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The St. Louis Cardinals are a franchise approaching a crossroads. After a disastrous 2023 season, the Cards decided to operate as if nothing was broken and run back the same core roster, albeit with a slight facelift to the pitching staff. And so far, that philosophy isn’t exactly paying off.
Yes, it’s still May, but the Cardinals are once again well under .500, fighting daily to stay out of last place in the NL Central, while cornerstone players Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado aren’t performing like the superstars the Cardinals were counting on them to be. Calls for manager Oliver Marmol to be fired have grown to a fever pitch and if nothing changes soon, St. Louis will assuredly be forced to sell at the trade deadline.
Which can only mean one thing: It’s time to make some deals. Today, we’ll shuffle the deck for these Cards and try to build a better future for a team stuck in Major League Baseball limbo.
Trade 1B Paul Goldschmidt to Twins
If we’re going to do this right, we have to rip the Band-Aid off immediately. Paul Goldschmidt will always be beloved in St. Louis, but the 2022 NL MVP needs a change in scenery. He’s a free agent at the end of the season and at the age of 36, he should be chasing rings at every possible opportunity.
Unfortunately for both sides, this trade should have happened last season. The Minnesota Twins needed help at first base and never got it, as their offense sputtered out in the ALDS against the Houston Astros. Meanwhile, the Cardinals missed out on a chance to trade Goldschmidt at his peak value, because he was hitting far better than he is this year and had an extra year left before his contract expires.
Still, there’s no time like the present to make a trade come to fruition. The Twins are once again scuffling offensively at the first base position, which has mostly been manned by an inconsistent Carlos Santana, while the Cards desperately need an influx of youth to try and reopen a championship window somewhere down the road. It might hurt now, but it’s worth it in the long run.
Trade closer Ryan Helsley to Orioles
Ryan Helsley has been phenomenal in the closer role once again this season, completely restoring himself to his 2022 form when he was the hardest thrower in baseball. The one thing Cardinals fans haven’t had to worry about this season has been holding ninth inning leads. But the unfortunate truth is that they haven’t held enough ninth inning leads to validate his talents.
With a year and a half left on Helsley’s contract, now is the time for the Redbirds to cash him in via trade. Sure, you could pray that next season works out and Helsley is useful down the stretch, but you drastically increase your odds of next season being a good one if you bring in a big-league ready bat that can reinvigorate the offense.
Could you convince Mike Elias to part ways with Heston Kjerstad, who’s now 25 and still being forced to toil away in AAA? If so, that’s a potential middle-of-the-order bat the Cards would have for years to come in exchange for an electric closer they simply don’t need. Even if it’s not Kjerstad, Baltimore’s system is deep enough that St. Louis would almost certainly be guaranteed an offensive upgrade at a key future position.
Trade SP Kyle Gibson to Guardians
Sonny Gray is obviously a valuable contributor for the St. Louis rotation, both now and in the future. But everyone behind him is aging, ineffective or both, so if there’s any way the Cardinals can get a prospect of any kind for those other starters, they need to jump at the chance. Lance Lynn might have the better career overall, but Kyle Gibson is pitching the best of the group right now.
So while Gibson still has a solid WHIP and an ERA around four, why not ship him to the pitching factory of the midwest, the Cleveland Guardians? Though the Guards have pieced the rotation together well since Shane Bieber got injured, they still have Carlos Carrasco pitching every fifth day and that’s a cause for concern. Gibson is a definitive upgrade over Carrasco and if the Guardians really like him, they can pick up his $12 million club option for 2025.
And while Gibson might not be worth a top prospect to Cleveland, the Cardinals could at least grab a lottery ticket or two that might eventually net them a big league impact player. Names like Petey Halpin, Robert Arias or Jose Devers (yes, Rafael Devers’ cousin) might not be of much significance to Cards fans now, but in five years, perhaps one of them could be batting in the middle of the order.
More must-reads:
- Astros scratch Justin Verlander as nightmare season continues
- Three Padres prospects who should be untouchable in trade talks
- The 'MLB rookie pitchers with the most strikeouts' quiz
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