MLB Trade Deadline August 3 6 PM ET

[ghostrunner]

Burleson is an interesting player. He’s bad against lefties, but still a great hitter overall because lefties are somewhere around 1/3 of plate appearances. So you can’t really platoon him easily, especially when starters are going fewer innings.

He’s not a great defender going by most available stats, but plays a position where defense still isn’t really well quantified nor is it prioritized. The position overall isn’t prioritized either, but we’ve been gifted with good production there. On the other hand it’s a place you could maybe stick Herrera or Rainiel or someone else later on.

He’s also a free agent in 2029 and the team isn’t acting like they’re ready to go for it even next year, so now you’ve got him for maybe two years if everything else falls into place. If they did want to start filling some holes this offseason, I’d say definitely keep him.

But given how things appear to be, I don’t see any reason not to listen on anyone but Wetherholt and Walker, and deals like those will depend a lot on how the team sees him and the future.

[jagtrader]

Burleson's xwOBA is .381. He's the best hitter on the team this season. The idea that the Cardinals can easily replace that production is laughable. Half their lineup is either defensive specialists or guys who belong on the bench or in the minors.

Just sign Burleson. He's 27. The entire payroll at this point adds up to about $13. He's a great development success story. What's the [expletive] problem? The Cardinals aren't the Marlins.

[CardsofSTL]

The Brewers and Guardians have lined up on a two-for-two swap that will see outfielder Blake Perkins and right-hander Craig Yoho sent to Cleveland. Milwaukee receives catcher Bo Naylor and right-hander Codi Heuer in return.

The four-player deal provides Cleveland with more short-term help than it does Milwaukee, especially since the Brewers have already optioned their two new players to Triple-A. With outfield prospect Luis Lara now in the majors and Brandon Lockridge and Sal Frelick not expected to miss much more time on the injured list, Perkins was an expendable piece. Naylor also gives the Brewers a third catcher in the organization with MLB experience, beyond All-Star William Contreras and backup Gary Sanchez.

Acquiring Naylor does provide some intrigue into both how the Brew Crew could approach their catching situation at the deadline, and potentially into 2027. Contreras obviously isn’t going anywhere before Monday’s trade deadline, but he is a free agent after the 2027-28 season. That means the Brewers could look to trade Contreras this winter, as the club has dealt several other stars heading into their final year of team control.

Top prospect Jeferson Quero is still earmarked as Milwaukee’s catcher of the future, but Naylor is a former top-100 prospect in his own right who could benefit from a change of scenery. While Naylor may be a depth piece for now, if the Brewers feel Naylor can step into the backup role immediately, Sanchez might be a trade chip at the deadline.

[Fan_In_NY]

RE: Burleson - he's not a free agent for 2 more years- whats the rush? He's a bad body limited position hitter. The market for guys like that isn't great (both in trade and in free agency). He's a left handed version of Rhys Hoskins, he's going to make $15-20M a year as a free agent at max, don't need to go crazy and lock that in long term.

I am not disagreeing that this offseason is probably the time to start supplementing the system with some outside free agents. Kinda what the Rangers did with Semien and Seager while their farm system was ripening is similar to what I would ideally want.

However besides the $ of free agents, the actual quality of free agents in future classes is pretty poor. Even last year if we wanted to sign an OF the only ones that turned out decent were Bellinger and Bleday. The entire rest of the list is full of below average plays and Kyle Tucker sitting at $55M for 0.5 WAR. Pitchers there is a split of a couple of multi-year deals that seem good so far, and other that the pitchers are again below average. So its not just that free agency is inefficient in terms of funds, there are also not enough bodies to actually build a team through free agency.

[jagtrader]

Every team in the division has found hitters from outside the organization that have helped their cause this season. These are other low-budget teams. The Cardinals are the only team operating in a completely self-sufficient manner. It doesn’t take huge bucks or free agency. It takes effort and creativity.

[Famous Mortimer]

There's nothing intrinsically impressive about having an all home grown team if they're not very good

[jagtrader]

Burleson is a high floor guy who won’t be terribly expensive. That’s exactly the type of player a risk-averse, low-budget team like the Cardinals should extend.

[TGantz]

I love Burleson and Herrera. The both have a ton of value, but they both have glaring weaknesses and '27 probably won't be played. Perfect for trading for a top of the rotation stud in AAA.

[Magneto2.0]

[cardsfantx]

That’d be a terrible deal

Hancock is having a good year, but is just a BOR guy which we have in spades.

No need to make a move just to make a move.