Brian Curley, who struck out 130 batters in 116 innings this season in High-A and Double-A, was acquired by the Cardinals on Thursday as the player to be named later in the Aug. 3 deal with the Dbacks that centered around outfielder Lars Nootbaar.
Having already hit on two rising Minor League prospects acquired from the Dbacks at the MLB Trade Deadline back on Aug. 3, the St. Louis Cardinals completed the Lars Nootbaar deal on Thursday by acquiring another hard-throwing right-handed pitcher.
Brian Curley, who struck out 130 batters in 116 innings this season in High-A and Double-A, was acquired by the Cardinals on Thursday as the player to be named later in the Aug. 3 deal with the Dbacks. The acquisition completes the trade that sent Nootbaar to the Dbacks, who failed in their bid to rally and get into the playoffs.
At the time of the trade, the Cardinals acquired left-handed reliever Sandro Santana and right-handed starting pitcher Daniel Eagen. Santana, who was promoted from Double-A Springfield to Triple-A Memphis, was named to the first-team All-MiLB Prospect squad by MLB Pipeline. The 6-foot-4 Eagen struck out 48 batters in 34 2/3 innings after being traded to Springfield and he went 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA over nine innings of postseason work.
Curley, a former University of Georgia standout starter before being a third-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, pitched in 25 games (23 starts) this season at High-A and Double-A. He went 8-7 with a 5.28 ERA in the hitter-friendly Texas League. He struck out 130 hitters in 116 innings, but he also allowed 22 homers and foes hit .309 off him.
Curley is being slotted in at No. 27 among the Cardinals’ Top 30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline. Eagen is ranked No. 22 and Santana is ranked No. 24.
Santana, 21, put together a strong 2026 at High-A, two Double-A stops and with Triple-A Memphis. In 46 games, the Cardinals No. 24 prospect went 5-2 with a 1.97 ERA with nine holds and six saves in nine opportunities. He also posted an eye-popping 101 strikeouts in 64 innings pitched – the fourth-most among all MiLB pitchers without a start.
In eight games with Springfield, foes hit just .074 against him and he limited the opposition to .036 hitting in seven games with Triple-A Memphis. Featuring a frisbee-like slider, Santana allowed lefties to hit just .106 this past season.
Eagen, a third-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Presbyterian (S.C.) College, made 26 regular-season starts in the Dbacks and Cards systems. He was 8-11 with a 4.72 ERA. He fanned 157 batters in 122 innings pitched.
Eagen, 23, showed off his enormous potential with two big strikeout games a few weeks after the trade that took him to Springfield. He struck out 10 batters at Arkansas on Aug. 21 and 11 against San Antonio on Aug. 27.
Nootbaar, who didn’t debut until June 5 after having surgeries on both heels last winter to repair Haglund’s deformities, hit .234 with three homers and 16 RBI in 48 games with the Cardinals. After the trade to Arizona, the 29-year-old outfielder his .244 with five homers and 17 RBI in 42 games. Â
