St. Louis Cardinals Reach Agreement with First-Round Pick Nick Plummer
According to Tony Paul of the Detroit News, the St. Louis Cardinals have a deal in place with their first-round pick, Nick Plummer. Plummer, a lefthanded-hitting outfielder from Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is expected to finalize his deal on either Friday or Monday and will sign for the recommended slot amount of $2.124 million.
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After finalizing the deal, Plummer will work out at the Cardinals’ minor-league facility in Jupiter, Florida until the rookie level Johnson City Cardinals begin play on June 23. Plummer is just the fourth high school position player that the Cardinals have selected in the first round since 2005, so there’s not much history from which to judge how aggressive or safe the Cards will be with moving him through the system. However, Pete Kozma was the only high school first-rounder among that group to advance past Johnson City in the year he was drafted, playing eight games for the short-season Batavia Muckdogs at the tail end of the 2007 season.
It would not be a surprise at all if Plummer was ranked as the Cardinals’ top position player prospect in the near future. Outfielder Stephen Piscotty, who has been at the top of the list since Oscar Taveras graduated to the major leagues last season, is now 193 games into his Triple-A career and has yet to conquer the level, while others at the top of the list, such as outfielder Magneuris Sierra and catcher Carson Kelly, have struggled mightily at the plate this season and will have to make significant adjustments in order to profile as impact big-leaguers.