FanPost

Trading youth for youth

Much of the trade discussion here (and elsewhere) has focused on which big leaguers the team should trade for younger, cheaper talent.  And clearly that's the direction the team must go.  But I wanted to broach the discussion of which, if any, minor leaguers should also be "on the block."  

On the surface, trading prospects for prospects is at-best a wash.  But it seems like if we want to land a top level minor leaguer, ready for '08, we may need to sweeten the deal with more than the big contracts of our aging major leaguers.

That only makes sense if we've got prospects to spare.  Despite the fact that our farm system is still thin (especially at the top), I see at least one area where it might make sense to deal.

Our system is flush with power hitters who may have a hard time finding a home in St. Louis.  With Albert at first and another first basemen in left field, I find it hard to believe yet another converted 1st basemen like Joe Mather could find a spot in our outfield.  Mark Hamilton, recently promoted to AA, is yet another 1st basemen who's likely big-league arrival date will be during the Albert Pujols era.

Rick Ankiel IS an outfielder and can even play center, but his age and the presence of Colby Rasmus make him worth considering in a deal as well.

Gordo suggests in today's column that Bryan Anderson should also be available, given Yadier Molina's talent.  I personally disagree.  For a team with such below average bats in both middle infield spots, I don't know that we can afford the luxury of a defensive specialist behind the plate.

I admit a flaw in this entire line of reasoning is that only a few of these minor leaguers will even develop into useful major leaguers.  So it can be a specious argument to speculate that these guys will ever block each other.

But I also think it's clear that we won't get much  more than salary relief if we can move an Encarnacion, Eckstein, even an Isringhausen.  (Not that that's without value.)  I wouldn't mind seeing one of these prospects move along with a big leaguer, if it could net us a major league ready prospect at second or short.  Thoughts?