Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton are valuable enough players for a good baseball team with a desire to make postseason noise in 2023, but they have minimal value for the 2023 St. Louis Cardinals at this point. It’s nothing against them, but Chris Stratton is about to reach free agency and so is Jordan Montgomery, but with the “you could give him a qualifying offer” caveat.

The problem with being deadline sellers is you’re probably not going to be that familiar with the guys you get back unless you are a true prospect sicko. Rentals not named Shohei Ohtani were not going to be flipped for name-brand prospects. But that doesn’t mean that the trades aren’t worth doing.

The return, first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, was Thomas Saggese, Tekoah Roby, and John King. The former is an infielder and the latter two are pitchers. I won’t pretend I knew who they were before this very moment, but that’s because I’m not a versed Texas Rangers prospect knower. But if you’re going to trade a guy like Jordan Montgomery, there is at least some floor you must reasonably achieve because the draft pick compensation for a qualifying offer is worth something, even if it’s risky to bank on over the next two months.

The headliner should be Tekoah Roby. FanGraphs had Roby as the Rangers’ #5 prospect earlier this month (the #4 prospect was just traded yesterday for Max Scherzer), ahead of #2 overall pick from 2021 Jack Leiter and #3 overall pick from 2022 Kumar Rocker. The 21 year-old, a third-round pick in 2020, has dealt with some injuries this season and probably needs a little bit more seasoning before he will be MLB-ready, but could be an intriguing arm in a couple years.

Thomas Saggese, ranked #17 on the Rangers (also ahead of Kumar Rocker, for what it’s worth), is also just 21, but the 2020 fifth-round pick has been a rousing offensive success this season in AA and can play multiple infielder positions. The comparisons to Brendan Donovan and Tommy Edman were immediate and seem to be apt. John King, in hindsight, is a name I should have known–the 28 year-old has made 87 appearances with Texas and although results have been mixed, he will likely be on the Cardinals very soon. He’s a throw-in of sorts, but as a Genesis Cabrera proxy, it’s not too bad.

Ultimately, I’m pro-this trade if the alternative is not making a trade–I’d rather lock in these prospects than hope on one in eleven months.