5 exciting pitching prospects the Cardinals should target in their offseason trades

Rays RHP Brody Hopkins

The Tampa Bay Rays were wheeling and dealing this past week, executing a three-team trade with the Pirates and Astros that sent second baseman Brandon Lowe to Pittsburgh, and then sending right-handed pitcher Shane Baz to the Baltimore Orioles for a haul of prospects.

The Rays are heavily rumored to be in the Ketel Marte market right now, with many around the league seeing those deals as setting them up to acquire the Diamondbacks' second baseman. While I can see that happening, I also wouldn't rule out the Rays making a run at Donovan.

If Tampa Bay comes calling wanting to acquire Donovan, right-hander Brody Hopkins should be at the top of their wishlist. The Rays' top prospect, according to Baseball America, was acquired by Tampa Bay from Seattle for former Cardinal Randy Arozarena at the 2024 trade deadline, and he's really grown as a starter since then.

I am positive that Pierpont would love to get Hopkins under his leadership again, as in 2025, Hopkins posted a 2.72 ERA in 25 starts at Double-A, striking out 141 batters in just 116 innings of work. He has abosolutely filthy stuff, and he'd be an excellent headliner for the Cardinals to acquire.

Hopkins has a four-seam fastball that sits in the mid to upper 90s and touches 100 MPH, which plays really well up in the zone. He pairs that with a 90 MPH change-up that feels like it is falling off a cliff when tunneled with his fastball. Oh, and did I mention that his curveball is his best pitch? He has a 70-grade high 80s power curve that will be an excellent strikeout pitch for years to come. His curveball is a plus-plus pitch, while his fastball and cutter are both 65-grade pitches, and he even had an above-average sweeper to throw in as well.

His stuff is incredible, but he does have control issues that need to be figured out long-term for him to reach his ceiling as a prospect. He has that "reliever risk" that scares some teams, but the Bloom regime seems to embrace that risk, knowing that it brings dynamic arms to their system. Brandon Clarke, Liam Doyle, and Tanner Franklin are prime examples of that.