The St. Louis Cardinals have been among the most active teams this offseason, though not in the most thrilling manner. Instead of bringing in established major league players, they’ve parted ways with four skilled veterans to focus on building for the future, acquiring a wave of promising prospects in the process.
Because of this approach, the outlook for St. Louis appears much more promising. Still, their trade activity may not be over yet.
JoJo Romero, the Cardinals closer, could find himself moved in the coming weeks. He’s a very talented lefty reliever, which is crucial for a contending team to have, but it doesn’t move the needle for a rebuilding team like the Cardinals. As a result, the Cardinals would be better off trading him to mortgage his value.
The Toronto Blue Jays could use a high leverage lefty in their bullpen. With how aggressive they were in free agency, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them in the Romero sweepstakes.
Here’s a mock trade that could make it happen:
The Blue Jays need to add a high leverage lefty to complement Jeff Hoffman and Tyler Rogers at the backend of games. There aren’t many options on the market better than Romero.
Last season, Romero posted a 2.07 ERA while being worth a career high 1.7 WAR. He recorded eight saves, though he’d be a setup man in Toronto, while allowing less than seven hits per nine innings.
The addition of the star lefty would push Toronto in the right direction.
Why this works for the Cardinals
Pinango, 23, is MLB Pipeline’s No. 10 ranked prospect in the Blue Jays organization and for good reason. He crushed Double-A pitching last season, but struggled a little bit when he made it to Triple-A. Still, he’s likely going to get more looks at the Triple-A level this year. If he can put the pieces together, he could end up contributing in the Cardinals outfield at some point this season.
Perez isn’t going to be big league ready this season, but he was very consistent in 26 starts last season. His ERA sat around 3.00 for the entire year as he worked between High-A and Double-A.
The Cardinals would find more value in prospects than they will in Romero remaining on the roster until his contract runs out.
