Oakland Athletics trade Casey Meisner for Josh Lucas

The Oakland A’s traded starting pitching prospect Casey Meisner to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for reliever Josh Lucas. Lucas had been designated for assignment by the Cardinals earlier in the week. He was optioned to Triple-A Nashville.

Meisner, 22, was 27th in our A’s top-50 prospects list. The right-hander joined the A’s at the trade deadline in 2015 in the deal that sent Tyler Clippard to the New York Mets. The 6’7” starter struggled with his mechanics at times, but he has a promising fastball-breaking ball combination. Meisner spilt the 2017 season between High-A Stockton — where he was a Cal League mid-season All-Star — and Double-A Midland. He had a 4.04 ERA and a 117:47 K:BB in 133.2 innings. Meisner was expected to be part of the Midland rotation before the trade. He was assigned to Double-A Springfield by the Cardinals.

Lucas is a 6-6 right-hander who had been in the Cardinals’ system since 2010. A reliever, Lucas has a career 3.38 ERA in with a 296:76 K:BB in 324.2 career minor league innings. He made his major-league debut last season with the Cardinals, allowing three runs in 7.1 innings over five appearances.

Lucas is mostly a sinker-slider pitcher, although he does mix in an occasional four-seam fastball, as well. He is 27.