What Cardinals Fans Need to Know With 2026 MLB Draft Coming

It's going to be a fun month for the St. Louis Cardinals, to say the least.

First and foremost, the Cardinals kicked off arguably their most important stretch of the season on Tuesday night. St. Louis began a 14-game stretch in which it will face the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers all before the All-Star break. When this stretch wraps up, we'll have a much better understanding of where this team fits into the National League playoff picture.

That's important for multiple reasons. First and foremost, it would obviously be great for the Cardinals to contend. But that's not all. The trade deadline is coming on Aug. 3 and the next steps for the franchise for the summer certainly will be determined over the next few weeks.

If that wasn't enough excitement for you, we're also 10 days away from the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft. The draft will take place on July 11 and July 12 and it should be a good one for the Cardinals because they have significant firepower at their disposal.

The Cardinals Have A Big Few Weeks Ahead

Feb 26, 2021; Jupiter, Florida, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals logo on the stadium at Roger Dean Stadium during spring training workouts. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

If you're a Cardinals fan, you should be excited right now. First and foremost, Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has shown throughout his career that he knows what it takes to build a strong farm system. He has already shown that in St. Louis as well. The Cardinals traded Nolan Areando, Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray and Brendan Donovan away before the 2026 season and that helped lead St. Louis to have the second-best farm system in the league, per Baseball America. That's not all, though. The Cardinals also added two Competitive Balance Round B picks thanks to the Donovan deal.

The MLB Draft is coming in 10 days and the Cardinals are going to have plenty of chances to add talent. St. Louis has eight of the first 164 in the draft. The Cardinals' first selection of the draft will come with the No. 13 overall pick. After that, St. Louis has the No. 32 pick (Competitive Balance Round A, the No. 50 pick (second round), the No. 68 pick (Competitive Balance Round B), the No. 72 pick (Competitive Balance Round B), the No. 86 pick (third round), the No. 114 pick (fourth round), and the No. 146 pick (fifth round).

After that, the Cardinals have their picks for round No. 6-No. 20 as well.

Bloom has a lot of ammo at his disposal. The Cardinals' farm system is loaded and it's about to get even better. This past offseason, the Cardinals added No. 4 prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje, No. 7 prospect Brandon Clarke, No. 11 prospect Yhoiker Fajardo, and No. 17 prospect Tai Peete, among others. In just 10 days, the Cardinals will get to add even more firepower. Plus, we'll have a new view of the Donovan deal with St. Louis set to make the two draft selections it got in the blockbuster swap.

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