The St. Louis Cardinals were able to come to agreements with 4 of their top 5 draft picks from the 2010 draft including top pick Zack Cox, pitcher Jordan Swagerty, pitcher Seth Blair, and prep righty Tyrell Jenkins.
Although the Cardinals missed out on signing 12th-rounder Austin Wilson, who was considered a first-round talent, the Cardinals have to be very pleased with their draft. Overall they signed every player they drafted in the first 11 rounds, bolstering a weak farm system.
Cox and Swagerty were both Draft-eligible sophomores and both of their deals were finished just before the 11 p.m. CDT signing deadline on Monday night.
Cox signed a Major League contract, and as a result, the Cardinals will add him to the 40-man roster.
The Cardinals missed out on Wilson largely in part to his baseball scholarship waiting for him at Stanford. He visited the stadium shortly after the draft with his mother, but GM John Mozeliak said that talks never progressed very far with Wilson.
The Cardinals signed Cox for somewhere around $3 million although the exact number isn't known. Cox was considered by some to be a tough sign, so the Cardinals have to happy about signing him, even without signing Wilson.
Cox was considered one of the most polished hitters in the draft and batted .429 for Arkansas in 2010 with 9 homers, 48 RBIs, and 67 runs scored. He also stole 11 bases.
Along with Cox, supplemental first-rounders Seth Blair and Tyrell Jenkins were all considered great talents with plenty of potential. Blair signed for around $750K, while Jenkins signed for $1.3 million.
Jordan Swagerty, teammate of Blair on the Arizona State Sun Devils, was the closer for their College World Series squad.
As for Jenkins, he was drafted 50th overall as a compensation pick for losing Joel Piñiero in free agency. He reports to rookie-level Johnson City.
Jenkins turned 18 last month and committed to play quarterback at Baylor University. He attended high school in Henderson, texas and lettered in baseball, basketball, football, and track. He was considered Baylor's top recruit at quarterback, but ultimately chose to sign with St. Louis.
Jenkins led Henderson High to a second consecutive District 14 4A Championship, compiling a 24-7 record. He went 8-2 with a 2.33 ERA during the year with 96 strikeouts.
The Cardinals were extremely lucky to land Jenkins as late as they did as he was considered a top talent by many major league clubs. Scouts lauded his live arm with a fluid delivery and lots of potential.
His fastball is listed in the 91-93 range, topping out around 95, but there is a definite possibility to add velocity by filling out his 6-foot-4, 180 lb. frame.
The Cardinals are very excited about Jenkins' potential, and he's immediately one of the top arms in the Cardinals farm system behind Shelby Miller, among others.
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