5 Cardinals who could still be traded in the offseason

With the August 1st MLB trade deadline come and gone, the Cardinals accomplished what they set out to do at the deadline, move expiring contracts. That's about all they did though. Some argued that they could, and should, have done more. Their objective was to inject the roster with pitching with an eye on 2024 and getting themselves back to a position where they, and most of baseball, are used to seeing them, at the top. They did so by trading away the likes of LHP Jordan Montgomery, RHP Jack Flaherty, RHP Jordan Hicks, RHP Chris Stratton, and SS Paul DeJong. They turned that into a plethora of minor-league pitching prospects to see who would pan out (Check out that fantastic read here).

The problem is none of the acquisitions they brought in appear to be an immediate "impact-in-2024" type of talent. That doesn't mean Drew Rom or Tekoah Roby couldn't bust onto the scene and have an outstanding 2024 rookie campaign, but the front office stated "Compete in 2024". In fact, President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak just confirmed his ambitions for the off-season,"Currently, there are three open spots for the 2024 starting rotation."

So, we know there is still a month and a half left of ball to play in St. Louis with many exciting things to watch. Things like the pending promotion of hotshot SS prospect Mason Winn. The conclusion of the highly anticipated rookie campaign of top prospect Jordan Walker. Can Nolan Gorman reach 30 home runs on the season? Can Nolan Arenado capture his 11th Gold Glove and move into second place all-time for third basemen? There's the battle for playing time and the enigma that is the St. Louis outfield. Also, who can show that they can step up and make a case for a starting job in the rotation for 2024?

Although the Cardinals may be out of contention for 2023, with all the previously stated things to watch in mind we know there is plenty of reason to still be following along the rest of the season. But what about the upcoming off-season? Who are some players that weren't dealt at the deadline that could still be moved in the off-season to bring in starting pitching, or other pieces for success? Let's take a look!

OF Tyler O'Neill

If he's healthy. If he's happy. If he's starting consistently. If he's in left field. If he's had a balanced breakfast. If...if...IF. Look there is not and will never be any doubt about Tyler O'Neill's actual ability to play baseball at an above level. There should also be no question about his ability to play left field at an elite level. Heck, he's won two gold gloves there. In 2021, "Muscles", finished 8th in the NL MVP voting with 34 home runs and 80 R.B.I.'s, and a .912 OPS. That's legit. That's "putting it all together." That's the kind of production that was missing from the Cardinal's lineup to be truly deep in 2022...and also 2023.

That in itself lies the problem. Tyler O'Neill has been on the roster since making his debut in 2018 and has had one season where he has played more than 100 games, 2021. He's a supreme talent and it would hurt to see him go elsewhere and find success, but I believe that's just what both parties need at this point. You cannot rely on "If's". It always seems to be that all the stars have to be aligned and the wind needs to be blowing in the right direction just for O'Neill to be clicking. The Cardinals can't wait on that for 2024. Maybe they can for the rest of 2023 if not for anything other than to see his trade stock climb, but not if they want to compete in 2024.

There's also the infamous public criticism of his hustle or "lack of effort" by manager Oli Marmol on the fifth game of the season earlier this season.

The Cardinals have given O'Neill every chance to be a building cornerstone in the Cardinal lineup. They have shown patience year after year. They gave him the chance to be the starting center fielder (in a very questionable decision). They chose to keep him at the trade deadline in 2023. The front office obviously believes in him, and good for him. I can see a situation where they believe they can't get anything for him and hold on to him for one more go in 2024. I don't think they should do that. They should if he's healthy, trout him out daily from now until the season's end and just let him play.

With one more season of control after this season, see if he can raise his trade stock, package him for a pitcher, or anything worthwhile they can get for him, and wish him the best. No love loss, no ill wishes, it just didn't work out. After all, the most valuable skill a player can bring to a team is staying on the field and he aint doing that.

OF Dylan Carlson

Now this one is a little different than Tyler O'Neill. Carlson made his major league debut in the COVID stricken 2020 season and is still only 24 years old compared to O'Neill's 28. Also, Carlson's skillset is a bit different than O'Neill's as well. The most home runs Carlson has in a season is 18 in 2021 and holds a career .394 slugging percentage as of August 17th. That's not exactly impressive for a switch-hitting centerfielder that your organization once touted as a "can't miss prospect."

It also gets worse when you isolate his handedness vs RHP for his career and realize he's a career .221 hitter vs RHP as a lefty. His WRC+ is 88 as well (100 being the league average). You compare that to his 137 career WRC+ and .471 slug as a RH batter and you can see the tale of two players and why many have questioned if he should just give up left-handed batting all together and bat righty full-time.

There's also another aspect to Carlson's game that has come into the picture more over the last year and a half. Injuries. As the aforementioned Tyler O'Neill, Carlson has spent a considerable amount of time on the IL in recent times. Though not nearly the amount of games that O'Neill has missed on the IL, Carlson lost 27 days earlier in the season with an ankle injury and is currently on the IL again with an oblique injury and a resurgence of ankle pain from earlier in the year. Last year, he spent two separate occasions on the IL with a hamstring injury and a thumb injury that was cited to have been a lingering injury he played through that sapped a lot of his power. He only spent one trip to the IL in his most productive season to date in 2021, a 10-day stint with a wrist injury.

So, why would A, the Cardinals look to trade a young controllable player who has yet to live up to his potential, or B, a team looking to trade for Carlson who has yet to put together consistency and live up to his hype? Well, he is exactly that. A young controllable outfielder under contract until 2027. He plays an above-average CF, switch hits, and hits LHP very well. There's a lot to like in his upside and a team with a surplus in outfielders could probably be persuaded or interested in moving him if the price is right. Especially if that price is an impact starter for 2024.

Personally, I'm in the "You shouldn't trade Carlson, yet." camp. I feel he's been struck at times with some bad luck in these injuries and poor management of them as well by the club. I can see a situation where Carlson gets traded and goes off to have a nice career elsewhere. That would hurt for a team to move a former 1st round homegrown talent, that has been searching for outfield stability over the last decade it feels. But, if you want to get what you're looking for and get the pitching you need, it's going to come at a cost. Dylan Carlson can help move that needle and I think the front office could capitalize on his value and shop him this winter.

C Andrew Knizner

This shouldn't be a controversy. I hate that it could be. Before this 2023 season, Andrew Knizner's highest WRC+ season was a 79 in both his premier season of '19 and 2022. He filled in the blanks with seasons of 42 wRC+ and 50 wRC+ in 2020 and 2021 respectively. This even included playing the majority of starts in 2022 at catcher due to Molina's extended absence. To put it politely, he wasn't very good. That has led to a shift in mindset this past off-season and a tremendous boost in performance to boot.

Bernie Miklasz did a great job laying some of that out here if you want a deeper dive. All offensive numbers are up. He's smacking a homerun once every 16 at-bats for a current career high in HRs (9), has a career-high in RBIs at the moment (27), and has more than doubled his ISO numbers from years past to a career-high ( and ninth in the league for catchers) at .226. These are all great signs for the Cardinals to see out of one of their catchers post-Molina era. After all, his offense is what carried Knizner to the Majors, not his defense.

The problem is, Knizner is 28 and when he does hit free agency in 2026 he will be pushing 31 years old. The Cardinals also have a young prospect in Ivan Herrea who has nothing left to prove at Memphis and looked ready for his turn in the big leagues during his time up earlier in July. Oh, and there's also the fact that the Cardinals committed $87.5 million dollars and five years to free agent Wilson Contreras this past offseason. There were even lengthy times this year when the Cardinals held three catchers on the active roster for extended periods of time (which was extremely confusing.)

So why hold on to Knizner when his trade value will be no higher? There are plenty of teams in baseball that would be interested in adding a catcher like him to their team that worked under the Molina school of preparation and has now shown his upside with his offense. I understand that Mikolas enjoys throwing to him or that he seems to be the un-anointed "Team Capitan". But that's enough for me to think the Cardinals would look to move him this upcoming offseason if they can find a fit and fill a need. Right now, even with Willson Contreras having a somewhat down year, I don't think the Cardinals need to worry about the catcher position.

OF/1B Alec Burleson

If you don't trade O'Neill or Carlson. If you don't move Moises Gomez or Juan Yepez. That might leave Alec Burleson on the trading block. It's not that I don't believe that Yepez or Gomez couldn't get moved over Burleson, they could. But Burleson is 24 and won't even be arbitration eligible until 2027 and eligible for free agency until possibly 2030? That's control. That's enticing for any club. Even if that 24-year-old rookie has hit to the tune of a .243 batting average and only 8 home runs. He has plenty of upside.

Burleson also doesn't appear to look the most comfortable in the outfield either. He has a bit of a stockier build and isn't very fast. Though he could take to the position more naturally as the years go on and transform his body a la Matt Adams style, I see him as a first baseman long-term. One that could slot well after Goldschmidt potentially leaves after 2024?

So why would the Cardinals give up on a player so early and with as much control as Alec Burleson? Well, to get pitching of course. Again, they could move a Yepez or Gomez and get something for them, but both of them are slightly older than Burleson and probably wouldn't net the same return as the 2020 draftee would get due to his youth and upside.

I could see this as a trade that could reopen the scars of a Randy Arozarena or Adolis García trade where a young player goes to another organization and blossoms. That fear of past mistakes can't hamper your decisions or make you trigger-shy in the present if the right deal is on the table. I see this as the lowest possibility of the five players suggested to be traded, but I'd keep my notifications on this winter if I was Burleson.