Trades are (oftentimes) at least as much about Public Relations as projectability. And I don’t want to give up Taveras (duh), Wong, Adams, or even Anthony Garcia, as the latter three can all be *reasonably* projected as 3-5 WAR guys over their prime seasons.

And speaking of Adams, someone on this site (azru, maybe?) mentioned pre-season that Adams’ minor league numbers looked a LOT like Allen Craig’s, with Adams actually younger at AA/AAA. I’d sure think long & hard about trading a (potential) left-handed Allen Craig. ;)

Adams minutia: Matt The Bat has now played 160 games across AA and AAA (the two leagues where he’s been age-appropriate), and has hit roughly .320, with 45 homers. The walks are too low, of course…but it’s hard to argue that he’s swinging at bad pitches.

Ramsey was described by some here as “short on tools” or “low upside”, but you’re right, UofI, the chief complaint (mine included) was that the Cards coulda kept that bonus a few hundred grand lower, thus leaving more for some scholastic guys.

The FSL is a nice, aggressive assignment for J.R. — all things considered, it’s (historically) nearly equivalent to hitting in the Texas League. (Not *this* year, though, as the Texas League has its lowest OPS in 20+ seasons.)

Good luck, James. We’re all counting on you.

What seems to matter most is what’s going to look good to the fans of a team dumping its high-priced veterans for whatever they can get.

The prospects they get in return either a) need name recognition; or b) have to be on a one-time roll, with gaudy stats. Last year Alex Castellanos was a 25-year-old in AA having a breakout season. He wasn’t on anybody’s radar before that, but I think it was easy for the Dodgers to sell it their fans. “Sure we dumped Rafael Furcal, a former all-star, but look at this shiny new prospect who’s tearing up the Texas League!” An earlier example was Terry Evans.

So if the Cards are going to make another deadline deal, the team gifting us with vets for the stretch run and postseason will probably want either a former first rounder like Miller or Cox, or a hot-hand guy like Colin Walsh, who’s putting up huge numbers that will look good to casual fans. Or a team could go for both and demand Adams, who’s become a bigger name by putting up huge numbers in all four of his pro seasons, but isn’t in the same class as Taveras or Wong, whose names may as well be pencilled into the Cards’ lineup for 2014 and beyond.

A trade for someone like Adams would make baseball sense, since at this point he projects to be at least major-league average as a first baseman. It would also make baseball sense to grab a fallen-star prospect like Cox, if the team thinks they can tweak his swing to produce more swing.

But I suspect that sometimes the baseball part of it is just a bonus. The real priority is to toss a bone to the fans who’re despondent to see their team give up in July.

Kolten Kaha Wong reached base 5 times, just as he did two days earlier. Boring and repetitive, Kolten.

Anybody have a report on Richard Castillo’s velocity at Springfield? His Quality Start streak ended, but I’ll take 1 run over 5 innings anytime. Castillo might be a mid-level trade chip now, with his success in AA at age 22 — assuming that V is, say, 89-92 and not 88-90 as it was a couple years ago.

Nice to see Valera steal a pair of bases. The teenager is reportedly reeeeal fast, and it sure looks like he’ll hit for average. Perhaps the organization could make room for him at Quad Cities by promoting Colin Walsh to the FSL? ;)