The St. Louis Cardinals have committed to a full-scale rebuild this offseason, and they appear to be approaching it far more aggressively than most expected. Instead of moving just a player or two and waiting to make additional deals during the season, the Cardinals chose to part ways with four of their top talents in exchange for a significant package of prospects.
Early in the winter, they sent Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox. Not long after, Nolan Arenado was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The overhaul continued when Brendan Donovan was moved to the Seattle Mariners as part of a three-team blockbuster deal.
Each of these four trades landed the Cardinals some valuable prospects, but the Gray traded landed them pitching prospect Brandon Clarke, who might be the biggest addition of the team’s offseason.
MLB Pipeline has shared a lot of praise for Clarke and ranked him one of the Cardinals’ best prospects going into the upcoming season.
Brandon Clarke may be the Cardinals’ best offseason addition
“Still very much a work in progress, Clarke stands out more with his athleticism and quick arm than his polish,” the site’s uncredited author wrote. “He gets down the mound well, creating a low release height with plenty of extension, but he lacks a smooth delivery and currently doesn’t repeat it easily enough to have more than fringy control. He comes with a high ceiling and a good deal of reliever risk, making him an intriguing development project in his second organization.”
A lot of fans and analysts turn to Jurrangelo Cjintje as the Cardinals’ biggest addition because he was their top ranked prospect acquired, but Clarke has the tools to be better down the road.
Clarke was dominant in his first pro season, but he struggled a bit with walks. He allowed more walks than hits across 38 innings in 14 starts.
The lefty has an electric arm with the stuff to dominate hitters at any level, but walks could be his Achillies heel. If he can get in the zone more consistently, he could fly up the Cardinals minor league system en route to a big league debut over the next two or three years.
