Cardinals top 5 trade chips if they want to aggressively add to their roster

#4 - Dylan Carlson

At this point, Dylan Carlson's value in any trade is zapped compared to where it used to be a few short seasons ago.

Please stop with the "the Cardinals didn't want to trade Dylan Carlson for Juan Soto" comments, because that statement is just not true. If it had been as simple as Carlson for Soto, it would have gotten done, and even if it had been just a bit more complicated, I think Mozeliak would have found it within himself to let go of his prized prospect. I understand the Cardinals told Carlson they would not be trading him, but it has also been reported they told that to multiple other guys as well, those names are just not public knowledge.

If you want an idea of what the package would have had to look like to match the Padres offer, you can check out this story, and then try and tell me you think it would have been a good idea to trade Walker, Gorman, Winn, Hence, Carlson, and more to go and get Soto when the Cardinals were never going to be able to resign him.

Anyways, thanks for letting me get on my soapbox for a moment, but since that whole situation, injuries and subpar performances have zapped Carlson of his value. Honestly, I'm pretty confident he is going to go on to have more success elsewhere, but it's the bed the Cardinals have made themselves at this point.

While Carlson's .347 OPS and -0.5 WAR in 16 games this year is not going to impress anyone, he was a top prospect in baseball and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2021, so someone is going to want to take a flyer on him. Even if he cannot regain his promise from early in his career, I can still see Carlson providing value as a platoon bat against left-handed pitching who plays good corner outfield defense.

He'll likely need to be paired with other assets to bring something of value to St. Louis, but that's where we are at now.