Bleacher Report proposes foolish St. Louis Cardinals trade for All-Star outfielder

The St. Louis Cardinals are off to a strong start through the first two months of the season, much to the chagrin of rival executives. A team many wrote off in preseason polls and rankings has planted themselves firmly in the playoff hunt as the calendar turned to June.

This has made several writers posit that the Cardinals could actually become buyers at this year's trade deadline.

There are some areas of improvement for the Cardinals, primarily in the pitching department. Another legitimate starting pitcher to join forces with Sonny Gray and Matthew Liberatore would be an exceptional addition. A back-end reliever would also help relieve some of the stresses that Kyle Leahy, Phil Maton, and Ryan Helsley have been feeling of late.

What the Cardinals don't need is a left-handed hitting corner outfielder, something Bleacher Report proposed in a mock trade.

The St. Louis Cardinals sending JJ Wetherholt and Quinn Mathews to the Boston Red Sox for Jarren Duran would be preposterous.

In an article proposing 10 trades for Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, Zachary Rymer of Bleacher Report proposed a trade that would have the Cardinals sending their two top prospects, JJ Wetherholt and Quinn Mathews, to the Red Sox for outfielder Jarren Duran.

Let's start with some background on Jarren Duran.

He's only 28 years old still, and he has just over three years of team control left, including an $8 million club option for next year, followed by two years of arbitration eligibility in 2027 and 2028. He finished eighth in American League Most Valuable Player voting last year thanks to a .285/.342/.492 line with 21 home runs, 14 triples, 111 runs batted in, and 34 stolen bases, along with plus defense in the corner outfield.

Duran has already accumulated 11.2 bWAR across 415 games for a 162-game average of 4.4 bWAR. he has a career slash line of .272/.325/.451 for an OPS+ of 112. He's been an above-average hitter throughout his career. Duran has also been quite healthy these last two years. He currently leads all major leaguers in plate appearances and at-bats, and he led the majors in these figures last year, too.

His sprint speed ranks in the 92nd percentile in all of baseball, and he's been a pretty decent defender according to Outs Above Average for his career, accumulating 10 OAA in 2024. Duran is a well-rounded player with ample team control. At 28, he's in the prime of his career, too. He does fit the Cardinals' window of contention fairly well.

However, the organization is not in the business of shipping off top prospects, particularly two players whom the Cardinals hope to be cornerstones for the next six or more years in JJ Wetherholt and Quinn Mathews.

Wetherholt and Mathew are the club's top two prospects according to virtually every major prospect analysis. These two will probably make their debuts in 2026, and they'll be contributors immediately. Parting with them before the Cardinals can reap the fruits of their newfound drafting and developing labors would be borderline malpractice.

The Cardinals are missing a true superstar on their roster right now. Nolan Arenado is fading quickly; Brendan Donovan is a very good player, but he hasn't been able to ascend to superstar level; and Masyn Winn isn't quite there yet. The shortcomings of Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman have also been painful to watch.

Acquiring Jarren Duran via trade would give the Cardinals the chance to find a potential MVP candidate, something they haven't had in two years. However, the cost of JJ Wetherholt AND Quinn Mathews is too high for a player who has only had one true season of exceptionalism.