St. Louis Cardinals: Does it make sense to trade Alex Reyes?

Right-handed pitcher Alex Reyes has long been the top prospect for the St. Louis Cardinals, but thus far his career has been derailed by injuries. After a healthy 2020 season, is it time to cash out on his value?

If someone were to look back at the St. Louis Cardinals’ prospect rankings from the last several years, Alex Reyes would be a fixture at the top. His upside was extremely tantalizing, and honestly, still is. But injury after injury has derailed his career up to this point and now, at age 26, he’s finally starting to gain some footing.

The timing for this discussion might seem odd, then. However, I think the time is right to explore trading Reyes.

He’s arbitration-eligible for the first time and is due a modest bump in salary. After pitching in 15 games with a 3.20 ERA, he has earned it. Looking at his numbers for 2020 and you’ll see some of the reasons he is so highly regarded. But it also shows why there is reason to be skeptical.

As mentioned, he pitched in 15 games last season. Over the course of his major league career, he has appeared in 32 games. Yes, roughly half of his career games were accounted for in the shortened 2020 season. Reyes debuted in August of 2016.

The talent is there without a doubt and Reyes seemed to find success as a key pitcher out of the bullpen. That is the role I think he’s best suited for, where the Cardinals can watch his innings and utilize him as a high leverage arm. As a starting pitcher, he often didn’t pitch deep into games and would also have to build his workload back up after several seasons of not starting much.

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Is it time to think about exploring his trade market? I think so. After a healthy season, he might have more value now than he’s had since he was a top prospect. Certainly, he wouldn’t bring back the same return he would have as a top prospect, but if the team was convinced that Reyes’ 2020 season was an outlier in a career that has otherwise been filled with injuries, trading him makes sense.

When he was one of the best prospects in the sport a handful of years ago, the St. Louis Cardinals likely could have named their price for him, if so inclined. Now, they’d probably view him as part of a trade and maybe not a centerpiece. I’m not advocating to ship Reyes off for scraps, to be clear. But if his inclusion in a trade brings back something valuable, it’s worth thinking about.

The St. Louis Cardinals have a good pitcher in Alex Reyes, and it’s unfortunate that he has yet to have a chance to put it all together. Maybe his 2020 season was a springboard and his career will now take off. It’s a real possibility. But it’s also a possibility that the injury bug bites him again and further delays his opportunity to maximize his upside.

If the Cardinals think Reyes will stay healthy, he could be an important bullpen piece for years to come. Maybe he even gets another chance in the starting rotation. If the Cardinals think he’s just an injury waiting to happen, there may never be a better chance to cash out on this asset.