It's been a month since the Cardinals dealt veterans Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Lars Nootbaar, and the Cardinals appeared to have landed some promising prospects in Alexander Frias, Josiah Ragsdale, Daniel Eagen and Sandro Santana at the MLB Trade Deadline.
The Cardinals announced to the baseball world that they were in rebuilding mode last winter when they traded Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan for a host of Minor League prospects.
With it being a month since the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline deals between the Cards and Brewers and Cards and Dbacks, let’s take a look at how the former St. Louis players have fared and how the two transactions have worked out so far.
Brewers receive right-handed starter Dustin May and left-handed reliever JoJo Romero. May, who was 5-7 with a 4.38 ERA in 21 starts with the Cardinals, has mostly struggled with the Brewers and was recently hit with some tough luck. May is 1-2 with a 6.41 ERA over five starts with Milwaukee. He was hit hard by the Mariners (seven hits, seven earned runs in two innings pitched) and Rangers (six hits, four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings pitched) and literally hit hard in a one-pitch start against the Mets. New York’s AJ Ewing drilled a 106-mph liner on the game’s first pitch, and it hit off May’s right shoulder blade. He left that game after just one pitch and luckily escaped with just a bruise.
Romero, 29, missed his final three weeks with the Cardinals after needing an emergency appendectomy over the break for the MLB All-Star Game. After going on a rehab assignment with the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Romero was activated on Sept. 1. In two games, Romero has yet to give up a run while registering one hold out of the Milwaukee bullpen.
Cardinals receive Class-A outfielder Alexander Frias and Double-A outfielder Josiah Ragsdale. Minor League talent evaluators were somewhat shocked that the Cardinals could pry away the 6-foot-2 Frias, who was immediately installed as the No. 4 prospect in the Cardinals’ Minor League system. The 18-year-old Frias, who was signed to a $350,000 international free-agent deal out of the Dominican Republic in January of 2025, has played 22 games with Class-A Palm Beach thus far. He’s smashed four doubles, a triple and two home runs to build a .749 OPS. He’s also flashed by dynamic speed by swiping six bases.
As for Ragsdale, 22, he has continued his stellar season with Double-A Springfield. In 23 games with the Cards, he has four doubles, a triple, five homers and 13 RBI. He’s also stolen five bases in five tries. In four Minor League stops in 2026, Ragsdale – the No. 11-ranked prospect in the Cards’ system – has racked up 25 doubles, 24 homers and 36 stolen bases while hitting .308 with a 1.001 OPS.
Diamondbacks receive outfielder Lars Nootbaar. The 28-year-old outfielder, who was a fan favorite in St. Louis for his infectious smile and fun-loving nature, got off to a slow start with Arizona. His first homer didn’t come until his 12th game with the Dbacks and he smashed homers on back-to-back days on Aug. 28 and 29 in San Francisco. The final one was a grand slam. In 22 games with a DBacks team pushing for a playoff spot, Nootbaar is hitting .224 with four doubles, three homers and 11 RBI.
Cardinals receive right-handed starter Daniel Eagen and left-handed reliever Sandro Santana. Eagen, 23, registered a 10-strikeout performance and an 11-strikeout performance six days apart in August for Double-A Springfield. The No. 22-ranked prospect is just 2-3 with a 4.03 ERA in the hitter-friendly Texas League, but he has piled up an impressive 37 strikeouts in 29 innings of work. Foes are hitting just .206 against Eagen.
Santana, 21, has been so impressive that he’s already earned a promotion from Double-A Springfield to Triple-A Memphis. In 9.2 innings of work, Santana – who features a frisbee-like sweeper – has allowed just two hits and one earned run. Incredibly, he has struck out 19 while walking none since becoming a member of the Cardinals organization.
