides over to third, giving them a potential long-term infield of Wetherholt at second, Masyn Winn at shortstop and Parker at third. (Kiley McDaniel's) draft analysis: This is where the draft becomes unpredictable and the Cards have a number of reasonable options, so I'd expect bonus demands to heavily dictate the real outcome, which is something Dave couldn't do here."

In recent weeks, high school shortstops have been popular mock draft targets for St. Louis. No matter what happens, it's going to be a big decision for St. Louis and now it is just a few weeks away.