Which Cardinals prospects will get their big league break after the trade deadline?

As the clock ticks increasingly loudly in a countdown to Tuesday’s trade deadline, things remain status quo for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Aside from a week of gambits floating the possibility that players who will obviously be traded may not be, the club has been unwilling to take the first plunge and set the marketplace.

As so often has defined their personnel moves over the past half decade, they seem content to be reactive rather than proactive, and it should not come as a surprise if their most obvious chips remain in town through the weekend.

Once those chips are cashed in – and they will be, barring some sort of dismal process failure – there remains the trivial matter of putting a team on the field for the remainder of the season. Despite the goal of returning prospects who will be able to help in the immediate future, there’s no guarantee of receiving a return in any deal that will play for the Cardinals this season.

Who, then, are the players in the system who stand to benefit? Which prospects who might find themselves blocked in a more competitive season will suddenly find themselves with an opportunity to prove themselves, and how might the Cardinals handle those debuts?

Shortstop Masyn Winn

With Jordan Walker’s graduation to full-time major leaguer, it’s Winn who remains as the organization’s top prospect. Despite a slow offensive start to the year for Triple-A Memphis, Winn has been one of the best hitters in the minors in recent weeks. In July, he’s hit six of his 14 home runs and put up a blistering .375 batting average and 1.188 on base plus slugging percentage.

His defense remains outstanding, showcasing one of the hardest throwing arms in all of professional baseball, not just the minors. He’ll have every opportunity to seize a job next spring the same way Walker did this past spring, and the Cardinals will be eager to see him take that leap.

What might hold Winn back from a late season promotion has less to do with his performance and more to do with roster realities. Winn doesn’t have to be added to the 40-man roster this winter to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, and as a result, the Cardinals would have to be willing to give up a spot essentially in exchange for his experience now, which they have historically been loath to do.

Winn would also only maintain rookie status if he registered less than 45 days on the active roster and 130 at bats, both of which he could surpass in full-time duty post-deadline. That would make the Cardinals ineligible to receive supplemental draft picks in 2025 from Winn potentially being named NL Rookie of the Year in 2024; that consideration is minor, but it exists.

Starting pitchers Gordon Graceffo and Michael McGreevy

The need for innings, which has been acute all season, is only going to intensify with the inevitable trades of Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery in addition to whatever attrition hits the bullpen. Dakota Hudson, Andrew Suárez and the like will be tasked with some of the newly open assignments, but an opportunity will also exist for pitchers who the team would prefer to be a bigger part of its future.

Both Graceffo and McGreevy come with the same Rule 5 caveat as Winn, and neither is without his flaws. Graceffo missed two months of the season with a shoulder strain, and the Cardinals are likely to closely monitor his workload. McGreevy has been stout since his early season promotion, but has struggled to put up a strikeout rate that would give the Cardinals confidence in his ability to succeed at the next level.

Either or both (the Cardinals would prefer both) could be passed on the depth chart of internal options by trade acquisitions in the coming weeks, and neither should be counted on this season to act as a rotation anchor.

Either, though, could find their way into the picture from their current position outside; Graceffo is perhaps the more likely to make a cameo in the late season bullpen, given that his shutdown had the side effect of leaving him in need of innings from which to platform headed into next season.

Sluggers Luken Baker, Moisés Gómez and Juan Yepez

Both Baker and Yepez play first base and Gómez and Yepez have been stationed in the outfield, but the best position for all three is clear – at the plate.

Any or all could conceivably find themselves as part of a deadline deal; none of the three seems to have particularly strong boosters in the organization at the moment despite showcasing the clear ability to hit at Triple-A.

The Cardinals are less likely to shed position players than pitchers and none of the three is going to be mistaken for a middle infielder, but once the season is all-but-officially conceded, it would behoove the team to take good, long looks at all three, both to determine what they have in house and in an attempt to drive up interest from other clubs for the winter.

Winning games for the rest of the year after the deadline will be, after all, an academic exercise. Finding the best way to improve next year’s team certainly should not be.