Dodgers Prospect Available After Dominant Season; Cardinals Should Claim Hurler

St. Louis would be wise to pull the trigger

Scott Neville | Dec 28, 2023

Dodgers Prospect Available After Dominant Season; Cardinals Should Claim Hurler /

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Can the St. Louis Cardinals take advantage of the Los Angeles Dodgers' insane spending spree?

With an influx of talent heading toward Los Angeles, the Dodgers have been tasked with making some tough decisions to the 40-man roster, having to let talent go on the backend to add star power.

After officially signing Japanese superstar Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the club was forced to part ways with a high-upside hurler.

The Dodgers designated left-hander Bryan Hudson for assignment to create room for Yamamoto on Wednesday.

Hudson's big-league debut last season did not go as planned -- he allowed seven earned runs in 8 2/3 innings -- but he was stellar on the larger sample size.

The 6-foot-8 southpaw posted a 2.43 ERA with an 86-to-26 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .221 batting average against and 1.31 WHIP in 55 2/3 innings across 46 appearances (eight starts) for Triple-A Oklahoma City last season.

Despite his stature, Hudson only averages a low-90s fastball alongside a cutter and slider but proved to be worthy of a flyer after a strong campaign.

St. Louis can put a claim in for the 26-year-old without giving anything back to Los Angeles. He'd certainly be an interesting depth option to pay attention to and would likely contribute at some point next season.

More MLB: Cardinals Should Invest In Future By Signing Injured Ace To Two-Year Deal

Published Dec 28, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu