Possible St. Louis Cardinals Trade Pieces
Courtesy of the St. Louis Cardinals (Getty Images)
The St. Louis Cardinals currently have a 27-42 record, sitting 8 games out of the Central Division. They had one of the worst starts to their season, and have not been able to turn the corner, as they continue to have the worst record in the National League (NL). And they are doing this all with one of the stronger lineups in baseball, with 2022 NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt, 3 time All Star Willson Contreras, 5 time Silver Slugger and 10 time Gold Glove winner Nolan Arenado, among many other talented players. It has been one of the more perplexing teams, but at this rate, with the looming trade deadline next month, the Cardinals will be a selling team and they have a decent amount of trade pieces to offer.
The Cardinals starting pitching has been struggling and given the state of their rotation after this season, at least two of them will likely be traded at the deadline. Both Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty will be free agents in the offseason and Adam Wainwright plans to retire at the end of the season. That means 3 out of their 5 starters are going to be gone at the end of the season, so it’s likely that Montgomery and Flaherty will be traded.
Courtesy of Sports Illustrated
Jordan Montogermy came to the Cardinals last year from the New York Yankees for outfielder Harrison Bader. He currently has a 3.91 ERA, which isn’t the worst, but has pitched better in years past, making his results, especially with the Cardinals struggles, difficult. And since his contract ends at the end of the season, the Cardinals are likely going to trade him to either get some infield prospects or more starting pitching.
Courtesy of Charlie Riedel | AP Photo
Jack Flaherty is in a similar position to Montgomery, entering his free agency in the offseason. Flaherty has been with the Cardinals since his debut season in 2017. He finished 4th in Cy Young voting in 2019 and his ERA is currently sitting at 4.64. Flaherty has been with the Cardinals already for 7 years, so given his history with the organization, there may be some hesitation to use him as a trade piece, but similar to Montgomery, it is likely the Cardinals want to get something for Flaherty if they think an extension won’t happen.
The Cardinals also have an outfielder problem. They already have 6 outfielders on their active roster at a given time, and most of their top prospects are outfielders. This becomes even more difficult when they don’t have any depth in their infield. Of course, two of their marquee players are infielders, but it is important to still have those options in case something goes wrong.
Therefore, two outfielders that may end up being traded are Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson. O’Neill is on the injured list due to lower back strain, but is a left-handed outfielder with two Gold Gloves, a big plus for any team. Carlson is a former first round draft pick, currently hitting with a .244 batting average and a .316 on base percentage. With the lacking outfield market at the trade deadline and the Cardinals having way too many outfielders, either O’Neill or Carlson could be trade pieces, as well as any of the other outfielders.
For the first time in a really long time, the St. Louis Cardinals are likely going to sell. The starting pitchers and outfielders are likely to be who ends up on the market. If the Cardinals really wanted to make a splash at the deadline, getting some high end prospects or major league ready players, they could consider trading outfielder Lars Nootbaar or Paul Goldschmidt, but both are too valuable financially, with their popularity, that both those trades seem unlikely. Even with that though, the Cardinals will still make some moves at the trade deadline to get something out of their terrible season.
