Tier ranking the St. Louis Cardinals' players and prospects for the trade deadline

Everywhere you look, everyone has their own opinions on how the St. Louis Cardinals should approach this year's trade deadline.

Some fans and experts would say the Cardinals may need to capitalize on some of their player's value at this deadline, but overall, there is no need to "blow it up" because of how the season has gone thus far. There is still a contender in the making for the 2024 season.

Others would argue it is time for major changes in St. Louis. Ask Mark DeRosa and Brian Kenny of MLB Network, who both believe the Cardinals should trade Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado in order to build around their young core.

You better believe that if your John Mozeliak and the Cardinals' front office, you are constantly evaluating which of your players and prospects are essential to your future, which pieces you can have pried from your hands if it gets you more elite talent, and who has made their way onto the trade block for you.

In the following slides, I have broken up the Cardinals' current big leaguers and some of their most valuable prospects into different "tiers" based on how I think the club should value them moving forward. The tiers I will be ranking Cardinals' players and prospects in will be the following:

1. Untouchable
2. Only to acquire elite talent
3. Too complicated to move on from
4. Open to offers on them
5. On the trade block

For each tier, I provided a little definition for my criteria as well. Some names may be "borderline" between different tiers, but for the sake of not making 10 different tiers, I did my best to group them together based on these five categories.

Here are the tiers I would rank the Cardinals' players and prospects into

Only to acquire elite talent

Dylan Carlson, Tommy Edman, Brendan Donovan, Gordon Graceffo, Ivan Herrera, Jordan Hicks, Ryan Helsley, Giovanny Gallegos, Leonardo Bernal, Jonathan Mejia

These are players and prospects that I would only be willing to move if it brings in top-end talent for this club.

Here's something that everyone just needs to accept as a reality. If you want to acquire elite talent, you have to be willing to part with valuable talent. Putting together trade packages of your least favorite Cardinals' and a random prospect does not get you top-end pitching talent or whatever you're trying to trade for on the market. Side note, that truly makes the Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado trades that much more impressive.

I love the names on this list, and of course, I don't want to move on from them, but if you're not willing to trade guys from this list or the untouchables, then I'm sorry, you're not acquiring a significant talent in return.

Dylan Carlson, Tommy Edman, and Brendan Donovan are the most valuable players on this list. Alone, none of them get you the kind of upgrade most fans are wanting to see. But if two of them are packaged together or with a few other names from this category, you begin to have something cooking.

Gordon Graceffo has had a down 2023, and I still think the Cardinals would prefer to hold onto him since they lack arms with bright futures, but if they had to part with an arm, he's the top one I would designate. Ivan Herrera has been so good in Triple-A this year but is clearly blocked from a long-term future in St. Louis.

Jordan Hicks has pitched his way from a borderline DFA candidate to now a guy I would be very careful not to trade away or let walk in free agency. He's only 26, and a guy I think St. Louis needs to give the closer reigns to and lock up beyond this year. Ryan Helsley and Giovanny Gallegos can form a formidable trio with Hicks, which is needed to go deep into October.

Leonardo Bernal and Jonathan Mejia are guys I think are tricky to trade away, as they represent the "high-end" of the Cardinals' "down the road" prospects. From an organizational building standpoint, you need guys who are multiple years away so that you are constantly churning out young talent. I think these two guys who be toward the top of the Cardinals' prospect ranking by next year.

Too complicated to move on from

Willson Contreras, Miles Mikolas, and Adam Wainwright

These veterans in theory could be moved to pave the way for better talent, but I don't see how the Cardinals part with any of them for various reasons

Let's be honest, the Cardinals just aren't going to move on from any of these guys, and I really don't know how they could in a way where they get enough talent in return to justify it.

I've already seen some people say that Willson Contreras should be moved off of now to avoid a Dexter Fowler situation. Our own Andrew Heckroth sees parallels with how the Cardinals treated the two former Cubs, but neither of us thinks Contreras will fall off as Fowler did. Contreas was batting an awful .152/.264/.333 over his last 30 games, but over the last 7 games, he's gotten his OPS up to .807, and a lot like the hitter the Cardinals thought he would be.

Miles Mikolas is not above being moved talent-wise, but I see him as a guy who's more valuable to the Cardinals than he would be to someone else. And with the lack of clarity in the rotation for next season, I'm not sure they can afford to move on from him at the moment.

I know Adam Wainwright's contract is bad. I've said that many times. But they can't go back and change that, and shaving his salary from the books this year doesn't help the team this year or next year. He's a Cardinal, and I really don't think anyone wants to see him pitch anywhere else.

Open to offers

Jordan Montgomery, Alec Burleson, Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Paul DeJong, Andrew Knizner, Moises Gomez, Luken Baker, Zack Thompson, Genesis Cabrera, Juan Yepez

These are players and prospects they may not be trying to get rid of, but they will for sure be open to putting them in trades to get a deal done

If the Cardinals are in the race come late July, a Jordan Montgomery trade becomes a lot less likely. But even then, the Cardinals may be interested in moving him while also acquiring an arm with control beyond 2024.

Here's how that could work. Let's say for example the Cardinals acquire a starting pitcher like Jesus Luzardo or Edward Cabrera from the Miami Marlins. They could then flip Jordan Montgomery to a contender to capitalize on his value since they'll be losing him in free agency. They get an arm for this year and beyond but still get value from Montgomery in a market that is very thin on starting pitchers. Whether St. Louis is in the race or not, I think this can make a lot of sense if the right deal is there.

Alec Burleson, Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Luke Baker, Juan Yepez, Moises Gomez, and Zack Thompson all represent young players and prospects who could be smaller parts of a big package for St. Louis or could be a part of smaller deals to acquire talent this July. I don't think the Cardinals mind holding onto any of them, but they won't cause them to walk away from the table.

Paul DeJong is a guy they could capitalize on the value of if he continues to hit again as he has of late. If the Cardinals want to promote Ivan Herrera, Andrew Knizner is a guy who would be available. I doubt Genesis Cabrera gets dealt, but if a team really likes him, he could be available.

On the trade block

Tyler O'Neill, Jack Flaherty, Drew VerHagen, Chris Stratton, Steven Matz, Oscar Mercado, Dakota Hudson

These players are guys I fully expect the Cardinals to move on from this deadline, or that they would be more than willing to part with if they can.

Unfair or not, Tyler O'Neill just looks like a player who is on his way out the door for St. Louis. Again, I really like him as a player and I bet he bounces back for another club, but I just do not see him having a future with the Cardinals. For as bad as this past calendar year has gone for him, there will still be teams out there who want to tap into his potential.

Jack Flaherty is the guy I think the Cardinals will be very open to moving at the deadline in a similar kind of scenario that I talked about with Montgomery. If the Cardinals are in contention, I think they'd rather move Flaherty for a package and let Montgomery walk on a qualifying offer in free agency. Again, with how desperate teams are for pitching, you are going to see a lot of interest in Flaherty.

Drew VerHagen and Chris Stratton are guys who could be moved if a contender is looking for bullpen depth this deadline, and I think it's a real possibility. I doubt teams will be calling on Oscar Mercado or Dakota Hudson, but I think the Cardinals would be very open to offers.

Steven Matz is someone they'd love to move on from, similar in the vein of Mike Leake from seasons ago, so if a team is willing to take a flyer and the Cardinals will send some cash, I'm sure a deal could be made.

Check out my weekly podcast "Redbird Rundown" on Spotify or Apple Podcasts as well as follow me on Twitter @joshjacoMLB for more Cardinals content