ST. LOUIS • Within a week of the Cardinals willingly giving up a draft pick to sign center fielder Dexter Fowler, Major League Baseball generously gave one back.
The Cardinals and 13 other teams will receive an additional pick in the 2017 amateur draft as a result of the competitive balance provisions in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which was ratified by owners Wednesday morning. The draft list was revealed Tuesday and the Cardinals have the final CB pick, No. 74 overall (for now).
Cue the griping.
“It’s probably the last organization in baseball that needs that kind of gift or annual gift that they receive,” Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said — the last time the Cardinals got a competitive balance pick, in 2014.