Futures Exchange: First Round Roundup

A Phone Call Away

Jonathan's pick: Clayton Mortensen, RHP, Cardinals
Stretching things to the supplemental first round of the 2007 Draft, we find Mortensen, the Gonzaga product taken by St. Louis with the 36th overall pick. The senior signee wasn't particularly effective in his first full season (4.96 ERA), but he made it to Triple-A, where he's started this season strongly. Mortensen is 10th in the league in ERA at 2.65 and he's held Pacific Coast League hitters to a meager .193 batting average. The Cards' rotation seems to be fine right now, but Mortensen has made himself the next in line if a guy like Mitch Boggs begins to falter.

A Year Away

Lisa's pick: Brett Wallace, 3B, Cardinals
At 6-foot-1 and 245 pounds, Wallace may not be a physical specimen, but he is a work of art at the plate. One of the most advanced hitters in the '08 Draft, the two-time Pacific 10 Triple Crown winner out of Arizona State University signed quickly enough to rack up a .337 average, eight homers and 36 RBIs in 54 games between Class A Quad Cities and Double-A Springfield last summer. Back at Springfield to start the year, he's hitting .268 with five homers and 16 RBIs in 28 games. With the Cards' (currently injured) third baseman Troy Glaus' contract expiring at the end of this year, look for the left-handed hitting Wallace to be very much in the mix for that job next spring.

MLB