The Cardinals wrapped up business with one of the more intriguing names from their 2026 draft class, locking up right-hander Cal Randall for $501,300 - exactly full slot value for the No. 146 overall pick. No drama, no under-slot savings games, just a clean signing for a guy evaluators think could move fast.
Jim Callis broke the signing news and laid out why scouts are so high on Randall's arm.
What makes Randall worth full slot in the fifth round is the fastball. It's not just hard, it's nasty - sitting 97-98 mph and touching 101, with roughly 19 inches of induced vertical break and one of the flattest approach angles in all of Division I. That's the kind of shape that misses bats even when hitters know it's coming, and in college it was basically the only pitch he needed, comprising nearly 88% of his usage.
The tradeoff is command and depth. Randall throws that heater for strikes only around 62% of the time, and his breaking stuff is still underdeveloped after a college career built almost entirely off the fastball. That profile - huge stuff, shaky control, thin secondary arsenal - is basically the textbook definition of a reliever, and that's how most evaluators project him long-term even if the Cardinals give him a look as a starter first.
St. Louis has already signaled it won't rush him. Reports out of the organization say they plan to let Randall build up as a starter initially rather than fast-tracking him straight to bullpen work, while gradually mixing in more of his changeup and breaking balls instead of overhauling his approach all at once. His profile has even drawn early comparisons to Cardinals righty Tanner Franklin, though the front office says they're not just copy-pasting Franklin's development path onto Randall.
For a franchise that's leaned into pumping high-octane arms through its system in recent years, a fifth-rounder with a legit 70-grade fastball is exactly the kind of value pick that can outkick his draft slot. If the strikes come along even marginally, a triple-digit arm with that kind of shape doesn't usually sit in the minors very long - reliever or not.