St. Louis Cardinals: Four darkhorse candidates to be traded this winter

The St. Louis Cardinals will be making a lot of moves over the coming months. Who are the unlikely trade candidates that shouldn’t actually surprise us?

The St. Louis Cardinals have some work to do this offseason. With revenue down and a weaker free agent class, I’m expecting a lot of that work to come through trades. Trade speculation is a lot of fun, and with the amount of depth that the Cardinals have, they could be major players in the market.

There are three groups of players that Cardinal fans are calling to be traded: outfield depth, expensive veterans, and blocked upper-level prospects. We’ve written about some of these players, like Tyler O’Neill and Daniel Ponce de Leon. Carlos Martinez looks like he’ll probably be dealt this offseason. Throw in Andrew Knizer, and you could start a new team with all the Cardinals on the block.

No matter which group you think it is, there will be many Cardinal players to be traded in the near future. If the Cardinals are active this offseason, however, we might be surprised by which players they actually end up trading. Here are the four dark horse trade candidates to look out for when the Cardinals make deals this winter.

Tommy Edman

I don’t think this happens, but don’t be shocked if it does. As much as the Cardinals value his versatility, speed, and defense, there is a surprising amount of middle-infield depth in the organization. Especially if the Cardinals re-sign Brad Miller and extend Kolten Wong, Edman’s value becomes a surplus.

After his fantastic rookie season, Edman had a bit of a sophomore slump. In fact, not a single stat of his increased over the shortened 60-game year. Batting average, on-base, slugging percentage– somehow Edman walked the same amount of times as in 2019 (16 walks) but he was a lot less effective at the plate in every other regard.

There might be some worry of selling low on Edman, but I think most teams will still jump at the chance to acquire a 25-year old who can play five positions and run like the wind. You take a risk giving up that talent, but the Cardinals could get quite a lot for him.

Rebuilding teams tend to follow the blueprint of whatever team won the year before. As we see with the Dodgers and Rays in the World Series, lineup depth and flexibility are huge parts of a championship team. The Cardinals are known for producing that sort of ultra-utility player, and as they look to improve in other areas, dealing Edman from a position of strength would be quite the move.

John Gant

If there is one thing the Cardinals have in spades this coming season, it is bullpen depth. John Brebbia and Jordan Hicks are coming back from injury, and every other key piece from last year’s team remains. There might be some questions about consistency, especially among the younger guys, but this is the one facet of the 2021 Cardinals that is the most locked-in.

John Gant would be a key part of the pen. However, he is also arbitration-eligible, 28 years old, and coming off a year where he dealt with a lot of minor injuries. For a team with an abundance of young arms, this is the kind of player that might be shuffled out.

Gant has more trade value than you might think because of his ability to start. With every team believing they will unlock the next Charlie Morton through spin rates and analytics, I can see someone overpaying for Gant this offseason. If he stays a Cardinal, he will provide great value. If he is traded, however, I think the other bullpen depth will be able to cover for him nicely.

Jake Woodford

Jake Woodford is a very interesting player. Just last season, Woodford was the 13th prospect in the Cardinal organization. He was the 39th overall pick by the team in 2015 and has advanced steadily through the minor leagues. He gave up 13 runs in 21 innings out of the bullpen last season, but he continued to show a lot of promise and potential.

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Why trade a player like this? It seems exactly like the pitching version of a fellow named Randy Arozarena (I maintain that it is too early to judge this deal. In Matthew Liberatore we trust). Well, the reason is that there is unfortunately no spot for Jake Woodford on this team.

He is blocked in the current rotation by Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, KK, Daniel Ponce de Leon, and Austin Gomber. Alex Reyes, Genesis Cabrera, and even Ryan Helsley would probably get shots before him, as well. And in the future rotation, you have Matthew Liberatore, Zack Thompson, and many, many more– not to mention Dakota Hudson who comes back in 2022.

Woodford’s spot on this Cardinal team would be as a long reliever, and simply put he looks better than that. If teams come calling about trading for one of the talented young Cardinal pitching prospects, Woodford would be the one sent first. He is a young player with potential, and hopefully that could be flipped for good value.

This picture of Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader, and Lane Thomas will not be taken in 2021, because the Cardinals will trade at least one of these three outfielders. There is no chance that they are traded alone, however, and that is why I’ve presented these darkhorse candidates.

It would hurt to lose any of these four players. But for the St. Louis Cardinals to get better they will have to give up something in return. No team is just going to take all the guys the Cardinals don’t want without also taking others.

Despite this, it’s still much more likely that other players are traded before the four on this list. An outfielder has to be moved, and the Cardinals have pitching depth envied by practically every organization. At least one deal will be reached, and it’s very possible it is for that one player you are thinking of.

I purposely left off players like Edmundo Sosa, Max Schrock, and Rangel Ravelo. While I have no idea how they fit into the plans for this team, I don’t know how much they are worth for the impact trade the Cardinals need.

What we need to remember this offseason is that besides Flaherty, Goldschmidt, and Carlson, very few players are off the table. Yes, the Cardinal front office is conservative– however, I believe that even they recognize this is no time to sit back.

It’s an exciting time to be a Cardinal fan. The team has a mixture of solid veterans and exciting young players. Maybe the Cardinals are only one or two pieces away from being the best squad in the league. A surprising performance, a solid trade or two, and you never know what 2021 could bring.

Who else should be on the trading block? Who should be off-limits? Most importantly, who should the Cardinals go after? The hot stove is just starting to heat up.