CARDINALS DEVIL MAGIC

St. Louis keeps maximizing overlooked college draft picks

- KYLE GLASER

A rival scout sat in the stands at Busch Stadium last summer, watching Tommy Edman rack up hit after hit.

The veteran scout has had Cardinals organization coverage for years. He liked Edman as a prospect. When it came to write his report, he turned Edman in as a future utility player. A big leaguer, but not a starter.

Now, watching Edman start at third base and hit leadoff for the playoff-bound Cardinals, the scout just sat back and chuckled.

“Just call it the ‘Cardinal Way,’ ” the scout said. “A lot of people sit there and say the same thing: it’s pixie dust. They sit there and sprinkle it on them and they perform.”

Welcome to “Cardinals Devil Magic.”

Throughout the last decade—and even before it, really—the Cardinals routinely turned college infielders with little draft or prospect pedigree into productive major leaguers. Some, like Matt Carpenter (13th round), Matt Adams (23rd round), Allen Craig (eighth round) and Paul DeJong (fourth round), became everyday regulars. Others, like Skip Schumaker (fifth round), Daniel Descalso (third round) and Greg Garcia (seventh round) settled into multi-year careers as utility players.

The latest two, Luke Voit (22nd round) and Edman (sixth round) were starters on playoff clubs, the former with the Yankees.

Just three—Adams, Craig and Descalso—ever ranked among the Cardinals’ Top 10 Prospects. And yet, like clockwork, all exceeded their projections.

Around 2012, the phrase “Cardinals Devil Magic” first began to surface on social media to describe this frequent outcome. Now, even rival scouts and front office officials use the expression freely.