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St. Louis Cardinals: 10 Most Valuable Draft Picks Since the Turn of the Century

By Patrick Karraker

May 10, 2016; Anaheim, CA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (13) is greeted after hitting a solo home run in the first inning against Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
May 10, 2016; Anaheim, CA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (13) is greeted after hitting a solo home run in the first inning against Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kyle McClellan St. Louis Cardinals
Tim Heitman- USA TODAY Sports /

10. Kyle McClellan, Round 25, 2002

Cardinals career (2008-11): 261 games (17 starts), 19-23 record, 3.69 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 2.7 rWAR, 2011 World Series champion

McClellan certainly wasn’t the flashiest of pitchers, but the righthander from Hazelwood West High School in St. Louis delivered much more value than the Cardinals possibly could have hoped for when they drafted him in the 25th round of the 2002 draft. He appeared in 60 or more games in three straight seasons from 2008-10, with his best season coming over the final year of that stretch, when he pitched in 68 games and threw for a 2.27 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and .210 opponent batting average.

Though he wasn’t especially effective when cast into a rotation role in 2011, McClellan did play a role on a Cardinals team that won the World Series that year. For a player that the Cards took a flier on halfway through the draft in 2002 to turn into a major-leaguer that filled a variety of roles and pitched in close to 300 games with his hometown team, it says a lot about the organization’s ability to effectively develop talent in their minor-league system and get the most out of under-the-radar draft picks.

Next: 9. Seth Maness

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