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5 surprising players the Cardinals should shop at the MLB trade deadline

We all know about Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, Erick Fedde, and Steven Matz, but who else should be on the trade block for the Cardinals?
ByThomas Gauvain|
St. Louis Cardinals v Cleveland Guardians
St. Louis Cardinals v Cleveland Guardians | Nick Cammett/GettyImages
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1B/DH Luken Baker

Luken Baker has been stuck in baseball purgatory for over half a decade now.

His promotion to the majors was delayed by future Hall of Famer Paul Goldschmidt during the 2020s, and Willson Contreras's move to first base this past offseason paired with Alec Burleson's development these past two years only further pushed Baker down on the depth chart.

In his seven years in the minors, Baker has a career slash line of .254/.342/.488 for an OPS of .830. He's slugged 135 home runs and 130 doubles across 629 games. The poor guy has done everything he could for a promotion, but the playing time just hasn't been there for him this year.

Baker's best year as a prospect came in 2023 when he slashed .334/.439/.720 with 33 home runs and a 1.159 OPS. His value as a bat-first first baseman was at its peak at the time, but the Cardinals opted to hold onto him at that time. He was never going to be more than a one-dimensional bench bat, but the club insisted on keeping him as depth behind Paul Goldschmidt and others in 2024.

Baker hasn't been able to replicate that success since. In 2024, he had an OPS of .880 in Memphis. That's still a solid figure but a clear decline from his heights in the year prior. This year, Baker has an OPS of just .731 in Memphis. He's also struggled to hit at the majors. He has a career batting average of .206 in the majors with an OPS of just .689.

Baker's struggles at the minor league level could be a result of fatigue; he's 28 years old and has spent seven years in the minors by now. That can't be inspiring for a baseball player. His struggles in the majors could be attributed to inconsistent playing time.

Luken Baker's time in the organization should probably be up. He's behind Willson Contreras and Alec Burleson at first base. Ivan Herrera could move there in the near future, too. The Cardinals trading Luken Baker wouldn't be to add to their prospect depth. It would instead be to give Baker a shot at regular playing time.

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