Cardinals' Josiah Ragsdale Puts Another Option on Table for 2027

The St. Louis Cardinals made a phenomenal move by bringing Josiah Ragsdale to town.

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers’ Josiah Ragsdale (4) against the Peoria Chiefs during their baseball game at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis. on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 in Grand Chute, Wis. The Timber Rattlers defeated Peroria 7-4. Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

When the 2026 Major League Baseball trade deadline approached, the St. Louis Cardinals opted to sell off pieces for the second straight year.

Clearly, it was the right call. The Cardinals are sitting at 72-75 right now and are sitting 6 1/2 games out of a National League Wild Card spot. Simply put, a playoff spot isn't going to be happening this year. The Cardinals traded a few pieces, including Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero and Dustin May. The Cardinals reloaded the farm system, including by landing No. 4 prospect Alexander Frias, No. 11 prospect Josiah Ragsdale, and No. 22 prospect Daniel Eagen, among others.

On the other hand, Nootbaar is batting .241 over with the Arizona Diamondbacks in just 28 games played. Romero has pitched in five games for the Milwaukee Brewers and has a 6.75 ERA in 5 1/3 innings of action. May has pitched in six games for Milwaukee and has a 6.17 ERA in 23 1/3 innings pitched.

The St. Louis Cardinals Made A Great Move

Feb 26, 2021; Jupiter, Florida, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals logo on the stadium at Roger Dean Stadium during spring training workouts. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

The Cardinals traded away guys who have been up-and-down since then, and got prospects who can make a legit impact on this club in the years to come. For example, let's take a look at Ragsdale. The 22-year-old has been with Double-A Springfield and has been very good. Ragsdale has played in 27 games this season with Double-A Springfield and is slashing .257/.375/.457 with an .832 OPS, five home runs, 14 RBIs, six stolen bases, four doubles and one triple. That's a lot of production in just 27 games.

If you take a step backward and look at his overall numbers from the season, you'll be even more impressed. Ragsdale has played in 113 total games this season in the Cardinals' and the Brewers' farm systems. Overall, he has slashed .301/.424/.549 with a .974 OPS, 24 home runs, 65 RBIs, 37 stolen bases, 25 doubles, three triples and 108 runs scored.

How about that?

The Cardinals got Ragsdale and Frias from Milwaukee in exchange for May and Romero. Neither had a long-term future in St. Louis and the Cardinals cashed in by trading them for guys who realistically could. Ragsdale has filled up the box score everywhere he has been this season and he's just 22 years old. He's someone who could make the jump to the big leagues as soon as 2027 if he can keep this pace up. And he's not even the top prospect the Cardinals acquired. That's Frias, who is just 18 years old.

The Cardinals made the right move selling. Soon enough, the fanbase will start to see guys like these start to help in the majors as well.