The St. Louis Cardinals were very active this past offseason, trading away Brendan Donovan, Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado as Chaim Bloom kicked off the team’s first rebuild in over three decades. However, they haven’t shied away from at least adding some pieces.
Their most recent move was the signing of Ramon Urias, who checks the box for a right-handed bat, but Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on March 4 that the Cardinals may not be done shopping for another power bat. Patrick McAvoy of Sports Illustrated proposed the idea of St. Louis giving the New York Yankees a call about Jasson Dominguez, who does not have a clear path forward in the Bronx, while sending left-hander JoJo Romero and a catching prospect such as Jimmy Crooks or Leonardo Bernal
St. Louis Cardinals May Not Be Done Looking For Help
Dominguez is a switch hitter and was once one of the top prospects within the Yankees organization. He can play all three outfield positions. He would give the Cardinals power from both sides of the plate and the ability to play anywhere in the outfield.
The Cardinals are currently giving Jose Fermin and Thomas Saggese chances to play in the outfield, but Dominguez would give them a little bit more depth and offense. Romero is in the final year of his contract with St. Louis and was considered a trade chip for much of the offseason. Goold even noted that the Yankees had some interest in him at the Winter Meetings.
The Cardinals are also loaded with catching depth. They have Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages and Yohel Pozo standing in the way of Bernal and Crooks at the Major League level, so that is an area that they could look to trade from if they want to make some more moves.
Rainiel Rodriguez is also still with the club at spring training in Jupiter, Florida, and the Cardinals have been high on him for a while. He is their No. 3 prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
Trading from their catching depth would also open up more opportunities for some of the other catchers in the organization. That is their deepest position as of now, so they can afford to lose at least one member of the catching corps, as long as they remain deep at the position for the foreseeable future and still have options with a lot of upside.
Still Time Before Opening Day
Offseason activity has been slow-moving over the past several winters, and with spring training games now underway, there likely won’t be much more activity. However, it is never out of the realm of possibility for a trade or two to take place late and spring training and before Opening Day.
There is still some time left for the Cardinals to make a move or two and strengthen their roster, so it will be interesting to see if McAvoy’s trade proposal ultimately comes to fruition. Dominguez would check a lot of boxes for St. Louis.
Mock Trade Sends Former Yankees Top Prospect to Cardinals