4 potential blockbuster trades for the St. Louis Cardinals

John Means

Cardinals Receive: LHP John Means

Orioles Receive:  LHP Zach Thompson (#6 prospect),1B Juan Yepez (#7 prospect), RHP Michael McGreevy (#10 prospect)

Baltimore seems to be in a never-ending rebuild, but continuing to build their prospect pool by dealing an arm like John Means could be the final “bottoming out” move before they begin to rise back into contention.

Like the Montas trade, the Cardinals receive a high level arm, this time a lefty in Means, who can provide stability and production that the club needs badly. Means was an All-Star and finished second in the Cy Young voting in 2019, and had an ERA of 3.62 over 146.2 innings in 2021. At age 28, Means still had three years of team control, so the Orioles may ask for a guy like Matthew Liberatore, but may be able to get a deal done with a collection of top 10 organizational prospects.

For the Orioles, rather than going all in on an MLB top-40 Prospect like Liberatore, they acquire multiple prospects with good potential, who can help this club build out stronger depth and a more well rounded team over the next few seasons. Zach Thompson can be a solid starter or higher level reliever. Juan Yepez’s bat has broken out in a big way, with the potential to be a high level bat at 1B or DH, and another solid starter who throws strikes in Michael McGreevy.