The St. Louis Cardinals were uncharacteristically quiet during this year's trade deadline, making only one move to acquire right handed middle reliever Edward Mujica from the Miami Marlins. Maybe part of the reason why is that the team has confidence in its top prospects, a few of which may be close to the majors.
In his midseason prospect rankings from Wednesday, Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein placed four Cardinals farmhands in his top 50:
- Oscar Taveras, No. 4
- Shelby Miller, No. 29
- Carlos Martinez, No. 31
- Matt Adams, No. 43
The Cardinals have reportedly considered calling Taveras up to boost their bench, but the team may also think of using someone like Martinez as a high-impact, high-leverage reliever down the stretch if things break a certain way.
There is also one gray cloud that looms over these placements: while Taveras and Adams moved up significantly from where they were ranked preseason, both Miller and Martinez dropped.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. For more in-depth coverage of this series, visit St. Louis Cardinals blog Viva El Birdos.
