Charisma oozes out of latest Cardinals trade addition

Chaim Bloom continues the commitment to the rebuild for the St. Louis Cardinals, and the recent trade of Brendan Donovan puts the plan full speed ahead. After we patiently waited for baseball insiders to release the full details, fans got the opportunity to look at all assets changing hands in the three-team deal involving the Cardinals, Seattle Mariners, and Tampa Bay Rays.

Rays' Colton Ledbetter could be a fun addition to the St. Louis Cardinals outfield.

While grades are still filing in from all around the baseball world for all parties involved in the three-team trade, it seems like most everyone around the Cardinals organization is excited for the return, even though it is painful to watch Donovan head out of St. Louis. While switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje was the headliner coming to the Cardinals from the Mariners, the involvement of the Tampa Bay Rays was interesting, and slightly terrifying for those of us with PTSD in trades involving the Rays. When the full details came out, in addition to Cijntje, outfielder Tai Peete, and two Competitive Balance Round B selections, Tampa included outfielder Colton Ledbetter as a piece heading to St. Louis.

In an effort to get a glimpse at the trade from all sides, I had Redbird Farmhands and Aidan Gray from Redbirds on the Arch join my podcast to look at the return from the minor league side of things, but I also was able to get Baseball Banter Broadcast Rays contributor Roman Rodriguez to explain how and why Tampa was involved. While both Farmhands and Aidan were happy enough with the addition of Ledbetter, Roman was a little more emotional at the fact that the Rays felt comfortable enough to send him packing.

What all parties could agree on in regards to Ledbetter was that the toolsy outfielder can absolutely fly around the bases and in the grass, but the rest of his game is going to need some polishing. Roman pointed out to his ability to make spectacular plays in the outfield and wreak havoc on the bases, while both Farmhands and Aidan said he can make the acrobatic plays but at times needs to make the routine plays look routine. They believe that is going to happen with just more time and practice in center field. Finally, Roman said that Colton is the type of guy that can bring energy and charisma to the field, something that the new-age Cardinals are going to build off of during this transition time.

At the plate, Ledbetter has the pop that the Cardinals have been searching for this offseason, but that comes with some swing-and-miss issues that he can hopefully correct under the watchful eye of the new Cardinals player development team. Despite FanGraphs putting a low 20-grade on Ledbetter's current hitting tool, the lefty hit a solid .265 with a .715 OPS last season while playing for Double-A Montgomery Biscuits. He took a step back in the power department from prior years, hitting just seven homers, but he did steal 37 bases and trimmed his strikeout rate while also drawing more walks.

He just turned 24, so it will be interesting to see where the Cardinals send Ledbetter to start the season. The current Memphis Redbirds roster has three outfielders that are receiving invitations to Major League camp, and it is possible that one of those players ends up making the trip north out of Florida. That could leave a spot for Ledbetter to zoom right into Memphis, but he may also be sent to repeat Double-A as he learns from his new organization.