St. Louis Cardinals: Go Get Joey Votto!

Jay Bruce

could use a change of scenery. And the St. Louis Cardinals could use a big bat. Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Note to St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak. The Todd Frazier trade yesterday shows that a very good player won’t cost you an arm and a leg (and an Alex Reyes).

St. Louis Cardinals fans may want to start looking at the Cincinnati Reds differently, as sort of an extra farm team. Send down a few slightly above average prospects (translation: everyone but Alex Reyes) and call up first baseman Joey Votto. Give rightfielder Jay Bruce a shot.

Think it can’t happen? The Cincinnati media is already murmuring about it. From the Cincinnati Enquirer‘s C. Trent Rosencrans:

"With Frazier out the door and Chapman in limbo, that leaves Jay Bruce as the team’s trade focus at this point. Bruce, who will be 29 in April, has two years left on his contract and still has the power that could tempt other teams. He also has eight teams he can block a trade to, even though earlier this month he said he’d still consider a trade to any of those eight in the right circumstances.[Brandon] Phillips has two years remaining and would be welcomed by some teams at this point, but he has full no-trade rights, as does Joey Votto, who also has a sizable chunk of his large extension remaining."

I’m pretty confident that Joey Votto wouldn’t block a trade to the St. Louis Cardinals. And judging by what they got back for their most marketable player, Frazier, the St. Louis Cardinals might be able to get him for a package of, oh I don’t know, Charlie Tillson, Tim Cooney and Luke Weaver maybe?

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The Reds got three young players — all from the Los Angeles Dodgers system — in yesterday’s three-team trade that also involved the Chicago White Sox. The best of them, apparently, is second baseman Jose Peraza, who Baseball America admits doesn’t have a high ceiling. Here’s part of their take:

"Peraza relies on two tools: hitting and speed. He has a short swing, quick hands and strong wrists, with the hand-eye coordination to put the barrel to the ball at a high rate. He hits to all fields and is adept at going the opposite way. Peraza’s double-plus speed makes him a threat to steal 30 or more bases. He’s a line-drive hitter who can occasionally drive a ball to his pull side, but he probably won’t hit many home runs."

The Reds also got a 25-year-old they can stick in right field and another second baseman, this one drafted out of college who is struggling to adjust to all the good breaking stuff he’s seeing in the pros. So to sum all this up for you … meh. None of these guys will strike fear in the hearts of St. Louis Cardinals pitchers next year.

Next: Reassessing the National League Competition

For the St. Louis Cardinals’s top brass, however, the Frazier deal shows that the Reds have now numbed up their fan base, but good. If anyone was in denial about a total rebuild, now they know it’s happening. A Joey Votto trade wouldn’t hurt at all.

Here’s hoping Jocketty still has a soft spot for the St. Louis Cardinals and is at the top of Mozeliak’s speed dial list.