There’s no world where Donovan should be traded before Edman.

And Edman should be traded eventually.

I'll always dream on the possibility of a Winn/Edman middle infield.

NOTHING will get up the middle with those 2. And with the shift banned, the range of those two guys would be a MASSIVE boost to our pitching staff. People keep pretending like our defense doesn't cost us a run or 2 every game and then act surprised when we lose so many 1 run ballgames.

But give me a world where we lock GGs at SS and 2b for the next 3 years and I guarantee you the pitching improves in front of it.

Edman's been done dirty by this franchise. That said, if you could trade him to a team that needs a SS and get a true CFer back in the deal, you go ahead and do that. And put Donovan at 2b and Gorman at DH.

So here's how you defend these deals - the Cardinals got 4 guys who I think should slot into the top 12 or so on their prospects lists.

1: Winn
2: Hence
3: Chase Davis
4: Graceffo
5: Kloffenstein
6: McGreevy
7: Roby
8: Hjerpe
9: Robberse
10: Victor Scott II
11: Saggese

We'll see where the updates put some of these guys but this does goose the top 10 pretty well.

Listen, I love Edman. Elsewhere on the internet I advocated last August that Edman, when healthy, would be worth playing middle IF due to his defense and not worth upgrading for Trea Turner and upgrading C was more worthwhile.

However, Donovan makes him redundant. While he’s not as good of a defender as Edman, he’s still like 80% of the defender Edman is and a substantially better hitter than Edman is while being younger.

I like Edman, but he shouldn’t be kept over Donovan, Gorman, or Winn.

The defense issues have also been more with the OF and Burleson and Walker having to play regularly in the OF.

Also, Arenado hasn’t been as good defensively this year.

Montgomery couldn't get a single top 10 prospect from a depleted Rangers system? The top prospect is a pitcher with a history of elbow and shoulder injuries that has gotten hits teeth kicked in at AA and another MI with a 25%+ K-rate?

Here's the scouting report on Saggesse:

All the metrics grade out nicely, including defense, though even Rangers’ personnel will acknowledge that at first gaze things may look “ordinary.” He just knows how to play the game. The one thing he could potentially improve: A little less chase. But he’s made it work for him. He hits. That’s what he does.

Because that's what the team needs.

****, just take the goddamned draft pick if that's all you're getting.

Again - he profiles as Chris Taylor if everything breaks right. And there's never anything exciting about guys like that but they ARE valuable.

If you get Chris Taylor in this deal, it's a win.

But yeah, I wish they'd have focused more on 1 higher end prospect than getting 2 guys with pretty obvious glass ceilings. I mean the Dodgers are dying for pitching help - you really couldn't have leveraged Busch out of there and at least gotten a BETTER version of Sagesse for your efforts? They sure don't seem to have any use for him in LA...

1I agree. They have Donovan, so another Taylor isn't a big need just yet, but that's probably an 85th percentile projection? It's just so on the nose that they'd acquire a guy who has nothing but 45 and 50 tools across the board.

That's the problem with Mozeliak - it's ALWAYS been his problem.

Nothing is part of a coordinated plan/scheme.

Season starts, he gets his budget, he goes out and offers money and signs the first people that say yes. He doesn't build a team - he just spends his assets.

This trade deadline he decided he was willing to trade his pending UFAs so that's what he's going to do. In the process, he's made a move here that would allow him to move an Edman or Donovan to get that 'big league pitching with control' that he's been begging everyone else to just give him for buckets of shit. But that would demonstrate a coordinated plan; a move designed to set up a move.

He simply doesn't do that. He's a little kid in a candy shop and he has a bag of nickels. So he's going to take out one nickel - buy a thing. Take out another nickel - buy another thing. The idea of using those nickels in concert with each other is just completely foreign to him.

And that's why he's always a move (or two) short.

He's simply not a good strategic thinker. And he's an awful leader. He's a button pusher and that's it.

He's over his head and it's more apparent every day.

Kloffenstein is having a good year but this is his 2nd year in AA and 6th year a minor leaguer. Not sure how seriously he should be taken as a prospect at this point. Maybe he found something though.

Have fun watching Hicks get 0-2 on every batter then let them back into the AB.

Mo is not touching his Faberge eggs. He’s only trading the 6 weeks left players. You are not getting #1 starters with 6 years of control for a 6 week rentals.

He's 22.

His first year doesn't count ('18); that's his draft year. It's never fair to include a pitcher's draft year because they're almost always shut down after their HS/College season and you can't really ramp them back up.

'19 was him as an 18 yr old in short season ball where he dominated. By any reasonable analysis that's a successful season.

'20 was wiped out due to COVID.

'21 was ugly but lots of young kids came back and struggled in '21. '22 was undermined by injury.

He's had 3 'true' seasons in the minors. 1 of which was everything you could want from an 18 yr old. 1 of which was the odd post-covid season and 1 of which was broken up by injury.

I absolutely think this was a make or break year - sure. But by most anything I can figure, he 'made' it and has re-established himself as a prospect.

Again, the Cardinals have 3 similarly situated (non-Hence) pitchers in their top 5 prospects right now; all 3 of whom have been in/out of various top 100 lists. Graceffo and McGreevy are both a level higher than Kloffenstein but both are a year older as well. Hjerpe is the same age but only in A+.

If any of those guys are prospects (and undoubtedly all of them are) there's no good faith basis to conclude that Kloffenstein isn't. Again, this isn't some former 20th rounder. This is a guy taken in the 3rd who smashed the signing bonus record for his slot. The pedigree is there, the age is on his side, he's young for his level (still) and he's demonstrated progression and success this season to go with plenty of 'projectability' given his size and arsenal.

That's a legit prospect under any reasonable analysis. Prospect Twitter be damned.

I used to own Hicks in fantasy, I know his MO. He still strikes out more batters than anybody in their pen, they badly need the help with Romano down.

I’m just not sure how much stock I’d put into his 2nd go around in AA, even at his age. We will find out soon enough what he is though.

Genesis Cabrera has looked dominant so far for us btw. I’m waiting for the disaster outing to happen.