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

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.