New Astros GM Randy Flores helped build the Cardinals' farm system. A closer look at his draft record

JJ Wetherholt, drafted in 2024, is arguably the best first-round success story from new Astros general manager Randy Flores' time running the Cardinals' drafts. (Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) In the Houston Astros' news release Friday announcing the hiring of Randy Flores as general manager, club owner Jim Crane's statement noted that the Astros were impressed during the interview process "with Randy and his background in scouting and player acquisition."Flores joined the St. Louis Cardinals' front office in August 2015 as scouting director and continued to oversee the Cardinals' amateur drafts after being promoted to assistant general manager in late 2018. His most recent title in St. Louis was assistant GM of amateur and pro acquisition.Flores' duties with St. Louis evidently went beyond just the amateur draft. He was overseeing both the Cardinals' amateur and pro scouting efforts, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Athletic reported that Flores was involved in major-league operations including the trade deadline.Nor are the results of 11 drafts Flores led for the Cardinals a precise way to forecast how he will fare in his first crack at running a baseball operations department. Still, Crane's appraisal invites a look at St. Louis' track record of drafts and farm system strength during Flores' time there.The Astros are bringing in Flores at a pivotal juncture. Their regular-season win total has declined in four consecutive years, their core is aging and their minor-league system is ranked among the sport's thinnest by outside evaluations. For a franchise that has resisted long-term deals, strengthening the latter does appear a key part of sustaining the contending window Crane has vowed will not close during his tenure.The draft is a notoriously inexact science, and whether picks pan out can be heavily impacted afterward by player development. Scouting and player acquisition in broad terms may also extend to international signings or players added in trades or free agency. Both are caveats to this examination.Overall farm system strength may be an area to start. From 2016 through 2023, the Cardinals' system ranked between ninth and 14th out of 30 teams in Baseball America's preseason rankings in each year except one. It then dipped to 20th in 2024 and ranked 18th in 2025.Starting in 2025, the Cardinals entered a kind of rebuild, reducing major-league payroll and reportedly investing more in player development and technology. They reduced payroll further in 2026, largely by trading away veterans on larger contracts before the season.St. Louis' farm system climbed to No. 2 in the Baseball America preseason rankings this year, with its highest-rated prospects mainly a mix of players acquired in those trades last offseason and selections from its recent drafts.From 2016-23, their first eight drafts under Flores, the Cardinals never picked higher than No. 18. They forfeited their top two picks in 2017, as well, as a punishment for former scouting director Chris Correa illegally accessing the Astros' computer database.Related or not, many of the Cardinals' draft successes to this point under Flores stemmed from middle rounds. St. Louis made 14 first-round selections from 2016-26. Of those, shortstop JJ Wetherholt, who was taken with the No. 7 overall pick in 2024 and debuted in 2026, has already accrued the most wins above replacement, per Baseball Reference, with 4.5 bWAR.That reflects some early misses. Jordan Walker, the Cardinals' first-round pick in 2020, made the All-Star team in a breakout 2026 season, though, illustrating how draft evaluations may evolve with time. The shortened 2020 draft could prove particularly fruitful for St. Louis, as the second round yielded Masyn Winn, the Kingwood High school alumnus and its current shortstop, and Alec Burleson, who led the majors in RBIs this season.In 2016, the Cardinals drafted pitcher Zac Gallen in the third round and infielder Tommy Edman in the sixth. Edman has accrued 20.7 bWAR in the majors, to this point the most of any player drafted under Flores. Gallen, who was traded as a minor-leaguer in a package for slugger Marcell Ozuna, is second at 19 bWAR, all accrued with other clubs.In 2018, the Cardinals selected Brendan Donovan in the seventh round and Lars Nootbaar in the eighth. Donovan became an All-Star with St. Louis and was among the players traded last winter, garnering the Cardinals a haul of prospects and draft picks. Nootbaar became part of the Cardinals' outfield and was their longest-tenured position player when he was traded at this year's deadline.With no playoff appearances since 2022, the Cardinals drafted seventh overall in 2024, fifth overall in 2025 - selecting pitcher Liam Doyle - and five times in the first two rounds in 2026. Wetherholt, their first-rounder in 2024, is the only player from those three classes who has played in the majors at this point, so a full appraisal of later drafts under Flores won't be apparent for years.In total, players drafted by the Cardinals from 2016-24 have combined for 112.7 bWAR in the majors. As a comparison, players drafted by the Astros in that same stretch have accrued 49.1 bWAR.The latter number reflects Houston's issues in the draft over the past decade. The Astros forfeited their top two picks in 2020 and '21 as punishment for the franchise's sign-stealing scandal, but other early selections have gone unrealized. Since 2016, players drafted in the first round by the Astros have totaled minus-1.1 bWAR in the majors, while their second-round picks have combined for minus-2.7 bWAR.Of their draft picks' total 49.1 bWAR in that span, two players account for 34.2 - Jeremy Peña and Hunter Brown. And while the Astros are bullish on recent draft classes, outside evaluations continue to rate their system among the thinnest in the sport, with top prospects mostly at the lower levels. Baseball America ranked them 25th at midseason, while MLB Pipeline and ESPN both had their system at 29th.Drafts and scouting may no longer be Flores' primary responsibility in his new role as Houston's general manager. But one of his challenges will be to replenish a poorly rated farm system while also upholding Crane's mandate that the Astros remain a perennial playoff team. What ideas or lessons from a decade overseeing scouting in St. Louis he will bring to bear on that task remains to be seen.The Flores FilesCardinals drafts under Randy Flores, with all figures courtesy of Baseball Reference:2016Players to reach majors: 7Class total bWAR: 47.1First three picks: Delvin Pérez, 23rd overall, has not played in MLB; Dylan Carlson, 33rd overall, 3.5 bWAR; Dakota Hudson, 34th overall, 3.5 bWARTop players: Tommy Edman, sixth round, 20.7 bWAR; Zac Gallen, third round, 19.0 bWAR; Carlson and Hudson, 3.5 bWAR2017Players to reach majors: 5Class total bWAR: minus-0.4First three picks: Scott Hurst, 94th overall, 0.0 bWAR; Kramer Robertson, 124th overall, minus-0.1 bWAR; Zach Kirtley, 154th overall, has not played in MLBTop players: Kodi Whitley, 27th round, 0.3 bWAR2018Players to reach majors: 7Class total bWAR: 30.2First three picks: Nolan Gorman, 19th overall, 3.3 bWAR; Griffin Roberts, 43rd overall, has not played in MLB; Luken Baker, 75th overall, minus-0.7 bWARTop players: Brendan Donovan, seventh round, 11.8 bWAR; Lars Nootbaar, eighth round, 10.1 bWAR; Kyle Leahy, 17th round, 3.6 bWAR2019Players to reach majors: 6Class total bWAR: 7.4First three picks: Zack Thompson, 19th overall, 0.6 bWAR; Tre Fletcher, 58th overall, has not played in MLB; Tony Locey, 96th overall, has not played in MLBTop players: Andre Pallante, fourth round, 4.3 bWAR; Pedro Pagés, sixth round, 2.6 bWAR2020(Draft shortened to five rounds)Players to reach majors: 3Class total bWAR: 16.3First three picks: Jordan Walker, 21st overall, 0.7 bWAR; Masyn Winn, 54th overall, 9.4 bWAR; Tink Hence, 63rd overall, has not played in MLBTop players: Winn, 9.4 bWAR; Alec Burleson, second round/70th overall, 6.2 bWAR; Walker, 0.7 bWAR2021Players to reach majors: 4Class total bWAR: 4.1First three picks: Michael McGreevy, 18th overall, 3.4 bWAR; Joshua Báez, 54th overall, 0.1 bWAR; Ryan Holgate, 70th overall, has not played in MLBTop players: McGreevy, 3.4 bWAR; Gordon Graceffo, fifth round, 0.9 bWAR2022Players to reach majors: 7Class total bWAR: 2.7First three picks: Cooper Hjerpe, 22nd overall, 0.1 bWAR; Brycen Mautz, 59th overall, minus-0.1 bWAR; Pete Hansen, 97th overall, has not played in MLBTop players: Nathan Church, 11th round, 2.1 bWAR; Victor Scott II, fifth round, 1.3 bWAR2023Players to reach majors: 1Class total bWAR: 0.8First three picks: Chase Davis, 21st overall, has not played in MLB; Travis Honeyman, 90th overall, has not played in MLB; Quinn Mathews, 122nd overall, 0.8 bWAR2024Players to reach majors: 1Class total bWAR: 4.5First three picks: JJ Wetherholt, 7th overall, 4.5 bWAR; Brian Holiday, 80th overall, has not played in MLB; Ryan Campos, 109th overall, has not played in MLB2025/2026No draft picks have played in MLBSubscribeThere’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at New Astros GM Randy Flores helped build the Cardinals' farm system. A closer look at his draft record.