Cardinals acquire two new pitchers by trading reliever Jordan Hicks to Toronto Blue Jays
The Cardinals began their fire sale in earnest on Sunday, trading hard-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays, the teams announced.
In return, the Cardinals received minor league right-handed starters Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein. Both will report to Triple-A Memphis and join the rotation there.
“This is a day that we were hoping would never happen in the sense of having to break up our club and having to focus on the future,” Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said. “Over the course of the last two weeks, we were really taking a hard look at what the trading deadline can do for us. You’ve heard me state in the past that we were looking to acquire pitching, and that was certainly one of our goals. But we were also looking to find talent.”
In addition to their deal with the Blue Jays, the Cardinals also moved starter Jordan Montgomery and reliever Chris Stratton to the Texas Rangers for two additional pitchers and an infield prospect.
The downstream effects of Sunday’s two trades includes two new vacancies on the team’s 40-man roster, either of which could be used to find opportunities for new acquisitions or previous top prospects. Memphis shortstop Masyn Winn, now the club’s top ranked minor leaguer, could stand to benefit from that opportunity.
“Could I imagine seeing him in the big leagues in 2023? Yes,” Mozeliak said. “The timing of that is, I don’t know. But does having roster flexibility help in regards to that? Yeah.
“The last like two weeks we’ve been hamstrung on roster decisions. So you know, freeing up a few spots is certainly a good thing.”
Hicks, 26, is 1-6 with a 3.67 ERA and eight saves thus far this season. He re-claimed his spot as the team’s closer in June following Ryan Helsley’s placement on the injured list, and has been one of baseball’s top relievers over that time period. He’s allowed only six earned runs in 19 innings in June and July, recording all eight saves in that time period.
Originally drafted by the Cardinals in 2015, his otherworldly talent saw him make the Major League team in 2018 despite not having previously pitched above High-A. Iconic catcher Yadier Molina in particular stumped for Hicks, insisting that his high-octane velocity was necessary for that team to put its best competitive foot forward.
That season, he became the first Major Leaguer to record a pitch of at least 104 miles per hour. In 2019, he entered the season as the team’s closer before suffering an elbow injury that would require Tommy John surgery.
Owing to his Type II diabetes diagnosis, Hicks opted out of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but received a full year of service time due to his pre-existing medical condition. He also lost a large portion of 2021 to injury before a failed attempt to join the starting rotation in 2022, which was also short circuited by his struggles staying on the field.
“It takes a lot of determination to do what he did this year,” manager Oliver Marmol said of Hicks. “He started off the year really shaky and there was a lot of noise around what he’s capable or not capable of doing.
“For him to quiet the noise and get to where he’s gotten to now, where he created a ton of value for himself and put together a pretty good year, to his credit, that takes a lot, especially when almost everybody is saying you can’t do it. He should be proud of the work he’s done.”
Robberse, 21, is a native of the Netherlands who has made 18 starts for Double-A New Hampshire with a 4.06 ERA. He represented the Blue Jays in this year’s MLB Futures Game, allowing two runs in ⅔ of an inning.
“I think his actual mix is interesting. He’s not all swing and miss, but he’s a strike thrower, does get ground balls,” Mozeliak said. “I think the fact that he’s so young, he’ll be able to go to Triple-A and be knocking on the door of the big leagues, is exciting.”
Kloffenstein, 22, is also a starter for Double-A New Hampshire. This season, he’s made 17 starts with a 3.24 ERA.
Robberse, according to FanGraphs, is Toronto’s sixth ranked prospect. Kloffenstein did not rank in their top 40, with that publication writing he could perhaps develop into a spot starter.
Toronto placed its own closer, Jordan Romano, on the injured list on Saturday with lower back tightness. They are one of many teams who have been aggressively scouting the Cardinals in recent weeks.
With less than 48 hours remaining until Tuesday’s deadline, the Cardinals remain engaged on potential deals for their other pending free agents, especially starter Jack Flaherty and shortstop Paul DeJong.
“We’re going to just roll our sleeves back up after I leave here.” Mozeliak said, “Kind of reassess where we are. Might change some of our goals now because of what we were able to accomplish, and so we’ll just talk through that this evening, and then prep for tomorrow and Tuesday.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2023 at 8:48 PM.