3 trade packages to reunite the St. Louis Cardinals' with former ace Jack Flaherty

Package #2 for Jack Flaherty

Remember how I compared the price for Flaherty to the price for Montgomery? Well, maybe that could be the literal price in this case.

Let's take a moment to compare the numbers from Flaherty so far this year and what Montgomery put up with the Cardinals before being dealt.

I remember at the time making the point that Montgomery could fetch the Cardinals two top 100 prospects with his performance, especially since he'd likely be the best rental arm available. While Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander were both moved as well, both trades took the Mets eating significant money to get good value in return. Montgomery did not require anything like that.

That was a pretty basic comparison of the two starters, but if you go through their entire bodies of work before being dealt away, Flaherty was been the far superior pitcher. Expecting him to be traded for less than what the Cardinals got for Montgomery seems silly to me.

If you just don't think it is worth making the deal, that's fair, and I understand why you feel that way. But if the Cardinals want to get a deal done for Flaherty, it will take a strong offer like this.

Thomas Saggese continued his dominance in 2023 after being traded to St. Louis, winning Texas League Most Valuable Player and earning a promotion to Memphis. Things have been rockier this year for Saggese, but his bat seems to be heating up a bit, and he is still a very promising infielder long-term who could help the Tigers' awful offense very soon.

Tekoah Roby has dealt with an injury this year, the second straight season where he's been sidelined for significant time. Unfortunately, in the few starts Roby has been healthy this year, he has not been nearly as effective as in years past, but once again, he's still a very intriguing prospect, and like Saggese, snuck on top 100 lists during the preseason.

Both players have fallen off almost every national top 100 list this year, but they are still borderline top 100 talents like they were at the time of their trade last year. With the Cardinals' organizational depth in the middle infield and other intriguing arms they value over Roby, they could be convinced to part ways with these two.

I decided to fully replicate the Montgomery trade by adding another piece for St. Louis in here, getting them outfielder Mark Canha. With Tommy Edman's rehab being hindered once again, it feels likely that St. Louis will add another right-handed bat to the club. On the season, Canha is slashing .286/.403/.476 in 77 plate appearances against left-handed pitching, resulting in a 145 wRC+. The Cardinals desperately need production against lefties right now.

In turn, I added Zack Thompson into the deal, who like Saggese and Roby, has had a down year but still has upside moving forward as a back-end starter or impact reliever.