The St. Louis Cardinals find themselves in an interesting spot with the MLB trade deadline just a couple of weeks away. At 51-46, the Cardinals sit in third place in the NL Central and 1.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot. They're in the playoff hunt, but are on the outside looking in. Assuming they remain within striking distance, they'll presumably be trade deadline buyers. With that being said, it's hard to make the argument that the Cardinals should trade some of their prospects given the spot they're in.
Would it be fun to make the postseason? Absolutely. Is it worth being trade deadline buyers if the Cardinals are realistically in the race? I'd say yes. Is it worth parting with the best their system has to offer right now, though? That's where you lose me.
The Cardinals have exceeded expectations and could easily make it to the postseason, especially if John Mozeliak has an active trade deadline as a buyer, but what're the odds the Cardinals defeat teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs in October even if they make a major deadline splash? Anything can happen, but it'd be foolish to trade high-end prospects only to still be an underdog in most of their postseason series.
With that in mind, here are three prospects the Cardinals should stay away from trading.
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3) JJ Wetherholt, shortstop
If we're talking about untouchable prospects, JJ Wetherholt should be at or near the top of the list from a Cardinals perspective. He's their top prospect according to MLB Pipeline, and all he's done this season is show why that's the case.
The 22-year-old has slashed .303/.425/.487 with eight home runs and 36 RBI in 65 games overall, the last three of which have come for Triple-A Memphis. Wetherholt obviously doesn't have much experience at the toughest level the Minor Leagues have to offer, but he's off to a 4-for-11 start, and considering how he performed at the Double-A level all season prior to his call-up, he might even be able to help the Cardinals down the stretch this season.
Wetherholt likely won't be a shortstop in the Majors with Masyn Winn around, but he could help out at second base and push Brendan Donovan to the outfield. Adding him to a young core consisting of Winn, Donovan, Ivan Herrera and Lars Nootbaar (to name a few) would be exciting, and Wetherholt might have a higher ceiling than all of these players. It'd be foolish for the Cardinals to consider parting with by far their best position-player prospect.
2) Quinn Mathews, starting pitcher
Quinn Mathews hasn't had the season Cardinals fans hoped he'd have, as he's missed time with injury and has a 4.43 ERA in 11 starts for Triple-A Memphis, but he's still the organization's top pitching prospect, and one who could make an impact at the MLB level sooner rather than later.
If there's one word that can be used to describe the current Cardinals rotation, it'd be "old": Three of the team's five starters are 32 years old or older. It's also important to note that two of those starters, Miles Mikolas and Erick Fedde, are free agents after the year and presumably won't be brought back, if they can even last the rest of this season in a Cardinals uniform.
There's an opportunity for a young arm like Mathews to claim a rotation spot potentially down the stretch and as late as the beginning of next season. The Cardinals would like to see more consistency from him, but given how high his stock continues to be even amid a somewhat disappointing season and the present and future rotation needs in St. Louis, Mozeliak should not trade him.
1) Michael McGreevy, starting pitcher
I don't know if Michael McGreevy should be considered a prospect, because he's appeared in MLB action. But since he doesn't have enough innings to officially eliminate him from prospect status, he's fair game to be put on a list like this. With that in mind, the Cardinals should not consider trading him at the deadline either.
McGreevy, if we're being honest, should be in the Majors right now, and it's a shame on several levels that he isn't. He has a career 3.05 ERA in eight appearances (six starts) across the past two seasons at the MLB level, and he's proven virtually every time he's taken the ball that he's MLB-ready. Why the Cardinals, when they're trying to be competitive, continue to throw guys like Mikolas and Fedde every fifth day when McGreevy is younger, more controllable and simply better is a decision only Mozeliak can truly answer.
Instead of trading McGreevy for another veteran who might be gone in a couple of months for a team that probably isn't going to win the World Series anyway, the Cardinals should simply insert him into their rotation right now and see what he can do when given more than random spot starts here and there.