Part of any successful rebuild is acquiring and effectively using draft assets to find players, both in the early and later rounds.
And the Cardinals will have an opportunity to add a blue-chip prospect to their organization depending on the results of today’s draft lottery.
The 2026 MLB Draft lottery is set to take place at 2:30 p.m. PT/5:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday at winter meetings in Orlando, Fla.
Of the 18 teams up for the lottery, St. Louis has the eighth-best odds to land the No. 1 pick (2.35%). Those odds are the third-most in the National League.
Here’s a breakdown on different clubs’ draft odds.
Chicago White Sox: 27.73%
Minnesota Twins: 22.8%
Pittsburgh Pirates: 16.81%
Baltimore Orioles: 9.24%
Athletics: 6.55%
Atlanta Braves: 4.54%
Tampa Bay Rays: 3.03%
Cardinals: 2.35%
Miami Marlins: 1.85%
Arizona Diamondbacks: 1.51%
Texas Rangers: 1.34%
San Francisco Giants: 1.01%
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Kansas City Royals: 0.84%
New York Mets: 0.67%
Houston Astros: 0.34%
Colorado Rockies/Los Angeles Angels/Washington Nationals: 0%
St. Louis could potentially land its third-straight Top 10 pick in the MLB Draft.
In 2024, the Cardinals used the seventh-overall selection to draft versatile West Virginia infielder J.J. Wetherholt.
Wetherholt is currently ranked as the fifth-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. Wetherholt scored 82 runs in 109 games last year across Double-A and Triple-A. He hit 28 doubles, two triples and 17 home runs with 59 RBIs and slashed .306/.421/.510 with a .931 OPS. He was named the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year.
In the 2025 draft, St. Louis took Tennessee left-handed starting pitcher Liam Doyle with the fifth overall pick. He made two starts in Double-A this past season and posted a 2.45 ERA with six strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched.
Doyle is currently ranked as the No. 36 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline and is projected to make his major league debut in 2027.
Wetherholt and Doyle are the Cardinals’ No. 1 and No. 2 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, respectively.
St. Louis’ recent draft history has managed to find premium talent with all of its recent picks. The Cardinals’ top picks from the last four drafts are all at the Double-A or Triple-A level. The organization’s top picks from 2017-21 all progressed to the major league level.
Doyle and Wetherholt will likely be figureheads of the team in the future and St. Louis could find another elite player to join them in the minor league level.
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