3 Trade Targets at Catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals need to find ways to improve the club’s offensive production at catcher. Here are three realistic targets for St. Louis.

Since the 2004 season, the St. Louis Cardinals have penciled in future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina in at the catcher almost every day. The question facing the club each season was who could fill in when Molina needed a day off, but the starting spot was never in question.

Now with a steep decline in performance and a clear need to play less than ever before for his own health, Molina cannot be relied on as the traditional, primary catcher he once was.

St. Louis has struggled to find an internal option to take the pressure off of Molina this season. Backup Andrew Knizner started off hot but has fallen off dramatically, prospect Ivan Herrera appears to still be a year away after his short stints in St. Louis, and veteran Austin Romine is not a viable option for a contending team.

The Cardinals offense has been the bright spot for the club in 2022, but the catcher position has weighed the club down significantly at the plate, even when Molina plays. The club ranks 28th in baseball in OPS from the catcher position. sitting at .510. Molina has the highest BA of the bunch, sitting at .213. This will not cut it if the team wants to make a run in October.

If Molina can be relied upon in a spilt role with another catcher, the team should expect greater production all round from behind the plate. The club seriously needs to consider adding a catcher at the deadline, and here are three options that would be great adds for the club.

Danny Jansen

Serving as the backup for All-Star catcher Alejandro Kirk, catcher Danny Jansen could be an expendable piece for Toronto, and the Cardinals should take advantage of his underutilized talent.

Jansen has been hitting .258 with 7 HR and 13 RBI in 21 games in 2022. The eye popping number for the 27 year old is his .922 OPS, which even with a bit of regression, would be a dramatic improvement for St. Louis.

The Blue Jays also have top prospect Gabriel Moreno ready to get big league at bats, meaning Jansen does not have much of a future at the club. The Blue Jays will look to be aggressive at the deadline, so would likely be open to swapping their surplus catcher to replenish their farm system or gain big league talent at other positions.  The appeal of Jansen may also come in that price point, as he should not be nearly as expensive as other players on the market.

Jasen would provide the Cardinals with a powerful bat from the catcher position, and would be huge for the bottom of the order down the stretch. Having a player behind the plate with the ability to drive in runs is a net positive not only for the catcher position, but should help the rest of the order as well.

Sean Murphy

The Oakland Athletics are in the midst of tearing down their prior core to rebuild the team, and catcher Sean Murphy appears to be one of the next players to be dealt from the big league club.

Murphy will be difficult to pry from the Athletics hands, as he is under team control through the 2025 season and provides a good mix of above average offense at the plate and great defense behind the dish for the A’s.

Murphy is slashing .237/.307/.409 with 9 HR and 36 RBI in 2022, which would be a nice improvement for St. Louis if he can bring that production to the club. The hope would be that the catcher could even improve on those numbers, joining a contender and being surrounded by great hitters.

The 27-year old would be a great compliment to Ivan Hererra for 2023 and beyond as well. Many contending teams like to split their catchers time more than the Cardinals have in the past, so having two great options behind the dish could do wonders for the club.