Why the St. Louis Cardinals May Trade for Shohei Ohtani

Ohtani makes St. Louis World Series contenders

Let’s talk about the season Shohei Ohtani is having right now. On the mound, Ohtani has an ERA of 2.80 with 134 SO in 93.1 innings of work, earning an All-Star appearance for his pitching prowess and is in the conversation for the American League Cy Young.

At the plate, Ohtani is slashing .257/.352/.492 with 21 HR and 59 RBI, and was the starting DH for the American League All-Star team this season. After winning MVP in 2021, Ohtani is fighting tooth and nail with Aaron Judge for the award again in 2022.

So, when considering acquiring Ohtani, you are not just adding one superstar slugger or one front line ace. You are adding an Cy Young and MVP level bat to your lineup in the same move, something that has never been done before, outside of the Yankees acquiring Babe Ruth.

For St. Louis, the opportunity to add Ohtani, who would be the best pitcher available in a trade, to the top of their rotation is reason enough to make this kind of move. Ohtani, Miles Mikolas, Adam Wainwright, and a healthy Jack Flaherty could stack up with any rotation in baseball, and takes a ton of the stress and pressure off of the rest of their staff.

Not only does Ohtani give St. Louis the ace they are starving to have, but they also get to acquire the left-handed slugger they have been looking for in the form of Soto. Ohanti is not the same level hitter Soto is, but he’s not far of. Last season, Ohtani had a .965 OPS with 46 HR and 100 RBI, and has heated up for the Angels as the 2022 season has gone on.

Imagine going into a playoff game with Ohtani on the mound, and then facing Ohtani, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and company for 9 innings. St. Louis instantly goes from fringe playoff team to World Series contender with the addition of just one player.

Grabbing Ohtani now means at least one more season with him in 2023 as well, and with the Cardinals recent history in trading for superstars, he could enjoy his time in St. Louis enough to resign with the club after 2023. Even if he walks, Ohtani puts the Cardinals in position to win a World Series that even Soto can’t do for them.

Shohei Ohtani will requires a Soto like package, and maybe more

Any trade for Shohei Ohtani would cost a fortune for St. Louis, and the conversation would have to begin with top prospect Jordan Walker.

It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Walker is not included in any deal. The Angels will stress that the Cardinals are acquiring one of the best pitchers in all of baseball and one of the best hitters in the game. Getting both in the same package in the form of Ohtani will require the club’s best If St. Louis could somehow avoid giving up Walker, then the package would be even more loaded.

It’s hard to approximate Ohtani’s value, but when speculating a package, I would assume they would ask for the following. Jordan Walker, two of Nolan Gorman and Maysn Winn, and two or three of Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, and Tink Hence. The Angels could potentially replace Walker with Carlson in such a deal, but again, Walker would be their preference.

Due to how thin their farm system is, the Angels would be interested in a package that includes a quantity of prospects we’ve never seen in a baseball trade before, that instead of being centered on Walker or Carlson, focuses on Winn and Gorman with 6-7 other prospects joining them. Our own Ben Remis just wrote about the insane amount of depth St. Louis has organizationally just in the outfield, and multiple other places on the diamond are now reflecting that as well.

Whether it is a top heavy deal with some of St. Louis’ greatest assets, a large package focused on replenishing the Angels farm system as a whole, or a little bit of both, St. Louis has the firepower to make that kind of deal, still be contenders, and have a bright future ahead of them.