Cardinals Landed Intriguing Pitching Prospect from Red Sox in Willson Contreras Swap

Spring training will begin soon, and the St. Louis Cardinals have a lot to look forward to, even though they are rebuilding and not focused on contention. They landed a lot of exciting young prospects in trades this offseason.

Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado are all gone, but the Cardinals have loaded up on young pitching prospects, which could set them up well for the future. The best haul came in exchange for Donovan, but the Cardinals also landed some good pieces in the Contreras deal.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report gave the Cardinals some praise for landing right-hander Yhoiker Fajardo from the Boston Red Sox in that deal.

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Cardinals may have struck gold

Mar 17, 2025; North Port, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox hats on the stairs to the dugout before the start of the game between the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox during spring training at CoolToday Park. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

"Fajardo has a projectable 6'3", 181-pound frame and is more polished than the average teenager, giving him good odds to develop into a middle-of-the-rotation starter. He has three quality pitches, and if everything clicks, he will have the stuff to match his impressive pitchability," Reuter writes.

Fajardo might still be a few years away from being Major League ready, but that is ultimately the reality of the situation the Cardinals are in. They needed to rebuild their farm system rather than focus on contending, and Fajardo is a piece that allows them to do just that.

In a few short years, he could potentially find himself in the Cardinals' rotation, but Chaim Bloom certainly had a lot to choose from when dealing with the Red Sox. He was their chief baseball officer from 2020-23 and went straight to St. Louis after being let go by Boston.

So, that gave him an advantage. A lot of the prospects in Boston's system were drafted by him, so he knew what he was looking for. If Fajardo can prove to be a middle-of-the-rotation starter, then the Cardinals should be in good shape in the future.

They needed arms this winter, and they landed several of them in just the two trades they made with Boston. Fajardo adds to the Cardinals' list of intriguing pitching prospects. He has a lot of upside, which is what the Cardinals have been looking for in recent years.

It will be interesting to see where he goes in the future and what his role with the Cardinals could be.

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