The St. Louis Cardinals have consistently produced talented players, often uncovering hidden gems with the help of their patented devil magic. At the top of the list is their current and future shortstop, Masyn Winn. With his exceptional arm and plus-plus speed, he will almost certainly be a fixture in the middle infield on Opening Day in 2024. The Cardinals typically rely on drafting, signing, and developing their own players. However, in a rare blip, they were sellers at the deadline and acquired two of their top prospects, Tekoah Roby and Thomas Saggesse. Both of these prospects could be a factor in 2024, depending on health. The Cardinal's 2023 1st rounder, Chase Davis, had a rough start in his first experience in professional baseball, but with his power and plate approach it is likely he turns it around and puts these struggles in the rear view. The middle portion of the list features a collection of pitching prospects in the upper minors that are vying for innings in the not-so-distant future, and the Cardinals will rely on several of those internal options to step up so they can avoid another disastrous season on the mound. They have a very strong and promising offensive core, and with any help from the pitching side they will be back in the mix in 2023.
About Our Top 30 Lists
Prospects Live, led by its evaluating team, is proud to begin rolling out its annual offseason system reports. The team has meticulously worked on every detail in this list and all future teams, sparing no effort as we combine industry feedback, our live looks, film, and available data to compile each org. We believe this effort has enabled us to present you, the reader, with our best possible list.
We have constructed this list using the Overall Future Potential (OFP) scale. There is no perfect equation for ranking prospects or assigning value to them, but we believe this method is the best possible approach. Every prospect on this list has been graded based on the tried and true 20-80 scouting scale. An 80 is the highest tool and OFP grade on the scale, reserved for MVP-caliber players or tools. Conversely, a 20 is reserved for non-prospects (NPs). A 50 OFP falls in the middle, indicating our evaluators deem this player a future average major league player. Below the 50 OFP tier are the 45s and 40s, comprising a large majority of players on each list. These are specific-role players, such as platoon hitters, utility players, or low-leverage relievers. Above the 50 OFP tier are the 55s and 60s. A 55 represents a future above-average player, and a 60 OFP designation is reserved for future All-Star caliber players.
In addition to the tool grades and OFP, we will also include a 'Risk' associated with each prospect. We use this to better communicate to you, the reader, whether a grade is more aggressive or conservative in nature. The evaluation team has worked painstakingly to apply both the grades and risk components to better illustrate how each individual prospect stacks up in their respective system and in the baseball ecosystem.
This year, we decided to accompany the scouting reports with dynasty commentary on each, as well as quick reference to the player's Top 500 fantasy prospect rank (top 1000 dynasty rank coming soon), PLIVE+ metrics and Jordan Rosenblum's peak projections. The PLIVE+ rank noted is the rank among hitters, starters or relievers.
Below you'll find the top 10 players in the system with full reports of the top 5. The full rankings and reports on all top 30 prospects per team will be available on our Patreon at the 55-tier ($5 level) as we publish them. If you're into fantasy baseball, this tier also gets you the dynasty show, the FYPD list, and the MiLB Daily Sheet during the regular season.
Top 10 Team Rank and First 5 Reports for Free Below
1. Masyn Winn - 60 OFP
Age: 22 Highest Level: MLB
2023 Pre-season Rank: 2 OFP: 60
Dynasty Prospect Rank: 43
| Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 45 | 60 | 80 | 70 | High |
Report Winn has average height with a lean frame and room for projection, especially in the upper half. He moves incredibly well on both sides of the ball and he might be one of the best athletes in all of professional baseball. The conversation with Winn starts with his athleticism and what he can do on the defensive side of the ball. He’s physically gifted and he might be one of the best defenders in the sport, regardless of position. He has incredible range and makes everything look smooth and effortless. He has an elite arm and has averaged 93.1 mph on throws from shortstop in the big leagues so far, the second-highest mark, trailing only Elly De La Cruz. He famously fired a 100.5 mph bullet in the Future’s Game as well. He’s a plus-plus runner on the bases and excels as a baserunner. At the plate he has made contact at a well above average rate despite the big-league struggles, running an 85% contact rate and up over 90% when it's in the zone. He will expand the zone but his elite hand-eye coordination allows him to get the bat on the ball. He showed some struggles against elite velocity and the exit velocity data shows fringe-average pop. However, he does an excellent job of hitting the ball in the air and will likely exceed his power projections as he matures. For Winn, there are some early questions about his offensive production, as he needs to tighten up the swing decisions and improve against velocity. His speed and defense will keep him in the lineup, giving him time to grow as an offensive player. - Matt Thompson
Fantasy Outlook We know Winn’s major league debut went pretty poor. But remember that of the 261 rookie debuts in 2023, he was the 10th youngest player and is younger than the average Double-A player. Also, he was terribly unlucky. The underlying stuff still matched well with his minor league tendencies — he didn’t strike out a lot, he made above average contact, and had a major-league average launch angle showing he didn’t cave to hitting worm burners. If you're hurting for a middle infielder, his shoddy debut numbers may have opened a sliver of a buy-low window. He’s one of the top prospects in the game with a fantasy-friendly profile to boot. - Eddy Almaguer
2. Tekoah Roby, RHP - 50 OFP
Age: 22 Highest Level: AA
2023 Pre-season Rank: 17 (TEX) OFP: 45
Dynasty Prospect Rank: 105
| Fastball | Curveball | Slider | Changeup | Command | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 55 | 50 | 55 | 55 | High |
Report Roby is a big, strong, athletic right-hander with a sturdy build and a thick lower half. He’s still not fully mature physically and has some room for projection with his frame and very repeatable and clean delivery. He has changed his arm path since getting drafted and the delivery is smoother now. His arsenal plays up due to the extension he gets from his delivery and long arms. His fastball has been consistently at 92-97 this year with some carry. The velocity is at the higher end of his velocity band early in his starts and tapers down to 93-94 as gets deeper into his outing. He has excellent feel for spin with his high spin 12-to-6 downer curveball that comes across in the upper 70s which has improved dramatically in the last year. He’s added a low-80s slider to give more of an east-to-west look, and he also throws a low-80s change with fade. He missed some time this year around the trade to the Cardinals with a shoulder injury and was actually rehabbing in Surprise when the trade went through. Roby is an exciting arm that gives the Cardinals a legit swing-and-miss arm with average command of his arsenal and plus command of the fastball. The only real concerns are the injury issues. He had the shoulder injury in 2023 and missed time in 2021 with an elbow strain. He could get a handful of big league innings in 2024, but should be mostly fantasy relevant in 2025. There’s a chance he ends up as an SP2, which is extremely valuable. - Matt Thompson
Fantasy Outlook Roby is an ultra-talented young pitcher who is starting to put things together. He has the ability to miss bats (28 K% in 2023) and complements it with improving control and command (6 BB%). His ERA looks fairly pedestrian (4.63), but he has had some poor batted ball and strand rate luck and actually posted a sub 3.50 FIP. He’s a good pitcher to target based on his swing-and-miss ability and opportunity to move quickly. - Greg Hoogkamp
3. Tink Hence, RHP - 50 OFP
Age: 21 Highest Level: AA
2023 Pre-season Rank: 3 OFP: 55
Dynasty Prospect Rank: 59
| Fastball | Curveball | Slider | Changeup | Command | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 45 | 50 | 55 | 50 | High |
Report Hence is an athletic right-hander with a lean, wiry build. Long limbs with good physical projection, will need to add strength/mass for durability in the starter role. He’s a standout athlete with high-level flexibility who creates above average extension with minimal effort. He possesses premium arm talent with double-plus arm speed out of a traditional ¾ slot. Delivery has a loose, whippy finish and he repeats it very well. The right-hander has a chance at four above average to plus pitches led by his fastball that sits 95-97 early in starts but tapers down to 92-94 later in starts. He has plus command of the pitch to all quadrants of the zone and the pitch has good carry. When he misses he misses away arm-side. He has a power curveball with 11-to-5 break which plays well off of the fastball. Uses it primarily against righties to get called strikes and he can bury it for the swinging strikes. The change plays well off of the fastball with excellent arm-side fade and enough separation off of the heater. His slider is a flatter version of the curveball with more velocity.. He ran into some hiccups with his command this year when throwing from the stretch. He missed some time with a chest injury in the past and pitched through a minor finger injury that led to some issues in the second half. Hence just needs to continue to build up but projects as a potential front-line starter. - Matt Thompson
Fantasy Outlook Hence ranked in the back half of our Top 100 to finish 2023, but we think this is still a buy low. We know, we know, TINSTAAP (There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect). But Hence is in that Goldilocks zone where we clearly know his stuff is dynamite, but the limited innings and health have capped his value. So while it’s not always wise to trade for the top pitching prospects before they debut, we support a move for Hence with the expectation that he has top 25 prospect upside. He has the stuff to be an SP2 if he can continue to iron out some command issues. - Eddy Almaguer
4. Victor Scott II, OF - 50 OFP
Age: 23 Highest Level: AA
2023 Pre-season Rank: 29 OFP: 40
Dynasty Prospect Rank: 128
| Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 45 | 70 | 50 | 80 | Low |
Report An elite athlete, no player in the Cardinals system has improved his stock as much as Victor Scott has. He’s a potential game-changing defender in centerfield and he takes good routes to balls. He’s an aggressive outfielder and can get burned at times trying to make the difficult catch. He really excels at going back on balls and moving laterally to cover the gaps. He has the ability to take over a game with his legs on both sides of the ball. This season he stole 94 bases and was only caught 14 times. A true burner and a flashback to a different era of baseball, and he is an excellent bunter. He’s also improved at the plate, shortening the swing and adding strength. He understands his skill set and has significantly improved his contact rates to well above average, and the batted ball data points to him having 12-to-15 homer juice and legit power to the pull-side. He’s also slightly improved his chase rate. He’s an excellent bunter, which adds another tool to his belt. He is very likely to drop a bunt down for a hit, especially against left-handers. He’s gone from a reserve outfielder profile to someone who looks like a strong bet to be an everyday player. He could conceivably make his debut in 2024 because he’s already more than a big league-caliber defender in center, but in an ideal world they give him more time in the minors and he comes up early on in 2025. - Matt Thompson
Fantasy Outlook A late-season fantasy surger, he had over an .800 OPS in the final six weeks of 2023. He performed even better in Double-A, where he was young for the level, than in High-A, where he was age-appropriate. What has us sold is the combination of plus defense combined with elite speed and a modicum of pop. It’s like pressing the upgrade button on Esteury Ruiz, who possesses solely the speed aspect. Already a borderline top 100 fantasy prospect, this is someone whom we expect to continue climbing in 2024 and could make a fantasy impact before the upcoming season comes to a close. - Eddy Almaguer
5. Thomas Saggese, 2B - 50 OFP
Age: 21 Highest Level: AA
2023 Pre-season Rank: 15 (TEX) OFP: 45
Dynasty Prospect Rank: 78
| Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 45 | 45 | 50 | 50 | Moderate |
Report The Cardinals' decision to sell at the trade deadline allowed the organization to pick up a player that fits its player development philosophy to a tee. Saggese is a well-rounded offensive player who has consistently shown an ability to reach base since being drafted in the now-infamous 2020 MLB Draft. The 21-year-old increased his power output year-over-year by creating more consistent flyball contact. It's a development that will need to hold, but his game power is creeping into an average projection. His raw power is average to above average. The bat-to-ball skills have improved as well, and he's looking like a player who could grow into an above average contact hitter at the highest level depending on how much power he wants to access. He'll need to continue to refine his approach to maximize his tools, but the strides made in that department are tangible. Putting him into the Cardinals' development program should only help him at the plate, and he's the kind of workaholic who also makes the most of his otherwise average tools on both sides of the ball. He's been utilized all over the infield since being drafted and that's a byproduct of both his fringe-average defensive actions and average arm, but also organizational need. The Cardinals prefer players who can be utilized in multiple areas, and Saggese looks like a viable utility player who could exceed his offensive projection and become something more. He’s played his way into a guy that looks like can play everyday, he just may not have a set position and instead will just move around the infield. – Jake Kerns
Fantasy Outlook Saggese had a breakout season in 2023 posting a .306/.374/.530 slash line with 26 HR and 12 SB in 630 plate appearances. He’s always been a good bat-to-ball hitter, but this is the first season we have really seen the power tick up. He’s an aggressive hitter who has worked hard to turn his ground balls into fly balls. His 93.5 in zone contact percentage is elite and makes up for his 38.6% chase rate. One thing to be aware of is Saggese has not shown high-end exit velocities in his time as a pro which caps his power potential at this point (max EV 106.4 mph, average EV 86.9 mph). He’s a versatile infielder who played games at all four positions which, in combination with his all around offensive game, make him a valuable fantasy asset. - Greg Hoogkamp
6. Chase Davis, OF - 50 OFP
Age: 22 Highest Level: A
2023 MLB Draft Rank: 20
Dynasty Prospect Rank: 136
7. Cooper Hjerpe, LHP - 50 OFP
Age: 23 Highest Level: A+
2023 Pre-season Rank: 5 OFP: 50
Dynasty Prospect Rank: 214
8. Gordan Graceffo, RHP - 50 OFP
Age: 24 Highest Level: AAA
2023 Pre-season Rank: 4 OFP: 55
Dynasty Prospect Rank: 302
9. Leonardo Bernal, C - 50 OFP
Age: 20 Highest Level: A
2023 Pre-season Rank: 12 OFP: 45
Dynasty Prospect Rank: 229
10. Won-Bin Cho, OF - 45 OFP
Age: 20 Highest Level: A
2023 Pre-season Rank: “Sleeper”
Dynasty Prospect Rank: 239