MLB trade grades: Cardinals make Dylan Carlson's dream a reality

When the St. Louis Cardinals acquired Tommy Pham, the writing was essentially on the wall. Dylan Carlson's Cardinals tenure had all but come to an end. Pham was going to take over the fourth outfielder role Carlson was slotted into and take his at-bats against left-handed pitching. Even Carlson knew that his time was up. The only question was where would Carlson end up?

As FanSided's Robert Murray reported, the answer was the Tampa Bay Rays. The Cardinals and Rays completed a one-for-one swap per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, giving Carlson the fresh start he desperately needed.

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MLB trade grades: Cardinals give Dylan Carlson much-needed fresh start

Here's the full trade:

Carlson was once a highly touted prospect in the Cardinals system, but he just never got it going after an impressive rookie season. His two positive attributes were his defense and his ability to hit left-handed pitching, but he has been worth -5 OAA according to Baseball Savant and has just a .556 OPS against left-handers.

It's unfortunate that it came down to this considering what the Cardinals had invested into Carlson, a former first-round pick, but at the end of the day, he did not hit enough at the MLB level and was going to lose all of his playing time with Michael Siani and Tommy Pham playing in center field. The Cardinals could've sent him down to the minors, but a trade made more sense for all sides involved.

The Cardinals were able to still get something somewhat valuable for Carlson, landing Shawn Armstrong, a reliever who has a solid track record. He hasn't been at his best this season as evidenced by his 5.40 ERA, but he at the very least could be a decent middle relief option for St. Louis. His 3.76 FIP suggests a turnaround might be coming, too.

Armstrong is on an expiring deal, so the goal for St. Louis by making this trade is to hope that Armstrong helps them get to the postseason in some capacity.

The Rays win this deal here pretty easily. As disappointing as Carlson has been, he is under team control through the 2026 campaign. If he figures it out in Tampa Bay, he can play a role for them in 2025 and beyond. If not, all they gave up was a struggling middle reliever.

Cardinals trade grade: C+
Rays trade grade: B