3 Halloween-scary trades that the St. Louis Cardinals should actually do

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 15: Victor Robles #16 of the Washington Nationals warms up prior to playing against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Four of the National League Championship Series at Nationals Park on October 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 15: Victor Robles #16 of the Washington Nationals warms up prior to playing against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Four of the National League Championship Series at Nationals Park on October 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 18: Paul DeJong #12 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates scoring during the eighth inning against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park on September 18, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 18: Paul DeJong #12 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates scoring during the eighth inning against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park on September 18, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images) /

Trade piece: Paul Dejong

Baseball Trade Values ℠  median value: 99.3

What to seek in return: A front-line starting pitcher or everyday closer, plus home run prospect.

Paul Dejong has set all kinds of records for St. Louis Cardinals’ shortstops in his budding career with the team. Especially to Cardinals fans with long memories of light-hitting shortstops like Dal Maxvill, the rarity of a home run hitting shortstop seems like the pearl of great price that should be preserved at all costs.

Yet Dejong’s surplus value is the second-highest on the team, second only to Jack Flaherty‘s. The emergence of Tommy Edman as a potential shortstop who can also hit a few home runs himself makes trading Dejong even thinkable.

In addition, there were times this year, especially towards the end of the year that Dejong resembled Maxvill more than Babe Ruth at the plate.

The thing that would make Dejong especially hard to part with is that he has turned into a better than average defender. His defense is reflected in his Wins Above Replacement (WAR) which sits at 4.1 bWAR, second highest of the position players and third highest on the team.