Scouting the Standouts from the Cardinals 2008 Draft

Last week, we took a look at a few players that St. Louis selected in the 2007 Draft. The draft from the following year, 2008, featured fewer notable players; however, we’ll grant a glance at those standouts in today’s story.

The Cardinals’ first pick in the 2008 draft was infielder Brett Wallace. Wallace played between Single-A and Double-A in 2008 and 2009 before he was involved in one of the team’s most important trades of recent memory: the Matt Holliday trade. Along with 2007 pick Clay Mortensen and fellow ‘08 draftee Shane Peterson, Wallace was traded to the Oakland Athletics, and Holliday came to St. Louis.

We all know how Holliday turned out... As for Wallace, he enjoyed four years of big-league work with the Houston Astros between 2010 and 2013. Wallace spent time in the Toronto Blue Jays’ and Baltimore Orioles’ (both in 2014) organizations before joining the San Diego Padres in 2015. Wallace appeared in 64 games for San Diego that season and 119 in 2016. Slashing just .189/.309/.318 in his 2016 campaign, Wallace — now 31 years old — was released by the Padres prior to the start of the 2017 season.

St. Louis Cardinals 2008 Draft results

St. Louis’s second pick of the 2008 draft: no other than Michael Lancelot Lynn, a right-handed hurler out of the University of Mississippi. Better known as ‘Lance,’ the pitcher went on to debut for the Cardinals in 2011 as a reliever before pitching in a starter’s role from 2012 onward.

In five seasons from 2012 to 2017 (he missed the entire 2016 season recovering from Tommy John surgery), Lynn averaged 31 starts and worked to a 14.3 WAR in that time-frame. Having proved himself worthy of a multi-year deal, the Cardinals granted Lynn a three-year, $22 million deal, covering the 2015, ‘16, and ‘17 seasons.

The 30-year-old Lynn recently rejected the Cardinals’ qualifying offer for the 2018 season and is now a free-agent for the first time in his career. With durability and quality being two of his most evident traits, Lynn is expected to garner the attention of several clubs this Winter.

For the final player that will be detailed from the 2008 draft, we’ll have to jump all the way to the 41st round. There, the Cardinals drafted left-handed hurler Kevin Siegrist.

Siegrist’s rise to the Majors was slow - taking until 2013 to debut - but the long wait resulted in a sweet outcome. Siegrist posted an 11.34 K/9 in 45 games in 2013 as a reliever. Siegrist logged 30 ¹⁄₃ frames in 2014 before really emerging as a key piece of the Cardinals’ bullpen in 2015. Between 2015 and 2016, Siegrist worked in 148 games for St. Louis. The lefty maintained a 2.91 FIP in the ‘15 season, and held opponents to a .221 batting average in the 2016 season.

With a forearm issue lingering, Siegrist was designated for assignment this past August. Less than a week later, the Philadelphia Phillies claimed Siegrist off waivers. Siegrist closed out the season as a member of the Phillies’ bullpen and is now a free agent at 28 years old.