The offseason-defining trade for the St. Louis Cardinals was, of course, trading Brendan Donovan to the Seattle Mariners. While setting a clear direction for the impending rebuild season, the Cardinals landed a handful of prospects in the trade and two competitive balance round draft selections. One of those prospects was 20-year-old outfielder Tai Peete, who placed at No. 15 in the Cardinals system according to MLB Pipeline.
Peete, the No. 30 overall selection by the Mariners in 2023, has played in three professional seasons in the Mariners organization, hitting .247 and 28 home runs across 265 games in three levels of the minor league system. While the strikeout numbers might look concerning, back-to-back seasons with 162 strikeouts, it is not too far off from one of the current Cardinals on the 40-man roster, Joshua Baez. Baez had back-to-back 100+ strikeout seasons with struggling offensive numbers at the lower levels of the minors. But last season, he began to find himself in his age-22 season with strong offensive numbers across AA and High A. With Peete’s age and the Cardinals' new focus on improving player development, it is not a stretch to trust the first-round talent in his development over the next couple of seasons.
Peete graded out with a below-average hit tool but plus power, so if the Cardinals staff can develop his discipline at the plate, he can be a strong middle-of-the-order bat down the road for the team.
Peete’s hitting ability is not the only positive to his acquisition by the Cardinals; he was also graded with plus speed and a plus arm. Over the last two seasons, Peete has swiped 70 bases, and with base-stealing threats like Victor Scott II to be around and learn from, he could easily increase that number as he moves through the ranks, and if he can level out his batting average and on-base percentage, then he will get more opportunities to steal bases as he progresses.
MLB Pipeline projects Peete to make his debut during the 2027 season. With his youth, the Cardinals could delay that projection if he is not ready, but the upside is high in Peete, and that was the Cardinals' plan when making the decision to move on from Donovan.