St. Louis Cardinals trade packages for recently demoted players

Typically, when a former top prospect is demoted mid-season, it's because they didn't perform to an expected level in the majors. For whatever reason, the player wasn't seeing success. For hitters, perhaps they struggled with high fastballs or lifting the ball in the air (see Jordan Walker). For a pitcher, it could be control or his stuff not playing up at the highest level of baseball.

4 players who were once top prospects were recently demoted to their respective teams' Triple-A squads. Reid Detmers of the Los Angeles Angels, Spencer Torkelson of the Detroit Tigers, Edouard Julien of the Minnesota Twins, and Bryce Elder of the Atlanta Braves have all been sent down to work on their crafts.

Each of these players is struggling, and some have been struggling for their entire careers. The St. Louis Cardinals and President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak would be wise to explore trading for these players who have fallen from grace.

The Cardinals have been stagnant in trades for a few years now. Rarely, if ever, have they taken a flier on a player who was once a top-rated prospect outside of their organization. Instead, the Cardinals have dealt prospects of their own who couldn't quite cut it in the majors, and fans have had to witness these players (Lane Thomas, Sandy Alcantara, and Johan Oviedo most recently) be successful in other organizations.

Sometimes, a change of scenery is necessary for these former stud prospects. Jerred Kelenic is a wonderful example of this. Kelenic was once ranked a top-5 prospect in all of baseball according to multiple outlets in 2021. He did not see success in the majors with the Seattle Mariners. Instead, he experienced sky-high strikeout rates, and his power was sapped. This past offseason, Kelenic was traded to the Atlanta Braves, and he's performed much closer to the expectations that were once had of him.

The Cardinals have several players of their own who were once top prospects but haven't been able to cut it after multiple years in the majors. Perhaps a trade, a change of scenery, could benefit both parties. Dylan Carlson, Zack Thompson, and Matthew Liberatore -- though he's settled in quite nicely as a bullpen arm -- have all struggled to reach their once-projected ceilings.

Some of these players aren't full reclamation projects; they could just benefit from hearing from different voices. Others would need to be reset completely.

Here are 4 players who were recently demoted whom the Cardinals should trade for and packages for each.

RHP Bryce Elder

Bryce Elder is probably the best player out of this bunch who was demoted. He was sent down on May 20th after being roughed up the day before. He threw just 3 innings and allowed 7 runs, 6 earned, on 9 hits. Elder struck out 3 and walked 3.

Last year, Bryce Elder was a key cog to the Atlanta Braves' success. He threw 174.2 innings with a 3.81 ERA, 4.42 FIP, and a 1.28 WHIP. Elder was selected to attend his first All-Star game as a result of his efforts. The underlying metrics, however, weren't as kind to the second-year pitcher. Elder had a K rate of just 17.5%, and batters hit .242 against him. He allowed a high percentage of line drives (20.4%), and the majority of hits against him went to the pull side, a recipe for disaster.

This year has been a struggle for Elder. He made 5 appearances prior to his demotion, and he had a 6.46 ERA, 5.38 FIP, and his K% minus BB% was just 7.1%. He was allowing home runs at nearly double the rate he was last year, and his 16.7% home run to fly ball ratio was much worse than league average.

Elder is a groundball pitcher, so he relies heavily on his breaking balls. Last year, batters hit just .210 against his slider and .280 against his sinker. The script has been flipped this year, and batters are hitting .381 and .365 against them, respectively. He is allowing hard contact at a much greater rate.

Elder is still just 25, and he's shown an ability to be a solid starting pitcher, albeit not one who can lead a staff. He won't strike out the side often, but he also won't hurt himself with walks and fly balls, hopefully. It will take a bit more to land Bryce Elder, especially considering the savvy that the Atlanta Braves organization has.

Cardinals trade: Lars Nootbaar
Braves trade: Bryce Elder & Spencer Schwellenbach

2B Edouard Julien

A second baseman may be the last thing the Cardinals need, especially after Nolan Gorman's recent tear. However, Edouard Julien provides a bit of a different look than Gorman. Both are left-handed batters, but Julien has a greater propensity to draw walks (12.4% this year alone), and he doesn't chase nearly as often as Nolan Gorman does. For as improved as Gorman's defense has been, Julien's has graded out positively at second base this year.

The addition of Edouard Julien would likely supplant either Brandon Crawford or Matt Carpenter. While those two veterans have provided leadership that can't be quantified, their on-field performances have left plenty to be desired. Carpenter has a 55 OPS+ in 53 at-bats, and Crawford's 34 OPS+ is somehow worse. Neither has been strong defensively.

Julien is hitting better against left-handed pitchers this year (.701 OPS against lefties vs .673 against righties), but he has typically been better against right-handed pitchers. Most of his power is done via opposite-field hits, but he generally does a good job of spreading the ball around.

Julien has played first base, but it's been sparse. He's only 25, and the projections still expect him to be a 3.0-4.0 WAR player over the next 5 seasons. He's under team control for 4 more years after 2024, and his demotion is a bit questionable given his league-average bat and plus defense at second base. It doesn't seem like the Twins want to trade him, but it's wholly possible still.

The Cardinals would have to be comfortable giving up some pitching prospects to land Julien. He also doesn't quite have a clear role on this team so long as Nolan Gorman is starting at second base. But, he's demoted, and he's a decent player, so why not try?

Cardinals trade: LHP Zack Thompson and INF Cesar Prieto
Twins trade: 2B Edouard Julien

LHP Reid Detmers

Reid Detmers, along with Bryce Elder, is a very interesting player to me. Bryce Elder seems to be a bit out of the range of possibilities for the Cardinals, but Detmers may be the perfect consolation prize. He's always had the potential to be a good starting pitcher in the majors, but he hasn't been able to put it all together.

The left-handed starter has a no-hitter to his name, and he's just shy of his 25th birthday. Detmers is in his final year before arbitration next year, and he won't be a free agent until 2028 at the earliest. A trade for him would give assurance to the Cardinals' rotation that it doesn't necessarily have after this year.

Detmer's 2022 season was his best, as he threw 129 innings with a 3.77 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 1.209 WHIP, and 8.5 K's per 9 innings. He has gradually increased his strikeout rate, but he has also started walking more batters, allowing more hits, and giving up more home runs.

His breaking balls have plummeted in effectiveness these past two years, but he has managed to control his offspeed pitches better this year. He has a 6.14 ERA, 4.36 FIP, and 1.476 WHIP in 63 innings. He has given up the most amount of earned runs this year in all of baseball, primarily due to a sky-high home run rate. All of this has contributed to his demotion.

What's most interesting about Detmers is that he's been able to get batters to chase more this year and limit contact in the zone, but he's not hitting the edges of the strike zone as well. Batters are chasing on 30% of his pitches, but he's hitting the edges of the zone just 41.4% of the time. He's been in the zone less than 50% of the time.

The Angels are in full rebuild mode after losing Shohei Ohtani this offseason and Mike Trout this year to another injury. The Cardinals could skate by with trading a younger prospect with a wide range of potential outcomes who could have a high ceiling. The Angels could also ask for a current major leaguer.

Cardinals trade: OF Won-Bin Cho OR OF Dylan Carlson
Angels trade: LHP Reid Detmers