3 prospects Cardinals could trade for Max Scherzer at the trade deadline
By John Buhler
The St. Louis Cardinals have the pieces to trade for Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer.
One team who has ties to Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer is the St. Louis Cardinals.
Despite pitching brilliantly once again, the future National Baseball Hall of Famer’s team is not expected to contend for a postseason berth this year. While Washington has played better ball of late, only one team will be coming out of the NL East this year, and that team is probably the New York Mets. Scherzer will be a free agent this winter, so the Nationals may look into trading him.
Here are three top prospects the Cardinals could give up in a deal for the St. Louis area native.
St. Louis Cardinals: 3 top prospects to potentially trade for RHP Max Scherzer
St. Louis Cardinals. Zack Thompson. 3. player. Scouting Report. LHP. 33. Pick Analysis
Zack Thompson should be major-league ready at some point during next season
Though not quite a top-100 prospect in baseball, St. Louis could theoretically move left-hander Zack Thompson in a deadline deal for Scherzer. He is the Cardinals’ No. 4 overall prospect. The 23-year-old southpaw has four plus-pitches, most noticeably his off-speed offerings. He pitches for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds with an estimated time of arrival at the MLB level in 2022.
While he did have injury concerns throughout high school and at the University of Kentucky, Thompson was the No. 19 overall pick by the Cardinals in the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft. Though he has only appeared in 21 minor league games since being drafted by the Cardinals, his ample SEC collegiate experience, as well as his ability to start and come out of the bullpen is a huge plus.
Of course, the Cardinals will need to give up more than just Thompson if they even want to contend in the Scherzer sweepstakes with Washington. However, him being able to theoretically ready to contribute at the big-league level as soon as next year in a multitude of roles could be very intriguing for Washington, should the Nationals front office want to undergo a brief rebuild.
Thompson can be a piece that goes to Washington for Scherzer, but the Nationals will want more.