A Phillies-Cardinals trade to plug the hole in Philly’s outfield

The Philadelphia Phillies currently have the second-best record in baseball. They lead the NL East by eight games and the National League by four games.

Still, they have holes in their lineup that they could fix. The biggest hole in their team is in the outfield where Brandon Marsh is their only outfielder with an OPS+ higher than 80. This is quite an obvious hole for them to fill and the options are plentiful on the 2024 trade market.

One option that not many people have considered sits in St. Louis with 3.5 years of team control left on his contract.

A Phillies-Cardinals trade to patch the hole in the Philadelphia outfield with Brendan Donovan

Before this hypothetical trade is laid out there, I want to preface that this deal only happens if the Cardinals fall out of playoff contention and opt to completely gut their roster. Right now, they hold a playoff spot, though Baseball Reference only gives them a 14 percent chance of holding that spot.

If the Cardinals opt to enter a complete rebuild, they could opt to trade Brendan Donovan. I know it might not make too much sense because of Donovan's team control left on his contract, but hang with me on this. Right now, Donovan has more trade value than ever. If the Cardinals enter a rebuild this year, they would be waving the white flag over the next few seasons, meaning they may not be in contention by the time Donovan's contract is up. So why not trade him now, while his value is the highest?

This deal centers around two prospects being sent to the Cardinals. Outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. and right handed pitcher George Klassen.

Rincones Jr. has a tremendous bat, slashing .300/.417/.600 in Double-A this year. He holds a ton of value as a hitter and could quickly climb the ranks of the minor leagues. He's the Phillies' No. 9-ranked prospect, per MLB Pipeline, for good reason.

George Klassen might be the most underrated prospect in the Phillies system. The discussion on Klassen has always been something along the lines of, "He would be good, if he can stay in the zone."

Well, so far in his professional career, Klassen has been in the zone, and he's dominated. Through 38 innings, he's struck out 57, walked 12 and holds an ERA under 1.00. His dominance in High-A has been a spectacle and if he can stay around the zone, he will fly up the ladder of the minor leagues.

While the Cardinals may not want to trade Donovan because they see him as a piece of their future, this trade gives them enough value back to consider it. Again, if the Cardinals fall out of contention, this trade makes sense to kickstart their rebuild.

For the Phillies, they need outfield help badly. Adding a Gold Glove caliber outfielder with team control, that's slashing .273/.365/.391 for his career would be a great move to make.