Predicting when each prospect acquired at the trade deadline could join the Cardinals

At this year's trade deadline, the Cardinals shipped out six players: Jordan Montgomery, Chris Stratton, Jordan Hicks, Jack Flaherty, Paul DeJong, and Génesis Cabrera. In return, they acquired ten players: John King, Tekoah Roby, Thomas Saggese, Adam Kloffenstein, Sem Robberse, Drew Rom, Cesar Prieto, Zack Showalter, Matt Svanson, and Sammy Hernandez. The Cardinals made five deals with three different teams. It was, simply put, a busy deadline. This

The point of this article is not to evaluate the deadline. That has already been done by our very own Thomas Gauvain. Instead, this article will estimate when each player could get the call to the bigs, starting with those closest to the major league level.

LHP John King

John King is the only player currently in the majors. He debuted back in 2020, posting uninspiring numbers out of the Rangers' bullpen. In 2021 and 2022 however, King was a much better pitcher, carving out a substantial role. He hasn't been nearly as effective in 2023, though there is hope the Cardinals could enable him to return to form. King is likely to remain a reliever throughout his career but has the potential to emerge as a quality arm at some point. He will almost certainly receive a chance to contribute in 2024, considering the lack of quality left-handed relief options in the Cardinals' organization.