In the winter of 2015, the Cardinals offered arbitration to two of their pending free agents: Jason Heyward and John Lackey. While they would end up losing both players to the Cubs, the club gained two valuable compensation picks – #33 and #34 in the upcoming 2016 draft.
That draft was the first led by new scouting director Randy Flores. The Cardinals were known for their conservative approach to high draft picks, usually selecting college pitchers or MLB-ready bats. Flores, though, had no intention of playing it safe. After selecting the toolsy teenage shortstop Delvin Perez at #19 overall, many commentators assumed the Cardinals would go conservative for their back-to-back compensatory picks.