3 trade ideas for Cardinals pitcher Chris Stratton

Cardinals trade idea No. 3

Cardinals trade Jordan Hicks, Chris Stratton, and Dylan Carlson to the Twins for David Festa ( Twins #8 prospect according to MLB.com) and Jaylen Nowlin ( Twins #29 prospect according to MLB.com)

It has been reported that the areas of focus for the Twins at this deadline is bullpen help and a right handed bat, the Cardinals could oblige both their needs in one trade. The Twins are in a similar boat as the Rangers and Orioles, sitting in first place but with a significant need, in this case the Twins have two.

Minnesotas bullpen has been good for them relatively speaking but they could use some veteran arms as they have a handful of relievers that are young and inexperienced. Jordan Hicks presuming he does not sign an extension with the Cardinals, would likely be a fit with the Twins as he could slide in between Emilio Pagan and Jhoan Duran and give Minnesota a nice trio at the end of games. And Chris Stratton would be the veteran middle relief piece they need while Caleb Thielbar is out with an injury.

An outfield bat is another need of the Twins, preferably a right-handed bat because the Twins are only hitting .219 against left-handed pitching this season. When it comes to Dylan Carlson, teams have reportedly been asking about him but the Cardinals haven't explicitly come out and said he's available. But at the same time he isn't playing every day and has been vocal about that, it seems like the Cardinals would be willing to move on. Carlson has not lived up to the expectations as a top prospect, but he is a plus defender with a bat that can play, especially when he's hitting against lefties which might make him a fit in Minnesota.

When it comes to the prospects coming back in this mock trade, David Festa has made steady progress every year since his college days at Seton Hall. Since being drafted by the Twins he has found an extra 4-5 MPH on his fastball and slider, he is working on a second breaking ball to his repertoire and is piling up the strikeout numbers with 80 in 62 innings this year. The ERA is a little high right now in double A sitting at 4.79, but with all the steady strides he's made in the last few years, Festa seems to have very high potential.

The other pitching prospect is Jaylen Nowlin. He went from getting picked by Minnesota in the 19th round of the 2021 MLB draft to making their top 30 prospect list two seasons later. His sample size is small, but he has shown that he has strikeout stuff that can play in an MLB rotation or bullpen. Nowlin has worked on the walks in High A after having a 4.6 BB/9 in 2022 it's dropped to 3.1 BB/9 this year. What is concerning is he has allowed 11 home runs in 13 starts, however he is just 22 years old, and may just need more innings to work on his development.