Cardinals: Trade proposals for rumored catcher targets

Linked to a variety of catchers on the trade market, here are proposals that St. Louis could make.

With the catcher position being the number one target for the St. Louis Cardinals during the offseason, many are speculated that the best place to acquire the heir to Yadier Molina is on the trade market.

Although free agency has a variety of names like the strongly linked Willson Contreras, Christian Vazquez, Martin Maldonado, and others, the best all-around catchers appear to be the ones who will be available via trade. The Cardinals need to find a catcher who can call games and defend behind the plate at a high level to replace what Molina offered, but cannot afford to have a weak bat at that position again.

If the Cardinals want to find that ideal catcher, there are a few names on the trade market who fit the bill, but none will come cheap. Although some of these names may hurt to lose, the Cardinals need to get comfortable with the idea of parting with high-end talent to acquire high-end talent, especially at a position as valuable as catcher.

The catchers that the Cardinals have been linked to the most on the trade market are Oakland’s Sean Murphy and Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jensen. All three catchers are coveted by many clubs around the league, so St. Louis will have to make a strong offer if they want to bring one of these stud backstops in.

Here are what it may take to acquire three of the most strongly linked catchers to St. Louis on the trade market.

Alejandro Kirk

While the Blue Jays could want a variety of things in return for one of their catchers, it appears like their club’s biggest needs would be a left-handed outfield bat or starting pitching. In this trade for Alejandro Kirk, Toronto gets a new switch-hitting center fielder.

This would certainly be a huge trade, but the more you look at it, the more sense it makes for both sides. Dylan Carlson, even after a disappointing 2022 season, just recently turned 24-years old and is already an elite defender in the outfield. With George Springer likely needing to move to a corner outfield position, the Blue Jays would love to get a cost-controlled, switch hitting bat to play center field for them, who still has potential at the plate.

Moises Gomez was one of the breakout stars of the Minor Leagues in 2022, leading all levels with 39 HR on his way to a .955 OPS in the Texas League for AA Springfield. Gomez feels like a Blue Jay, someone with immense power who could fit in at a corner outfield spot or DH, especially with guys like Teoscar Hernandez and Springer getting up in age.

The Cardinals would acquire an All-Star catcher in the form of Kirk, who slashed .285/.372/.415 with 14  HR and 63 RBI while catching in 78 games and DHing in another 51. There is a chance the club could stretch Kirk closer to 90 or 100 games in 2023, but he will not be the kind of catcher who plays 3 out of 4 games behind the plate (but few are in today’s game). Kirk is just 24 as well with 4 years remaining of control, making him extremely valuable.

Losing Carlson would be a tough pill to shallow, but still leaves St. Louis with Jordan Walker, Tyler O’Neill, Lars Nootbaar, Juan Yepez, and Alec Burleson to man the three spots in 2023. Grabbing a starting catcher at the level of Kirk for the next four years is a no-brainer.

Danny Jansen

Trades like this always hurt, but giving away a fan favorite in Lars Nootbaar would soon be forgiven with the level of production Danny Jansen could provide St. Louis behind the plate.

Jansen, 28, slashed .260/.339/.516 with 15 HR and 44 RBI in just 72 games for Toronto last season, caching in 63 of those games. Jansen has yet to be an everyday player in his career, but the underlying numbers indicate he could be an elite everyday catcher. Jansen’s .855 OPS would have ranked 1st among qualified catchers in 2022, better than the likes of J.T. Realmuto and Will Smith. 

Not only could Jansen be a legit middle of the other bat for St. Louis, but he also is a good defender behind the plate, and caught the majority of the games he played in (88% vs. Kirk who caught only in 60% of his games). Jansen should command less in a trade than Murphy and Kirk as well, as he has less years of control and has not been given the opportunity to be a club’s primary catcher.

Nootbaar was a huge piece for the Cardinals in 2022, but would allow them to make a major upgrade at catcher while maintaining a variety of good options for their outfield in 2023. Like Jansen, there is a chance that over the course of a full season, Nootbaar comes back down to earth and proves to be more of a fourth outfielder type, so both club’s take a risk in swapping guys who have been elite in small sample sizes.