Fourth-round picks don't usually get a national moment, but Dee Kennedy isn't a normal fourth-rounder. The Cardinals grabbed the Kansas State shortstop with the No. 114 overall pick and wasted little time getting him signed, agreeing to full slot value of $684,300 to lock up one of the more interesting bats in this draft class.
Jim Callis broke down the signing and the season that made Kennedy a name to know.
The number that jumps off the page is 20. Kennedy set a Kansas State school record with 20 home runs this season while also swiping 22 bags, a power-speed combo that's rare at any level of college ball, let alone from a guy playing shortstop every day. That kind of production doesn't happen by accident, and Kennedy has been candid about what changed: he got LASIK surgery before the season, and according to Callis, seeing the ball better let him cut down on chase and start doing real damage.
Kennedy's path to this moment wasn't a straight line. He started his college career at Texas before transferring to Kansas State, and it was in Manhattan where everything clicked. A 20 homer, 22 steal season out of the shortstop spot is the kind of stat line that gets scouts and prospect writers scrambling to update their boards, and it made him just the fifth player in Big 12 history to pull off a 20-20 season.
For the Cardinals, this is a low-key but telling move. Full slot value signings aren't flashy, but they signal a team that isn't trying to nickel-and-dime a player they actually want in the fold quickly. St. Louis's farm system has been under a microscope the last couple years as the big-league product has slipped, and adding a legitimate power-speed shortstop prospect who just authored a record-setting season is exactly the kind of buy-low, upside swing a rebuilding-ish org needs to hit on.
Now it's about what happens in pro ball. The eye surgery angle is a fun story for a college season, but the real test is whether that swing decision improvement translates against better velocity and sharper breaking stuff in the minors. If it does, a fourth-round pick who cost slot money could end up looking like a steal for St. Louis. If not, he's still a solid athlete with a real track record. Either way, the Cardinals didn't hesitate to get him locked in.