Outfielder Acquired from Brewers Could Soon Be Cards' Top Prospect

A student of the game, president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom will regale anyone who will listen about how it was the St. Louis Cardinals and then-team president/GM/field manager Branch Rickey who literally invented the Minor League system in 1919.

Frustrated with his inability to nab young talent through open bidding – sound familiar, Cardinals fans? – Rickey convinced owner Sam Breadon to purchase controlling interests in Minor League franchises in Houston and Fort Smith, Ark., that would develop and produce young talent for the big-league club.

Bloom, who just completed his first season while running the Cardinals’ front office, has done extensive studies on Rickey’s work more than a century ago and how many of the franchise’s 11 World Series titles were fueled by a Minor League system that was far more developed than any other in baseball for decades.

When that system fell into disrepair, it was Bloom’s job to fortify a player development process that the Cardinals know must be their lifeblood in a free-agency world. Rightly so, Bloom made re-tooling the franchise’s Minor League system his top priority – in terms of adding coaches, evaluators, analytics staff and top-tier players.

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While trading veterans Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan and later Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Lars Nootbaar, Bloom’s return was more than a dozen prospects and draft picks. All his work, while adding prospects such as Alexander Frias, Josiah Ragsdale, Tai Peete, Trevor Condon, Tegan Kuhns, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Yhoiker Fajardo, Sandro Santana and Daniel Eagen, allowed the Cardinals’ Minor League system to zip to No. 2 in the MiLB rankings, per Baseball America and No. 4, per MLB Pipeline.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be breaking down the top 30 prospects in the Cardinals’ Minor League system. Today’s prospect capsule is on sweet-swinging left-hander Alexander Frias, the 18-year-old outfielder acquired from the Brewers in an Aug. 3 trade.

Player name: Alexander Frias

Age: 18

How acquired: The Cardinals acquired Frias and CF Josiah Ragsdale on Aug. 3 from the Brewers in exchange for RHP Dustin May and LHP JoJo Romero.

2026 statistics: 86 games (Arizona Complex League, Class-A Wilson (Brewers) and Class-A Palm Beach (Cardinals)), .314/.405/.500/.905, 67 runs scored, 20 doubles, five triples, 10 homers, 73 RBI, 77 strikeouts, 42 walks and 25 stolen bases in 34 tries.

MLB Pipeline rankings: NR MiLB/No. 5 with Cards 

Key numbers: In his first season of professional baseball, Frias quickly worked his way through the Arizona Complex League to Class-A – where he played for the Wilson Warbirds (Brewers) and Palm Beach (Cardinals). He has a 60-grade in terms of power and a 50-grade in terms of speed (on a 20/80 scale) and it showed up with his 20 doubles, five triples, 10 home runs and 25 stolen bases in 86 games   

Looking back at 2026: Frias, who was signed for $350,000 as an international free agent out of Rio San Juan, Dominican Republic on Jan. 15, 2025, by the Brewers, was acquired by the Cardinals in one of their two Trade Deadline deals. The 6-foot-2, 177-pound Frias is extremely raw, but he has a long, looping swing that projects to be loaded with power as he matures physically. In his first professional season, He quickly progressed through the Arizona Complex League in 32 games and worked his way to Class-A Wilson in the Carolina League. Following the Aug. 3 trade, he transferred to Class-A Palm Beach where he played 25 games in the Cardinals’ organization. On the season, Frias played 86 games and he slashed .314/.405/.500/.905 with 67 runs scored, 20 doubles, five triples, 10 homers, 73 RBI and 25 stolen bases in 34 tries. He struck out 77 times compared to 42 walks. His numbers fell off a bit at Palm Beach, slashing .247/.355/.376/.731 with four doubles, a triple, two homers and 11 RBI in 25 games.     

Looking forward to 2027: With Frias being a teenager and still transitioning to a new country, the Cardinals will likely bring Frias along slowly in his second pro season. With Joshua Baez and Leo Bernal already in the big leagues and Rainiel Rodriguez and Liam Doyle seemingly on the doorstep to call-ups to St. Louis, Frias could become the top prospect in the Cardinals’ Minor League system next season. With a long, lanky frame and wide shoulders, he should be able to put on plenty of extra muscle – something that could make his power even more explosive. Also, Frias can play all three outfield positions – something that could make his trek to the big leagues easier. On the 80/20 scale, scouts gave his arm a 60-grade and his defensive abilities a 50-grade.