A blockbuster trade between the Cardinals and the Astros would force Houston to sell

Oh man, do I have a guess for you.

Recently, Thomas Gauvain of Redbird Rants wrote an article in which he outlined his top five dream trade targets for the St. Louis Cardinals before the 2024 trade deadline. On his list were two Houston Astros, Framber Valdez and Kyle Tucker.

Tucker and Valdez are unlikely to be traded at this point, and they each have an extra year of team control on their contracts for next season. But if the Astros were to fall out of the playoff race entirely, they could look to sell.

Would a trade between the two Astros stars make sense? Who knows, but if the Cardinals can pull off a trade for such a big return, here’s how it would go.

I would like to clarify, once again, that this is a hypothetical exchange. The Astros still have hope for the playoffs and they’ve never been the type of team to roll over and give up. Two superstars like this are rarely, if ever, grouped together.

But the Cardinals might have the player capital to make the deal, if they include two top-10 prospects and two MLB outfielders. Even then, the Astros might laugh and hang up the phone.

The trade starts with outfielder Jordan Walker, the Cardinals’ top prospect a year ago. Walker is a truly special talent but has struggled more than expected this season. His upside is incredibly high, but there’s no Tucker-Valdez trade without Walker being dealt.

Dylan Carlson is another struggling MLB guy, but certainly an MLB talent. The Astros would be able to insert him into their lineup every day to try to turn his season around. At just 24 years old, he has a lot of potential and has two years of team control left on his contract.

The package ends with two of the top 10 pitching prospects in the Cardinals system, one of them being Tink Therefore, the 47th ranked prospect in baseball.

So he has generational potential and has the season to back it up. He owns an ERA near 3.00 in Double-A this year. If he were traded to Houston, he could spend a few weeks or even months in the minors, but the Astros would trade up to use him in the big leagues.

Graceffo, St. Louis’ eighth-ranked prospect, is another pitching prospect who could pitch for Houston this year. He’s a polished prospect who could provide some real talent for the Astros in 2024.

Still, even with this busy return for the Astros, they could just laugh and hang up the phone. That’s how the game works when you call on two of the other team’s best players.