5 wild trades the St. Louis Cardinals should consider to accelerate their reset

The Cardinals and Mariners finally swap a young bat for a young arm

I promise the rest of the deals I have cooked up are a different formula than this, but like the Marlins deal before this, the Cardinals and Mariners have been long linked together by both fans and pundits to swing a deal together.

The Mariners' rotation is currently made up of George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller, and Bryan Woo, and all three are middle-of-the-rotation arms or front-line starters moving forward. It is honestly unfair how much good pitching the Mariners have right now, but with how bad their offense is, they really need to consider breaking up that group.

You can never have enough pitching, but the Mariners are risking wasting this awesome rotation they have built if they do not go out and get bats to supplement it. They have their superstar in Julio Rodriguez and have a few interesting complimentary bats in Cal Raleigh, Randy Arozarena, and J.P. Crawford, but they need more if they are going to compete in the American League.

Neither side is going to like giving up what they'll have to part with to make a deal happen, but swapping Lars Nootbaar for one of Miller or Woo seems to make the most sense for both sides, if they can get on the phone with one another.

Starting with Nootbaar, he hits arbitration for the first time this offseason and is under club control through the 2027 season. Cardinals fans are well aware of his profile as a hitter, and if you go check out his Baseball Savant page from 2024, it's literally all red except for his launch angle sweet-spot%. Nootbaar has all of the tools to be a force at the plate, but for some reason, he has struggled to do that consistently. He's been prone to odd injuries, and then once he does get healthy, he takes a while to heat up.

It would be a big risk for the Cardinals to give up the upside that Nootbaar has, but the incentive to do so is by getting a young, proven starter with upside that does not hit free agency until 2030.

Miller posted a 2.94 ERA in 31 starts for the Mariners this year and will likely receive Cy Young votes. While he doesn't have the flashy strikeout stuff that excites fans, his fastball plays at a high level, and his split-finger compliments it well to induce ground balls. Woo, like Miller, posted a sub-3.00 ERA (2.89) in his 22 starts, and was elite at inducing weak contact and preventing walks. Woo is a primary fastball-sinker starter who mixes in a slider, change-up, and sweeper which allows him to keep opposing hitters off balance.

If this trade went down, the Mariners would be betting on the upside of Nootbaar's bat and how it can take their lineup to the next level. For the Cardinals, they'd be adding a high-quality arm with tons of team control and can hope that the rest of their young bats on the roster and in the farm system can carry the offense moving forward.

The Cardinals get a true middle-of-the-order bat

The last time the Cardinals were in a retool situation, they acquired one of the best sluggers in the game from Oakland, Mark McGwire.

I've found it really interesting that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold (subscription required) was checking in to see what a Brent Rooker trade would look like for the Cardinals prior to their public declaration of a reset. Even so, Goold alluded to Gorman being a piece that would make sense for Oakland.

Rooker, despite turning 30 a few weeks ago, does not hit free agency until 2028 and is coming off back-to-back seasons elite seasons at the plate. In 2023, Rooker slashed .246/.329/.488 with 30 home runs and a 126 wRC+. He then followed that up with a .293/.365/.562 with 39 home runs and 112 RBI with a 164 wRC+. Rooker's bat is game-changing and even without playing in the outfield, he was a 5.1 fWAR player.

Rooker being a primary designated hitter makes him an odd trade candidate. With the situation Oakland is in, Rooker is unlikely to be a part of their next contending team, and being able to flip him into multiple intriguing pieces would be beneficial for their long-term future.

I put Gorman in this deal and paired him with Alec Burleson, giving the Athletics two intriguing young bats with different profiles from the left side. Burleson is the high-contact hitter who brings above-average power while Gorman is the elite power and on-base guy. If the Cardinals bring in a guy like Rooker, fitting Gorman and Burleson into their lineup becomes much more difficult, but Oakland would have plenty of opportunities for them.

Tekoah Roby comes in as the third piece of this puzzle, giving Oakland a high-upside arm that also comes with a lot of risk due to the arm injuries he's had so far in his career. The Cardinals possessing Quinn Matthews, Tink Hence, Andre Pallante, Cooper Hjerpe, Michael McGreevy, and other intriguing young arms making parting with Roby less daunting.

A lineup featuring Rooker, Contreras, Nootbaar, Donovan, Winn, Herrera, and Walker has the potential to be a really dynamic group and would be under control for a long time. Losing Gorman and Burleson would hurt, but consolidating them into a truly elite bat who excels with runners in scoring position could vault their lineup from bottom third in baseball up to the middle of the pack or better immediately. That's a risk that may be worth taking.

With Thomas Saggese in St. Louis now and the likes of JJ Wetherholt and Chase Davis on the way, it makes sense to combine some of these young bats and flip them into a bigger fish.

The Yankees reload for another World Series run, and the Cardinals' revamp their pitching

I'm going to be honest, I am very much against the idea of trading Brendan Donovan or Lars Nootbaar this offseason. Even so, neither should be seen as "untouchable", and while any deal would be painful to move them in, like the Mariners deal above, the opportunity for St. Louis to get young pitching here could be worth pulling the trigger.

It is obvious that the New York Yankees are going to need to be aggressive this offseason in going after a World Series in 2025. After falling four games to one in the Fall Classic to the Los Angeles Dodgers this past year, it's clear that the Yankees not only have to find a way to bring back Juan Soto, but they also need to improve the roster further if they want to get over the hump.

Not only is Soto a free agent, but the Yankees have to find a way to bring back or replace 2B Glebyer Torres, RP Clay Holmes, 1B Anthony Rizzo, OF Alex Verdugo, RP Tommy Kahnle, RP Lou Trivino, RP Tim Hill, and RP Jonathan Loaisiga. They won't be able to do all of that through free agency and handing out big contracts, so replenishing their bullpen and adding reinforcements to the lineup will take creative trades as well.

The Yankees have long been interested in Donovan, whose on-base skills and versatility would be a major asset to their lineup. Third base would be the clear spot for Donovan to slot in, but he'd also provide the Yankees with flexibility all over the field as needed. The soon-to-be 28-year-old is top 15 in all of baseball in on-base percentage since debuting in 2022, and Donovan's 115 wRC+ would have been fourth on the Yankees' last year. Getting that kind of production from a player with three years of team control remaining would be huge for their books.

While Luke Weaver emerged as an important bullpen piece for the Yankees last year, losing Holmes, Hill, Kahnle, Trivino, and Loaisiga all at once will have a major impact on their relief core. While they still have Weaver, Mark Leiter Jr., Jake Cousins, and others, it would make a lot of sense for the Yankees' to bring in an arm like Helsley to shut down ballgames, especially since his salary would be smaller than going after a lesser arm on the open market.

While I played with the idea of the Cardinals getting a return centered around Jasson Dominguez (and that would be an awesome haul to prioritize), I could see the Yankees parting ways with one of Luis Gil or Clarke Schmidt to make a deal like this happen, along with throwing in some intriguing prospects to secure the services of both Donovan and Helsley.

In this scenario, I have the Cardinals snagging Gil, who is coming off a 29-start season where he posted a 3.50 ERA over 151.2 innings, striking out 26.8% of the batters he faced. He's just 26 years old and won't be a free agent until after the 2028 season, giving the Cardinals a mid-rotation arm with control that may end up being even more than that as he continues to develop.

Gil is not enough to get both Donovan and Helsley, though. To swoon the Cardinals into making such a deal, the Yankees would also be throwing in two intriguing prospects. Chase Hampton is the Yankees' number six prospect according to MLB Pipeline, and though he missed a large chunk of the 2024 season, he still has the upside of a middle-of-the-rotation starter. Between High-A and Double-A in 2023, Hampton struck out 147 batters in just 106 innings. The elbow issues are concerning for sure, but he has the kind of upside that is worth betting on.

Same with Brando Mayea, a 19-year-old in rookie ball with eye-popping tools that could vault him up prospect lists as he develops. He has plus defense and plus-plus speed in center field to go with an average hit took and the potential to develop average or better power as well. The combination of Gil, Hampton, and Mayea may be enough to convince the Cardinals to let go of their two highly prized assets.

The Cardinals take a chance on someone they should have signed years ago

Back in 2017, the Cardinals were in hot pursuit of a top international prospect named Luis Robert Jr. They made a strong offer and were in on his market till the very end, but ended up losing out to the White Sox. While Robert would have been a huge asset to the club in recent years, the Cardinals could take a gamble and bring him to St. Louis this offseason.

Robert has had an up-and-down career for the White Sox thus far. In 2021, he posted a 155 wRC+ in 68 games, showing just how valuable of a player he could be when healthy. He struggled to stay healthy again in 2022 but posted a 111 wRC+, but really put together his best all-around season in 2023 when he played in 145 games with a 128 wRC+. He's an above-average defender in center field, and when the bat plays, he is one of the most exciting players in baseball.

2024 was a disaster for Robert though, much like the whole White Sox experience. He played in just 100 games and posted an 84 wRC+ at the plate with negative defensive metrics. I'd imagine that he'll be motivated by a move to a different club, but the injury concerns are something that makes him a risk for any club acquiring Robert.

That, paired with a $15 million price tag in 2025, means if he cannot rebound, he'll be a pretty major negative for the club acquiring him. Robert does have two club options for 2026 and 2027, both at $20 million. Again, that is a bargain for the kind of production he can provide in center field, but it's really bad money on the books if he looks more like his 2024 self or is constantly hurt.

Center field is easily the position the Cardinals could stand the most to upgrade at, especially adding a right-handed bat. Robert could be worth the risk for the club, but it will cost them something to make it happen.

I wonder if that package could look like Alec Burleson and Gordon Graceffo. The White Sox could swap out Robert for a young bat with a ton of team control as they embark on this long rebuild, and Burleson could be a part of their next contending core. While his second half in 2024 was quite disappointing, he did put up a 125 wRC+ in the first half, and if he can figure out how to do that over the course of a season, that's an extremely valuable piece to have.

With the Cardinals moving Contreras to first base and having plenty of corner outfield and DH options, Burleson may be someone they can part with in order to upgrade a weaker position on their roster like center field.

Graceffo is still an intriguing prospect but is likely a back-of-the-rotation starter at best, with a future as a bullpen arm very much in the cards. Sending him to Chicago alongside Burleson would be painful, but I think the potential reward here could be worth the risk.

Giving up this much control for Robert's expensive contract could come back to bite them. If St. Louis can see a future where Robert locks down center field for them though, I think it's worth exploring.