Press Release: Cardinals Sign 3 Draftees, Trade For 3 Minor Leaguers
ST. LOUIS, Mo., July 2, 2017 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today the signing of three additional players from the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Kramer Robertson, the Cardinals fourth round pick out of Louisiana State University, is a 5-foot-10, 166 lb., senior shortstop who was recognized as a Third Team All-American and Second Team All-SEC selection this season. Robertson was batting .319 with eight homers, three triples, 18 doubles, 43 RBI and a Division 1-leading 83 runs scored for the Tigers, who competed in the College World Series. As a junior, Robertson was voted Second Team All-American and First Team All-SEC before selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 32nd round of the of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft. Prior to LSU, Robertson was an All-American and All-State infielder at Midway High School in Waco, Texas, also playing quarterback for the football team and point guard for the basketball squad. His mother, Kim Mulkey, is the head women’s basketball coach at Baylor University and was a 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in basketball in Los Angeles, Calif. His father, Randy, played quarterback at Louisiana Tech.
Wilberto Rivera, the Cardinals eighth round pick out of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Florida, Puerto Rico, is a 6-foot-3, 207 pound, right-handed pitcher. The 18-year-old originally committed to play next season at Florida International University.
The team also announced they have agreed to terms with third baseman Donivan Williams, (14th Round), who will forgo his scholarship to Illinois State University. The 6-foot-0, 190-pound Williams played shortstop at Harold L Richards (Ill.) High School, hitting .513 with 10 homers, four triples, 17 doubles, 47 runs and 49 RBI.
A complete list of all 2017 St. Louis draft picks and the 38 players signed by St. Louis can be found below. The Cardinals have until July 7 at 4:00 p.m. CT, to sign their selections from the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
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To follow all of the Cardinal Draft signings, check here.
ST. LOUIS, MO., July 2, 2017 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced a pair of trades today, sending international cap space to the Boston Red Sox for minor league infielders Stanley Espinal and Imeldo Diaz and doing the same with the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for minor league outfielder Lane Thomas.
Espinal, 20, was signed by Boston as an international free-agent on February 3, 2015 out of Santiago, D.R. and has compiled a .251 career batting mark with 8 HR’s & 82 RBI in 132 games in the minors, including seven this season with the Lowell Spinners of the New York-Penn League (short-A). The 6-2, 190-pound right-handed hitting third baseman led the Dominican Summer League in RBI (59) in 2015.
Diaz, 19, is a right-handed hitting shortstop who was an international free agent signee by the Red Sox on July 2, 2014 out of Villa de Cura, Venezuela. The 6-0, 175-pound Diaz owns a career .222 batting average in his 123 games played in the minors, including seven this season for Lowell.
Thomas, 21, was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 5th round of the 2014 amateur draft out of Bearden High School in Knoxville, Tenn. The right-handed hitting centerfielder has produced a career .242 batting average, 18 HR’s, 123 RBI and 42 stolen bases in his 264 games in the minors. The 6-1, 210-pound Thomas was batting .252 with 4 HR’s and 38 RBI in 73 games this season for the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League (high-A).
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