Cardinals Add 3 Players to 40-Man Roster Ahead of Rule 5 Draft
By Ian Anderson
The Rule 5 Draft is right around the corner and the St. Louis Cardinals have added three players to their 40-man roster in preparation for just that.
Right-handed pitchers Jake Woodford and Alvaro Seijas, as well as infielder Elehuris Montero were all added to the 40-man Wednesday.
We have selected the contracts of RHP Jake Woodford, INF Elehuris Montero & RHP Alvaro Seijas. RHP Dominic Leone has been designated for assignment.
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) November 20, 2019
Today's transactions place our 40-man roster at 40 players. pic.twitter.com/4xWsVbhUgd
Woodford was a first-round pick of St. Louis from 2015, and the 23-year-old spent all of last season with the Cardinals Triple-A team, the Memphis Redbirds. A 9-8 record in 26 starts along with a 4.15 ERA most likely means that Woodford will be spending some time in the MiLB again next season before a potential mid-season call up.
St. Louis Cardinals (4)
— MoKnows (@stlcardsminimo) November 18, 2019
4) Elehuris Montero, 3B
13) Jake Woodford, RHP
24) Conner Capel, OF
30) Max Schrock, 2B/3B
No-brainers to protect: Montero, Woodford
Could be intriguing to other clubs: Schrock https://t.co/guzoRNIJLj
Montero spent most of last season in Double-A Springfield, but had poor numbers at the plate. He had performed amicably at all minor-league levels prior to Springfield, but unfortunately his batting average took a huge tumble and dropped by about .100. The 20-year-old still has plenty of potential as one of the younger players in the Texas League and can easily pick his form back up.
Seijas is a 21-year-old pitcher for the Cardinals' Class A affiliate in Peoria. The Venezuelan had a 4-5 record last season, but that doesn't tell the tale of how he played. His 2.93 ERA combined with 70 strikeouts to 28 walks in 14 games played shows that a call up to High A or Double-A could be in his future.