Pair Of Former Cardinals 1st-Round Picks Could Soon Be Traded From St. Louis

St. Louis could move on from the two young sluggers

Apr 16, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals scoreboard as a plane passes by during the seventh inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals youth movement is underway but a pair of former first-round draft picks could soon find themselves on the trade block if they don't wake up offensively.

Although it's too early to predict how the Cardinals will approach the Jul. 31st trade deadline, several stars such as superstar Nolan Arenado and flamethrower Ryan Helsley are at the top of the list of veterans who could be dealt.

However, two floundering Cardinals youngsters might be at the end of their journeys with the 11-time World Series champions and could soon be shopped.

"The Cardinals have gone 0-4 in extra-inning games, which you can attribute to bad luck, lack of depth or lack of clutch hitting, but it has put them in an early hole," ESPN's David Schoenfield wrote Friday after giving the Cardinals a D+ grade for their Apr. performance. "Maybe that's not so unexpected, given the plan all along was to roll out the likes of Jordan Walker, Victor Scott II, Nolan Gorman and Iván Herrera and give them a chance to play -- maybe the final opportunity in a Cardinals uniform for Walker and Gorman, even though both remain relatively young."

This isn't the first time Gorman and Walker have been mentioned as being on their final straw with the Cardinals. Both former St. Louis top prospects have mightily struggled offensively over the past few seasons and it could be time for the franchise to move on.

Gorman is batting .185 with 10 hits including five doubles and one home run, eight RBIs and a .625 OPS in 54 at-bats across 18 games played for the Cardinals this year.

Although Gorman's playing time has been cut this year due to an injury and Arenado remaining at third base, the 2018 first-round draft pick has failed to rise to the occasion with the few at-bats he's recorded this season.

Walker is batting .206 with 21 hits including two doubles and two home runs, nine RBIs and a .554 OPS in 102 at-bats across 28 games played for St. Louis in 2025.

The 2020 Cardinals first-round draft pick was demoted to Triple-A Memphis twice in 2024 for his poor offensive production and sadly, things haven't improved much for Walker this year.

24-year-old Gorman and 22-year-old Walker are young but have been given plenty of opportunities to develop as big leaguers. Considering how significantly both sluggers have underperformed, it wouldn't be too shocking to see the Cardinals move on from them before this summer's trade deadline.

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