4 ex-Cardinals who would have benefited from the current youth movement approach

RHP Zac Gallen

Another part of the package for Marcell Ozuna, Zac Gallen didn't actually find his success with the Marlins. That would come much later for the New Jersey native.

The Cardinals drafted Gallen in the third round of the 2016 amateur draft, and he played in High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A for the Cardinals in 2017.

At the time of the trade for Marcell Ozuna, Gallen was the Cardinals' 14th-ranked prospect. He didn't have a particularly overpowering pitch, but his game was founded on command and control. His fastball sat in the low 90s, but his excellent command and arm angle allowed it to play up. His changeup had potential to be a plus pitch, and his breaking stuff was average. Gallen was a low-ceiling, high-floor college pitching prospect with whom the Cardinals typically fell in love.

Gallen made his major-league debut with the Marlins in 2019, and he posted a 2.72 ERA in 36.1 innings across seven starts. The Marlins then swapped young players with the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2019 trade deadline. The Marlins acquired infield prospect Jazz Chisholm for pitcher Zac Gallen.

Gallen has been one of the best pitchers in the National League since then. He's posted a 3.42 ERA over the last six seasons, and he finished in the top 10 of Cy Young voting three times, including a third-place finish in 2023. Gallen has struck out 9.7 batters per nine innings as a major leaguer, and he's excelled at limiting home runs.

While the pitching prospect depth was heavy for the Cardinals in the 2017-2018 offseason, they never gave Gallen a shot at the majors despite him being a polished college prospect at the time. He had been drafted just a year prior, and his 2.93 ERA across three minor-league levels for the Cardinals in 2017 should have made the organization want to keep him.

If Zac Gallen were a prospect now for the Cardinals, he wouldn't be traded for a bat-first corner outfielder to supplement the major-league roster. Instead, he would likely be given priority as starting pitching depth in the minors.