Tanner Franklin (No. 5 in system) and Tai Peete (No. 19) were promoted from High-A Peoria to Double-A Springfield, while trade acquisitions Josiah Ragsdale (No. 10), Daniel Eagen (No. 17) and Sando Santana (No. 22) were also assigned to the Double-A affiliate.
Despite a somewhat surprising playoff push in 2026, the St. Louis Cardinals reaffirmed their stance as a franchise building for what they hope will be a brighter future by trading three veteran players for four prospects at Monday’s MLB Trade Deadline.
The building blocks that the Cardinals hope will be the lifeblood of their organization going forward will be on display nightly at Triple-A Memphis, Double-A Springfield, High-A Peoria and Class-A Palm Beach. In those Minor League organizations, the future of the Cardinals lies, and those affiliates should have plenty of firepower from which to develop young players and build winning cultures.
Double-A Springfield, the defending champions of the Texas League, welcomed the promotions of pitching prospect Tanner Franklin (No. 5) and power-hitting outfielder Tai Peete (No. 19) on Tuesday. Also, newcomers Josiah Ragsdale (No. 10), Daniel Eagen (No. 17) and Sando Santana (No. 22) join an already stacked roster that has six other Top 30 prospects on it. Ragsdale, 22, comes over from the Brewers where he had 21 doubles, three triples, 19 homers and 31 stolen bases in 86 games split between High-A and Double-A in the Milwaukee system.
Franklin, 22, has successfully made the transition from reliever at the University of Tennessee to starter in the Minor Leagues. He’s fanned 91 hitters in 72 2/3 innings of work over 19 starts. Peete, who was acquired from the Mariners last February in the deal centered around Brendan Donovan, recently hit for the cycle a second time this season. Despite missing six weeks with a concussion, the speedy Peete has 14 doubles, six triples, 10 homers, 39 RBI and 11 stolen bases thus far. He’ll have to show he can avoid too much swing and miss at Double-A after striking out 162 times each of the past two seasons in the Seattle system.
The top two prospects in the Cardinals’ Minor League system, center Rainiel Rodriguez (No. 1) and hard-throwing left-handed pitcher Liam Doyle (No. 2), are already leaders in Springfield.
Left-handed pitcher Cooper Hjerpe (No. 16), slugging infielder Jesus Baez (No. 21), corner infielder Deniel Ortiz (No. 27) and 6-foot-7 right-hander Chen-Wei Lin (No. 29) are already positioned on the Springfield roster.
Alexander Frias, the centerpiece player in a deal where the Cardinals shipped Dustin May and JoJo Romero to Milwaukee, was assigned to Class-A Palm Beach, but he is expected to move quickly through the organization despite being just 18 years old. The 6-foot-2 outfielder had 16 doubles, four triples, eight homers, 62 RBI and 19 stolen bases in 60 games split between the Arizona Complex League and Class A this season in the Brewers highly ranked system. The left-handed hitting Frias, who signed a $350,000 free-agent deal with the Brewers in 2025 after hailing from the Dominican Republic, has crushed right-handed pitching so far this season (.357 batting average, 1.025 OPS, seven homers and 53 RBI) and he’s registered four outfield assists with his strong throwing arm.
Electrifying left-hander Brandon Clarke, whose four-seam fastball recently touched 103 mph, is seemingly back on track after four rehab starts in the Florida Complex League and with Class-A Palm Beach and is headed to High-A Peoria. Clarke, who was acquired from the Red Sox in the deal that sent Sonny Gray to Boston, battled finger blister issues in 2025 and he only recently returned to game action following shoulder surgery to correct a blood flow issue. In four rehab starts, he struck out 10 batters in 7 1/3 innings of work, but he also walked seven. Clarke, 23, is the No. 7- ranked prospect in the Cardinals system and he might project as a high-leverage reliever instead of the starter he’s been much of his Minor League career thus far.
