The St. Louis Cardinals are reportedly interested in Yankees pitching prospect Clayton Beeter. Here's how they could acquire him.
Beeter is outside of the Yankees top-10 prospects, making the 23-year-old a reasonable ask for St. Louis as they look to trade off some of their assets. Namely, the Yankees could use some outfield depth. New York has been connected to Cards outfielders Tyler O'Neill and Dylan Carlson all season long.
O'Neill is on his way back, and recently went 2-for-4 in a rehab game in Memphis. Should the Yankees prefer a straight-up deal, O'Neill for Beeter is a fair exchange. O'Neill is in the final year of his contract, though, which would make Dylan Carlson the more attractive commodity. As Josh Jacobs of Redbird Rants suggests, Carlson has a little more upside than O'Neill:
"Carlson still has a high upside and multiple years of club control, making him a valuable asset still in this league. Immediately, he can provide good outfield defense and a streaky bat for any club looking to acquire him, but his upside is much higher at the plate. This would cost the Yankees more than the previous deal."
A Cardinals-Yankees trade for Clayton Beeter
New York is unlikely to part with any of their top position player prospects. Drew Thorpe, who was mentioned by Redbird Rants as a possible target alongside Beeter, is the team's best pitching prospect. To acquire Thorpe, the Cardinals may have to add in more tradable assets.
For Carlson alone, the acquisitions of Beeter and Gomez — both of whom are rapidly nearing the majors — is a solid haul. Gomez is the Yankees No. 9-ranked prospect, while Beeter comes in at No. 13, per MLB Pipeline.
While Beeter struggled some with his control in 2022, what makes him so attractive to teams like the Cardinals is his high arm slot. MLB Pipeline described this in detail:
"His high arm slot creates downhill plane and deception, and his ability to tunnel his pitches makes him even harder to hit. No Minor League pitcher who worked as many innings (77) as Beeter had as high a strikeout rate (15.1 per nine innings) in 2022."
In 2023, Beeter has a sub-3 ERA in Double-A Somerset. He's worth the investment by St. Louis, should they get so lucky.