The 2023 MLB trade deadline is officially less than two days away, and teams are beginning to make some big moves. After contemplating whether or not they wanted to sell as they continue to wade through a lost 2023 campaign, the St. Louis Cardinals finally decide to start blowing things up on Sunday afternoon, sending Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays and Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton to the Texas Rangers.

The Cardinals, who currently sit in last place in the National League Central with a 47-60 record (despite the fact they were the favorite to win the division before the season started) have indicated they will be selling ahead of the deadline with these moves. Hicks had been closing games for the Cards recently, Montgomery had been a key middle-of-the-rotation starter, and Stratton was a solid bullpen arm as well.

With these moves being made, the Cardinals are clearly selling, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see them make a few more moves before the deadline approaches. But first, it's important to analyze the deals that we just saw go down, so let's take a look at both of these deals from the Cardinals perspective and hand out some final grades.

Blue Jays get: RHP Jordan Hicks

Cardinals get: RHP Sem Robberse, RHP Adam Kloffenstein

The Cardinals kicked off their deadline dealing on Sunday by sending Hicks to the Blue Jays in exchange for a pair of pitching prospects in Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein. Hicks is in the middle of arguably the best season of his career (1-6, 3.67 ERA, 8 SV, 59 K, 1.51 WHIP), and was one of the top relievers available on the trade market.

Dealing Hicks makes sense after the two sides weren't able to come to an agreement on a contract extension, but the return here is a bit disappointing considering how many teams were interested in adding him. Robberse is the key prospect in the deal, as he has already slotted into St. Louis' farm system as their sixth best prospect, and is having a solid season at Double-A (3-5, 4.06 ERA, 86 K, 1.17 WHIP).

Kloffenstein has been having a better season than Robberse, also at Double-A (5-5, 3.24 ERA, 105 K, 1.27 WHIP) but he doesn't have as high of a ceiling as Robberse, and will turn 23 in August. Kloffenstein is the Cardinals 23rd best prospect right now, and while he has been good this season, it feels like a pretty light return for St. Louis.

Hicks does need an extension, but he's only going to turn 27 in September, and will be a key piece out of the Blue Jays bullpen for quite some time if they can sign him to a new deal. Robberse and Kloffenstein are decent prospects, but considering all the fanfare around Hicks on the trade market, this was a relatively underwhelming return for him.

Final Grade: C-

Rangers get: LHP Jordan Montgomery, RHP Chris Stratton

Cardinals get: RHP Tekoah Roby, INF Thomas Saggese, LHP John King

The good news for Cardinals fans is that the front office more than made up for it with their next trade with the Rangers. St. Louis dealt Montgomery and Stratton to Texas in exchange for a pair of prospects in Tekoah Roby and Thomas Saggese, and an established bullpen arm in John King to help out in the majors for the time being.

Montgomery and Stratton should both help the Rangers, who were desperately looking for pitching help at the deadline. Montgomery is having another strong season (6-9, 3.42 ERA, 108 K, 1.25 WHIP) and Stratton should be able to slot into a middle-innings reliever role that Texas needed to address if they wanted to make a run this year (1-1, 4.36 ERA, 59 K, 1.17 WHIP).

The problem for the Rangers is that both of these guys could be rentals, and for rentals, they were fairly expensive. Tekoah Roby immediately becomes the Cardinals fourth-best prospect, and while he's not having a great season at Double-A (2-3, 5.05 ERA, 50 K, 1.32 WHIP) he has a very high ceiling. They also landed another solid prospect in Saggese (who is now their eighth-best prospect) who is having a stellar year at the plate in Double-A (.313 BA, 15 HR, 78 RBI, .891 OPS).

King isn't anything more than a middle-innings reliever at this point (1-1, 5.79 ERA, 10 K, 1.61 WHIP) but he's just a sweetener in a very strong return package for St. Louis. Montgomery and Stratton are good players, but the Cardinals maximized their value by pairing them up together and making a big move to significantly strengthen their farm system. The return for Hicks was certainly lacking, but the same cannot be said for this trade.

Final Grade: A-