photo: Paul DeJong (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals traded long-time starting shortstop Paul DeJong to Toronto. In return, minor league right-handed reliever Matt Svanson joins the Cardinals organization.
St. Louis Cardinals press release
The St. Louis Cardinals announced this afternoon (Tuesday, August 1) that they have acquired minor league right-handed pitcher Matt Svanson from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for shortstop Paul DeJong and cash considerations.
Svanson, 24, was the Blue Jays 13th round draft selection in 2021 out of Lehigh University.
The 6-5, 235-pound Svanson has combined to go 4-1 with a 1.11 ERA in 26 games (all in relief) this season between Dunedin (Low-A) and Vancouver (High-A).
Svanson was part of combined no-hitter earlier this season for Vancouver and also in 2018 as a freshman at Lehigh. He threw two perfect games, in addition to two no-hitters, for Lake Zurich (Ill.) High School.
Svanson will be assigned to the Springfield Cardinals (AA).
DeJong, 29, has batted .233 with 13 HR and 32 RBI in 81 games this season. He was the Cardinals 4th-round draft selection in 2015 and played seven seasons (2017-23) with St. Louis.
Brian Walton’s take
This is the third trade in the last two weeks between the two clubs. The earlier separate moves sent Genesis Cabrera and Jordan Hicks north. Toronto made this trade to fill an immediate need as the AL East-contenders lost their shortstop Bo Bichette due to injury this week.
Of the Cardinals’ five prominent impending free agents, only Jack Flaherty remains. (Update: Flaherty was traded to Baltimore later in the day.) Along with DeJong, Jordan Hicks, Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton have been dealt away this week.
Without DeJong, St. Louis still has good options at short. The Cardinals’ top prospect, Masyn Winn, is a shortstop and prior starter Tommy Edman (who has also played in center field this season) was activated from the injured list on Tuesday.
It remains to be seen how soon Winn, The Cardinal Nation’s July Player of the Month, will be promoted to St. Louis, but with the club preparing for 2024, the time should be right to evaluate as many players as possible.
It is unclear how much of DeJong’s remaining financial commitment the Cardinals are covering.
Svanson was not a top 30 prospect in the Jays system but has some potential. He joins a Springfield bullpen that needs help, having struggled to a collective 5.28 ERA this season.
Svanson gets a ton of run (around 16 inches) on his sinker and can touch 98 with it.
He pairs that with a pretty nice looking slider that he throws a lot.
This is a solid relief arm with both bat missing and ground ball getting abilities.pic.twitter.com/afT04Hgsyx
— Blake Newberry (@bt_newberry) August 1, 2023
The 40-man roster is temporarily down to 37 players, potentially facilitating promotions to come…
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