While it was never likely that the Cardinals were going to get the No. 1 pick they weren't supposed to fall to No. 13, either.
The St. Louis Cardinals earned the No. 13 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft on Tuesday night as a result of the MLB Draft Lottery. It was a disappointing outcome for St. Louis, who "should" have had the No. 8 pick, based on odds.
The Cardinals had a 2.35 percent chance to earn the No. 1 pick, but instead they went five spots backwards.
A disappointing result for Bloom
Chaim Bloom is the new front office leader for the Cardinals, and his whole way of thinking involves improving the farm system and prospect development. The draft is the most important and sustainable conduit to doing those things, but having the No. 13 pick instead of the No. 8 pick or higher makes that harder to do - at least right way.
There is another way though
The Cardinals won't be able to get the top talent in the draft from the No. 13 spot, but they can still add premium prospects this winter through trades. St. Louis is reportedly listening to offers on Nolan Gorman, Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, JoJo Romero and Nolan Arenado.
They've already traded Sonny Gray this offseason, but they aren't expected to trade Silver Slugger Alec Burleson.
Results of the draft lottery
The White Sox have the No. 1 pick, followed by the Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Athletics, Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies. The Nationals, Angels, Cardinals, Marlins, Diamondbacks, Rangers, and Astros make up the rest of the teams in the lottery.
The Cincinnati Reds, who made the wild card round in the National League, have the No. 18 pick.
The draft will take place July 11-12 in Philadelphia as part of All-Star week.
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