The St. Louis Cardinals are set to rebuild their roster, beginning this offseason during John Mozeliak’s final year as the president of baseball operations. The expectation is St. Louis will trade away veterans like Ryan Helsley and Sonny Gray, looking to build through their farm system.
But Josh Jacobs of Redbird Rants seems to think that St. Louis may rebuild in a different way. Rather than just dumping big leaguers for prospects, Jacobs anticipates the Cardinals to buy on young stars around the league.
Jacobs recently pitched a trade proposal that would send Chicago White Sox $50 million outfielder Luis Robert Jr. to the Cardinals for two players.
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Here’s the deal Jacobs proposed:
- St. Louis Cardinals receive: OF Luis Robert Jr.
- Chicago White Sox receive: 1B Alec Burleson, RHP Gordon Graceffo
“Center field is easily the position the Cardinals could stand the most to upgrade at, especially adding a right-handed bat. Robert could be worth the risk for the club, but it will cost them something to make it happen,” Jacobs wrote. “I wonder if that package could look like Alec Burleson and Gordon Graceffo. The White Sox could swap out Robert for a young bat with a ton of team control as they embark on this long rebuild, and Burleson could be a part of their next contending core.”
Last season, Chicago was looking for a “Juan Soto-esque” prospect return to trade Robert. Nobody bit on that insane asking price, but this indicates Chicago won’t give him away for nothing.
The pitched return of Graceffo and Burleson is the kind of offer that would cause the White Sox to laugh and hang up the phone. Robert is much more valuable than these two pieces, especially given the fact he has club options through 2027.
This trade would be a dream for the Cardinals, but it’s way too unrealistic to actually consider. The White Sox will move Robert for much more value than was proposed here.
For St. Louis to realistically have a chance to land a budding superstar of Robert’s caliber, top prospects such as shortstop JJ Wetherholt (No. 18 overall MLB prospect according to MLB Pipeline), right-hander Tink Hence (No. 61) or left-hander Quinn Mathews (No. 77) would likely have to headline the transaction with players such as Burleson and Graceffo attached as part of the package.
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