St. Louis Cardinals Rumors: The St. Louis Cardinals Blockbuster scenario

The final piece of the St. Louis Cardinals’ offseason Big 3 is a bit more forgiving, with two options to become the final piece in the Cardinals push to a historic 2019 offseason.

Both Noah Syndergaard and Trevor Bauer are rumored to be available. Both are relatively cheap and come with team control. The cost for either will be incredibly high. That said, the Cardinals can afford to make these deals. Let’s take them one at a time. I believe Bauer is more likely available, and a trade might look something like this.

The Cleveland Indians receive Jose Martinez, Tyler O’Neill, Luke Weaver and Johan Oviedo. The Cardinals receive Trevor Bauer and cash – around $5 million. This provides the Indians a DH and first base/outfield option in Jose Martinez, a stud outfield prospect in O’Neill, a MLB ready starter/reliever in Weaver and a pitcher with high upside in Oviedo.

If you want Thor, it is going to take two of Dakota Hudson, Jack Flaherty, and Alex Reyes, plus Tyler O’Neill, and along with a couple of additional prospects (see list above). Would you do that deal?  I think I might, the main issue being Thor’s health. I would have to have a full physical and determine if Thor was going to be healthy for the next three years.

Why take such a big risk with valuable prospects, you might ask? Well, it’s because when Thor is healthy, he is one of the best, if not the best pitchers in the game. Adding Syndergaard, a true ace, would make the Cardinals staff one of the best when he is healthy.

The Mets probably do that deal as well because they get much more control over assets with a similar upside. The only issue would be if a team like San Diego put together a better prospect package. That said, I would argue that not many teams (if any) can put a better package together than the Cardinals can with their wide variety of valuable assets.