Checking in on the Cardinals prospects from the 2023 trade deadline

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The St. Louis Cardinals were sellers at the trade deadline in 2023 for the first time in many fans' lifetimes during a historically putrid season. Although fans hoped for it to be a one-off fluke, the Cardinals are quickly trending toward selling again, as they have limped to a 16-24 record to this point in the season.

The team's front office reeled in a litany of prospects during last season's teardown, grabbing six pitchers and two position players. Now, as these players have gotten settled in to their roles at varying levels of the minor leagues, fans are beginning to see a picture of how the prospects are shaking out.

President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak is under more scrutiny than at perhaps any other time in his career with the Cardinals, and many fans believe that Mozeliak and the rest of the current front office should not touch a Cardinals rebuild. The prospects the Cardinals grabbed in 2023 marked the front office's first stab at hauling in significant young talent, and their development will be pivotal to the team's future success.

Here is a look at how the players acquired in each trade at the deadline last season are faring in 2024.

Stats are accurate as of 5/13

Paul DeJong trade

Matt Svanson: The Cardinals sold low on Paul DeJong, trading the shortstop to the Toronto Blue Jays for Matt Svanson, a right-handed relief pitcher whom the Blue Jays drafted in the 13th round in 2021. Svanson pitched well in Double-A during his first year in the Cardinals' system, recording a 3.00 ERA, but he has been unable to repeat that success so far in 2024, pitching to an unsightly 5.93 ERA in 13.2 innings. His strikeout percentage of 23.1% of batters faced is the lowest of his career, and his flyball percentage of 32.5% is the highest he has recorded in his four professional seasons.

Previously appearing to be ready for Triple-A Memphis, Svanson likely needs to figure out Double-A before he can be considered for a promotion. At age 25, Svanson still has a bit of time to make adjustments, but the ticking clock is getting louder.

Jordan Montgomery/Chris Stratton trade

Thomas Saggese: Triple-A has proven to be more of a test than Double-A for infielder Thomas Saggese, who was acquired from the Texas Rangers. With Double-A Springfield in 2023, Saggese hit .331 and received Texas League MVP honors. He hasn't reached the same heights upon ascending a level, as he's hit .248 in his first extended taste of Triple-A. His high .375 BABIP from last season in the hitters' paradise that is the Texas League has fallen to a more average number of .299.

Saggese ranks 88th in MLB.com's top 100 prospects list and second in the Cardinals' system, so despite his falling back to Earth this season, hopes remain high for the infielder. At only 22 years old, Saggese has plenty of time to adjust further to Triple-A pitching.

Tekoah Roby: Widely considered the pitching prospect with the highest ceiling among the players the Cardinals received at the 2023 trade deadline, Tekoah Roby was recovering from a shoulder injury and only managed 12 innings with Springfield last season, allowing four runs. 2024 has not been kind to Roby, as he holds an ERA of 5.97 and has been prone to the gopher ball, coughing up nine home runs in 28.2 innings and seeing a whopping 25% of fly balls leave the yard.

Roby had never been this susceptible to the long ball before 2024, and one will hope this is only a blip on the radar. The Cardinals' pitching development staff is not one to be trusted with a struggling pitcher, though, which is an ominous sign for Roby's future. He will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft after this season, so his improvement is critical if the Cardinals plan on protecting him from being poached by another team.

Jack Flaherty trade

Cesar Prieto: Cesar Prieto is a poor man's Luis Arraez: an unremarkable infield defender without much power but who puts the bat on the ball with remarkable consistency. The Cardinals snagged him and two other players from the Baltimore Orioles for Jack Flaherty, and he hit .270 in Memphis in his first season. He has improved substantially in 2024, hitting .315 with a 122 wRC+.

Prieto's otherworldly ability to make contact prevents him from walking much, as he has only a 3.6% walk rate in 2024. However, he also limits his strikeouts, with an 11.6% strikeout rate this season. Prieto could find his way onto the Cardinals' 40-man roster in 2024 and may receive a cup of coffee in the major leagues later in the season.

Drew Rom: Left-handed pitcher Drew Rom hasn't pitched in 2024 because of a shoulder injury, and he underwent surgery in early May. He is likely to miss most or all of the season. When he pitched as a spot starter with the Cardinals in 2023, he didn't do himself any favors, amassing an 8.55 ERA and walking 5.08 batters per nine innings. He had a solid game in his sole win of the season, pitching 5.1 innings against the Baltimore Orioles and allowing only two hits and no runs while fanning seven.

Rom obviously can't be evaluated for a missed season, but his ceiling doesn't appear especially high. The Cardinals will likely shuttle him between Memphis and St. Louis when he returns in 2025.

Zack Showalter: Showalter is the lowest-level prospect the Cardinals acquired at the deadline in 2023. The Orioles used Showalter as a starter when the right-hander pitched in their organization, but the Cardinals converted him to the bullpen after the trade and have watched him take off with Single-A Palm Beach.

Showalter has thrown 14 innings and allowed only one run this season, striking out 21 batters in that span. Of small concern is that he has given up 10 line drives, constituting 35.7% of batted balls against him. He's still a long way away from the major leagues, and it remains to be seen if Showalter can produce at higher levels, but the 20-year-old has so far shown himself to be an intriguing piece in the system.

Jordan Hicks trade

Sem Robberse: A 22-year-old right-hander from the Netherlands, Sem Robberse has pitched excellently in his second go-around with Memphis after being acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays, and many Cardinals fans have called for his promotion to replace the injured Steven Matz in the rotation.

Robberse has transformed himself in 2024 after a pedestrian 2023 by replacing his four-seam fastball with a cutter and a slider. He has a 2.81 ERA across seven starts in Triple-A this season, and opponents are batting only .205 against him. He has also drastically decreased the frequency of free passes surrendered, walking only 2.38 batters per nine innings after reaching a 6.11 mark last season. Robberse looks to be on the doorstep to the major leagues and could eventually fit in the Cardinals' rotation.

Adam Kloffenstein: Adam Kloffenstein had a 3.00 ERA in Memphis as he took on Triple-A for the first time in 2023, but the right-hander's FIP of 5.78 and an unsustainable strand rate of over 90% pointed to regression. Sure enough, Kloffenstein has struggled in 2024, with an ERA of 5.31 despite a BABIP of only .229.

Kloffenstein possesses reverse splits, holding left-handed batters to a .159 average, but right-handers are hitting .286. The 23-year-old has a chance to debut with the Cardinals as a situational starter in 2024, but it's hard to expect much considering his problems in Memphis. He may be best used out of the bullpen in the way the Cardinals used Andre Pallante, as a right-hander who retires lefties.

A few of the Cardinals' prospects from the 2023 trade deadline are sources of excitement, such as Robberse and Prieto. Others, like Roby, haven't lived up to their billing to this point. Mozeliak's reign will only continue for one more year at a maximum, so if these players are the first wave of a rebuild, it will soon be on the next regime to fix what has gone wrong in St. Louis.

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