St. Louis Cardinals: Time to Become Sellers

The July 31 trade deadline is less than a month away and the St. Louis Cardinals should seriously consider becoming sellers, not buyers, this year.

I wrote two days ago about the rumors connecting the St. Louis Cardinals to players such as Yasiel Puig and Andrew Miller as the trade deadline approaches.  In that piece (go read it here if you missed it) I argued against moves of this nature due to cost, etc.  In that piece I also dangled the idea of addition by subtraction.

After publishing this article, my cousin (Benjamin Lawson) who is one of my two go-to guys to talk about baseball (along with my dear old dad) shared his suggestion via Facebook that the St. Louis Cardinals should become sellers this season.  I agree with him and want to examine his suggestions.

In his comment on Facebook, Ben said the St. Louis Cardinals should sell off the following pieces this season: Jhonny Peralta, Jaime Garcia, Jedd Gyorko, and Matt Adams.

Ben argues that Gyorko and Adams have rebuilt enough value through their recent performances that they could land on a team in contention who might be seeking bench depth.  Who might this be?  Would the Nationals need depth on their bench?  Would an AL team need a DH-type like Adams?

These are the season stats for Adams:

These are the season stats for Gyorko:

Let’s play out this idea briefly to see if one of the contending teams might have interest.  At this point in the NL, Washington holds a six game lead, Chicago holds a seven game lead, and San Francisco holds a 6.5 game lead.  While each of these are leads that can be cut, I’m not sold that Adams or Gyorko hold much value to NL teams.

In the American League, Baltimore holds a slim two game lead, Cleveland holds a 6.5 game lead, and Texas holds a 5.5 game lead.  I could easily see any of these three teams taking interest in the St. Louis Cardinals’ Adams and/or Gyorko.

Let’s move to the other players that Ben suggests.  To his point, Ben suggest shipping off Peralta and Garcia as a way of landing a haul of prospects to help the weakened minor league pool the St. Louis Cardinals currently hold.

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I find a great deal of truth in this.  To this point, Peralta is signed through 2017 and could spell a nice addition with some control to any team who might want his power and versatility.  While the St. Louis Cardinals will miss his versatility, we could benefit from additional prospects.

Jaime is signed through this season only and then will enter free agency if the St. Louis Cardinals do not offer him a contract.  Jaime could be a nice rental for a contender.  To the point of a contract from the St. Louis Cardinals, I’m not convinced he will be offered anything beyond this year so we should try to get something, right?

Let’s take a quick look at their stats this season.  First up, Peralta:

…and Jaime’s:

Thoughts?  Who might be interested?  Think we could entice a few teams to grab these players in exchange for prospects?  I’d love to see us try.

Next: Pivotal Marlins Series

So, what do you guys think?  Should we sell or should we even consider making a purchase?  Let us know your thoughts via Facebook or Twitter.