Grading each of the St. Louis Cardinals' trade deadline moves

Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays

Blue Jays received: RHP Jordan Hicks

Cardinals received: RHP Adam Kloffenstein and RHP Sem Robberse

Depending on the outlet, the Cardinals netted themselves a top-100 prospect (Roby) in the Montgomery deal. I was pretty convinced that the Cardinals could do the same with Jordan Hicks, and had they packaged him with another player, or maybe even done just a one-for-one swap, maybe it would have happened.

I still really like what they did here, though.

I know I said in the last trade that I prefer the risk of potential higher-end talent, the Cardinals badly need starting pitching depth in their system. If they are going to pull off some trades and sign starters to replenish their rotation for 2024, they need the prospect capital to pull it off, and pitching depth to overcome injuries throughout a season.

While it's unclear how much Adam Kloffenstein or Sam Robberse can help the Cardinals in 2024, they add two more names to the mix of Gordan Graceffo, Michael McGreevy, and Matthew Liberatore of near-MLB-ready arms who can contribute next year.

Robberse is just 21 years old, making him an extremely young arm with promise, which is huge for St. Louis. His upside caps out as a middle-of-the-rotation starter, but there is development needed for that to be a real trajectory for him.

I really like Klofferstein though, and he was someone that Mozeliak indicated may be the closest to an MLB call-up out of the acquired prospects. Klofferstein is 6'5, 240 lbs with strikeout stuff, and gets groundballs as well. He has put up nice numbers at Double-A as well (3.24 ERA), giving me a lot of optimism about him as a prospect.

Grade: B