Cardinals Landed Next Potential Ace in Blockbuster Sonny Gray Trade

The Cardinals seemingly hit big with their trade return in the Sonny Gray deal this offseason...

Sep 19, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals have opted for a rebuild this offseason and it seems like they're going to attack it more aggressively than anybody assumed. Rather than trading one or two players and dealing with the rest during the season, the Cardinals opted to trade four of their best players for a haul of prospects.

They traded Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox early in the winter. They traded Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks a little while later. They followed those three trades up by dealing Brendan Donovan to the Seattle Mariners in a three-team blockbuster.

Each of these four trades landed the Cardinals some valuable prospects, but the Gray traded landed them pitching prospect Brandon Clarke, who might be the biggest addition of the team's offseason.

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MLB Pipeline has shared a lot of praise for Clarke and ranked him one of the Cardinals' best prospects going into the upcoming season.

Brandon Clarke may be the Cardinals' best offseason addition

Apr 21, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

"Still very much a work in progress, Clarke stands out more with his athleticism and quick arm than his polish," the site's uncredited author wrote. "He gets down the mound well, creating a low release height with plenty of extension, but he lacks a smooth delivery and currently doesn't repeat it easily enough to have more than fringy control. He comes with a high ceiling and a good deal of reliever risk, making him an intriguing development project in his second organization."

A lot of fans and analysts turn to Jurrangelo Cjintje as the Cardinals' biggest addition because he was their top ranked prospect acquired, but Clarke has the tools to be better down the road.

Clarke was dominant in his first pro season, but he struggled a bit with walks. He allowed more walks than hits across 38 innings in 14 starts.

The lefty has an electric arm with the stuff to dominate hitters at any level, but walks could be his Achillies heel. If he can get in the zone more consistently, he could fly up the Cardinals minor league system en route to a big league debut over the next two or three years.

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