St. Louis Cardinals: Four players likely to be traded this offseason

The St. Louis Cardinals need to make some upgrades this offseason and they have the talent to be able to do this. Which players are likely to be traded?

In the offseason before the 2019 season, the St. Louis Cardinals made the biggest trade they have made arguably this decade by sending Carson Kelly, Luke Weaver, and Andy Young in exchange for their star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.

The Cardinals hadn’t made a big trade in a while and it was a good sign for what was to come before the 2019 season that saw the team make it all the way to the NLCS. As we all know, the team still has plenty of flaws and there is work to be done.

John Mozeliak may not be the most trigger-happy trader, but between free agency and trades, I believe this offseason will see the Cardinals move at least a few players from positions of depth to help where the team needs it. While I believe players like Kolten Wong, Carlos Martinez, or Andrew Knizner are long shots to be moved, they would net more talent than anyone who is most likely to be moved.

Without further delay, who is the most likely to be moved this season?

Jose Martinez

This is one player that would draw a lot of fan backlash if he was moved, but I believe he should be. Ever since Martinez came up to the bigs, it was clear he was a DH in the making. With a total of -22 DRS over his four years in the field, there’s no easy way to hide him out in the field without there being at least some drawbacks.

The fact of the matter is that Martinez routinely forces his way into the lineup with his hitting making a team sacrifice defense for his bat. That sounds exactly why DH’s were made.

Martinez was in conversations of trades last offseason but in the end, his affordability and production kept him around. The production fell in 2019 though. After posting a .300+ batting average his first three years, Martinez’s average fell to .269 with an OPS of .751, 70 points below his career average.

The down offensive year means he won’t have as much trade value, but coming off of his worst offensive and defensive year, it might be time for the Cardinals to move on from the cost-controlled 30-year-old. On an AL team, Martinez could still produce great and bounce back while not having to worry about his defensive downfalls.

Tyler O’Neill

Tyler O’Neill has all the potential in the world to be an All-Star outfielder. Acquired for Marco Gonzales, O’Neill has never got an extended look playing regularly at the major league level. With some of the most power of anyone in the organization, I wish he would be given a chance, but the team has seemingly made it clear that that won’t happen.

During the month of 2019 that Marcell Ozuna was on the IL with his broken fingers, the 24-year-old hit .301 with a .823 OPS. When Ozuna came back though, O’Neill was once again glued to the bench.

His season numbers don’t look great, but he played in a combined six games in the months of May, June, and August. When he played a lot in April and July, he produced, as I noted before. He can play solid defense at any outfield position and has speed on the basepaths. He seems like a perfect package yet the Cardinals seem reluctant to give him a real chance.

It’s for this reason that I believe he will get traded. With the Marcell Ozuna sized hole in left field, the team could hold on to him and give him an extended look, but with the plethora of outfielders the team has, O’Neill is (but shouldn’t be) expendable.

O’Neill wouldn’t have as much trade value as Jose Martinez, but he could still be a valuable trade piece.

Daniel Ponce de Leon

First appearing in the Majors last year at the age of 26, Daniel Ponce de Leon still has his rookie status intact after pitching as a spot starter and reliever for the Cardinals in 2019. Ponce de Leon sits in a similar spot as O’Neill as he clearly has potential, but hasn’t been given a very extended look.

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He did replace Michael Wacha for some time in the rotation during the 2019 season but was removed after just a couple of starts. In total, he made just eight starts on the year but was still 16% above average with a 3.70 ERA.

Ponce de Leon spent a lot of the year just sitting in the bullpen waiting to pitch as the long man even though he proved he could perform in the starter’s role or in a short inning reliever. As with O’Neill, how the team treated him shows where he sits.

If Ponce de Leon was a part of the team’s long-term plans, I believe we would’ve seen him in a more prominent role. At the end of the day though, he is a pitcher who has proved he can start and start well. Even at the age of 27, he has value that could be moved for another player.