St. Louis Cardinals: Predicting a potential Juan Soto trade

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The St. Louis Cardinals are heavily rumored to be frontrunners for Juan Soto, here is what our writers think will end up happening.

The St. Louis Cardinals find themselves in the thick of the biggest story in recent memory: the Juan Soto sweepstakes.

After St. Louis was named by multiple different national outlets as the frontrunners for Soto, Cardinals fans have been voicing their opinions all over social media about whether or not Soto should be traded for, and if so, at what cost. As you could imagine, that conversation has been brewing amongst our writers here at Redbird Rants as well.

We asked some of our writers to make a prediction on what they believe will happen with this Soto trade. You’ll find some who believe a deal will go down, and all sorts of different packages with that, and some who do not believe Soto will end up being a Cardinal.

Soto is a generational talent who is putting up numbers that only Ted Williams has replicated in MLB history. The chance to add an almost surefire Hall of Fame bat as just age 23 is alluring, but will come at a great cost for any club who is interested.

As of July 25th, although there are strong rumors and links pointing to a deal, it is still speculation until a deal is made or the deadline passes.

Here are the different trade packages (or no deal predictions) that our writers have put together over the last few days. For context, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Nationals are asking for four to five top young players, some combination of prospects and major leaguers with low service time. Based on this asking price, our writers complied their packages or passed on a Soto deal.

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 13: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals in action against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning of game two of a doubleheader at Nationals Park on July 13, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

The trades that include Patrick Corbin

According to insiders, the Washington Nationals would like to attach the terrible contract of Patrick Corbin to any potential Juan Soto deal.

If a team were to take on Corbin’s deal, it would likely lessen the asking price in return for Washington, making this an appealing route for St. Louis. With that in mind, here are the packages for Soto with Corbin in the deal.

Josh Jacobs (@joshjaco2)

Juan Soto and Patrick Corbin for Dylan Carlson, Nolan Gorman, Maysn Winn, Gordon Graceffo, and Alec Burleson.

Generational talent requires a haul, and the Cardinals pony up to that asking price. By taking on Corbin, they lessen the value they have to give up, but still send the Nationals three top 100 prospects (Winn, Graceffo, and Burleson) and two exciting major leaguers in Gorman and Carlson.

While this is a tough pill to shallow for any club, acquiring a generational talent like Soto and holding onto a top 10 prospect in baseball in Jordan Walker would be huge for the club. While some of those prospects may end up being extremely good big leaguers, the likelihood is that not all of them will turn out, and none will be as good as Soto.

Miranda Remaklus (@missmiranda)

Juan Soto, Patrick Corbin and cash for Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson, Matthew Liberatore and Masyn Winn

The Cardinals desperately need pitching so if they are offering Corbin, I think he’s worth a shot as he’s a lefty arm with the capability of eating some innings down the stretch. He’s a ground ball pitcher which the Cardinals love and why not with their Gold Glove defense.

Juan Soto is an amazing talent. You gotta get him if it’s possible. While the Nationals will want young, ready to go talent, a package of Gorman, Burleson, Liberatore and Winn would give them some young talent with loads of potential.

Ben Remis (@BenRemis)

Juan Soto and Patrick Corbin for Masyn Winn, Matthew Liberatore, Tyler O’Neil OR Harrison Bader, Alec Burleson, Gordon Graceffo, and Johan Oviedo

While this exercise may just be wishful thinking, I think this is an interesting proposal. Here’s my process: there are three young guys I desperately want to hold on to in a deal for Soto- Dylan Carlson, Jordan Walker, and Nolan Gorman. By taking on Corbin’s high salary, maybe the Cardinals are able to do so. However, the price for this once-in-a-generation hitter is still incredible.

So that leaves top prospects Winn and Liberatore as the headliners. O’Neill or Bader becomes expendable with Soto in the outfield- let Washington pick whoever they prefer. Graceffo and Burleson are young, controllable talents ranking high in the system that the Cardinals are expected to capitalize on in a trade.

Lastly, Johan Oviedo has potential as a solid if unspectacular starter, again under team control for a long while. To recap: four top-100 prospects plus a gold glove everyday outfielder and a depth pitcher. I’m still not sure if this is enough for the Nationals, but it’s got to be awfully close.

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 16: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals takes a swing during a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park on July 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

The Jordan Walker Package

While most of us would love to hold onto Jordan Walker, it is likely that the Nationals will all but demand he is in the deal. If that is the case, here is what that deal could look like.

Greg Simons (@GregSimonsSays)

Juan Soto for Jordan Walker, Matthew Liberatore, Zack Thompson, Masyn Winn, Alec Burleson, and Tink Hence

The Nationals need everything, and if they’re dealing Soto, they’re asking for the moon. And since Washington won’t care if they’re good in 2023 or ‘24, younger players should be their priority for acquisitions.

This deal provides three very promising position players in Walker, Winn, and Burleson, along with three potential solid starting pitchers in Liberatore, Thompson, and Hence. Would this package be enough to beat out the numerous other teams sure to be in hot pursuit of Soto? I’m not sure, but it seems like a pretty good starting point, with a couple of tweaks possibly necessary to put the Cardinals over the top.

Prospects are really nice, and they offer plenty of potential to dream on, but Soto is a future Hall of Famer right now, and he’s only 23. Getting 2-1/2 seasons of his tremendous play – including three playoff runs – is worth the risk of those prospects working out.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 19: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals looks on against the American League during the 92nd MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard at Dodger Stadium on July 19, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

The no-deal predictions

Ultimately, no deal has been agreed upon, and it is still very much up in the air whether or not St. Louis would be willing to part with what is necessary to acquire Soto. Other teams appear to be lurking as well, and the Nationals could even decide to wait until the offseason.

With that in mind, here are the writers who do not believe a Soto deal is on the horizon for the Cardinals.

J.T. Buchheit (@jbuc14)

A lot of people seem to think that you can make this trade without giving up your top prospects like Jordan Walker or Masyn Winn, which I think is laughable. Soto is obviously generational, but this would give the Cardinals essentially three chances to win a title before they become what the Nationals are now, and that’s if they manage to re-sign Soto.

They’d have a barren farm system and one guy who can mash after Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado retire. This isn’t the way the Cardinals have found success over the past two and a half decades.

Russ Robinson (@frrobinson1957)

I understand Juan Soto would be a great addition to the Cardinals. Definitely one of the great young players in the game. But I’m going to be the contrarian. A blockbuster trade at the Trade Deadline is not in the personality of this Front Office. The big trades or attempted blockbuster trades have been done in the off-season by this franchise. For example, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Aranado, and the attempted trade for Giancarlo Stanton were all during the offseason.

Additionally, the Cardinals are in desperate need of rotation help, especially since we now know Steven Matz is unavailable for the foreseeable future. However, if the Cardinals do pull off this trade, I like my crow well done.

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