Rephrase the following article in a more engaging writing style:
Already guaranteed of drafting higher than they have this millennium, the Cardinals have a chance, however slim, at their highest pick ever in franchise history. The Cardinals, one of two teams in the majors who have never drafted higher than third overall, will have an 8.3% chance at the first overall pick in 2024, based on lottery odds determined by Major League Baseball. This will be the second year of the MLB Draft Lottery, and the Cardinals’ fifth-worst record in the majors earned them, for the first time, a spot in the draft and the fifth-best odds. The lowest the Cardinals can pick in the draft is 11th. Rephrase the following article in a more engaging writing style:
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Already guaranteed of drafting higher than they have this millennium, the Cardinals have a chance, however slim, at their highest pick ever in franchise history.The Cardinals, one of two teams in the majors who have never drafted higher than third overall, will have an 8.3% chance at the first overall pick in 2024, based on lottery odds determined by Major League Baseball. This will be the second year of the MLB Draft Lottery, and the Cardinals’ fifth-worst record in the majors earned them, for the first time, a spot in the draft and the fifth-best odds.The lowest the Cardinals can pick in the draft is 11th.They have not drafted higher than 13th in the 2000s, and during Randy Flores’ eight drafts leading the Cardinals’ amateur scouting they’ve never selected higher than 18th.Wherever that first pick lands, it will be protected.
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The Cardinals cannot lose it by signing a free agent tried to a qualifying offer.
St. Louis Cardinals
On Monday, the first day of this week’s GM Meetings in Paradise Valley, seven players received qualifying offers from their clubs. That group included three starting pitchers who the Cardinals will at least explore signing this winter: Aaron Nola, Blake Snell, and Sonny Gray. All three are expected to turn down the one-year, $20.325-million offer from teams and trigger the compensation their former teams will receive when/if they sign elsewhere.For the Cardinals, who do not receive revenue sharing or pay a competitive balance tax, they’ll lose their second-highest pick in the draft if they sign a QO free agent.(They also forfeit $500,000 in international bonus spending.)The second round of the draft resets to reverse order of the standings, so regardless of how the lottery works out for the Cardinals they’re set to draft 35th overall. Having a second pick that high – not too long after they had a draft without a pick that high at all – is appealing for the club. But it is not a dealbreaker for pursuing the QO.“That is something internally we have to talk about,” said John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations, on Monday.The Cardinals assign a dollar value to every draft pick that reflects the production they expect to get from a player at that spot. That value is set to the same scale as major-league players so that the Cardinals compare, and they bake that value into the cost of any contract they offer a free-agent player. For example: If they
