After playing .500 ball all year, the St. Louis Cardinals need to make a move at the deadline. They are still in the division and wild-card race. Cardinals fans don’t know what to expect at the deadline because of them not doing much the past few seasons. The Cardinals haven’t made the playoffs the last three years and if they don’t make a move it will be four. They have been in multiple trade rumors over the past couple of days. It will be interesting to see what they do come July 31st. Here are the Cardinals trade rumors:
St. Louis Cardinals Trade Rumors
Young Outfielders
The St. Louis Cardinals announced that they’re open to the possibility of trading their young outfielders from both the majors and the minors. These players may include Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson, Lane Thomas and more. Tyler O’Neill and Lane Thomas both have major league experience with O’Neill getting the bulk of work in the majors. O’Neill is a very interesting trade piece for teams. He has a lot of power but he does strike out a lot and he can play the outfield well and has some speed. The young outfielder would be a perfect young piece for teams trying to rebuild.
Lane Thomas and Dylan Carlson are both young prospects that can turn into good major league players. Lane Thomas played 63 games in triple-A so far and has a .252 batting average with five home runs and 33 RBI’s. He also had a short stint in the majors. Thomas played 11 games with the Cardinals. He has a .308 batting average and one home run with four RBI’s. He can also fly around the outfield and the bases. Dylan Carlson has 14 home runs with 49 RBI’s in double-A this season and the Cardinals are high on him. The Cardinals have to be willing to part ways with prospects if they want to make a good deal.
Carlos Martinez
The Cardinals also announced that they’re open to trading Carlos Martinez. For years there has been speculation on if the Cardinals would trade Martinez but that was as a starter. Now he is a reliever because of his injury history. He may go back to the rotation at some point but right now he has been doing great in the bullpen. I don’t know if trading Martinez is the right move this year unless they are out of it. He is a very valuable piece to the rotation and can give you inning when needed. If they did trade him, they would have to get a pretty good return. He still has a couple of years on team control and he is a really good pitcher that can go back to the rotation when ready.
Will Smith
The Cardinals are rumored to be on San Francisco Giants‘ relief pitcher, Will Smith. Their Cardinals bullpen has been the most consistent thing on this team all season but adding wouldn’t hurt. The Cardinals starting pitching all year hasn’t been able to go the distance and the bullpen has to log more and more innings. Recently the starting pitching has been doing their job but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the bullpen has been working hard. Will Smith has had a great season so far. He was selected to be the Giant’s representative at the All-Star game. Smith had 54 strikeouts to only nine walks. He has a 2.11 ERA with 24 saves on the season. These numbers are only going to get better as the season progresses and the Cardinals would love to have some assurance in the pen.
There are always questions to ask when it comes to making a trade. What are you willing to give up and is the target even available? The Cardinals have made it know that they are willing to part ways with some of their young outfielders whether it’s Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carson, or any other young out-fielding prospect. The other part of this is if he is even available. When the Giants hired new front office personnel, the goal was to start the rebuilding process and go through that process for a few years. Trading a guy like Will Smith would certainly help that process. He is a rental but he is one of the best relief pitchers in baseball this year so if teams want him, they will pay. If the Cardinals go after Smith, they probably see themselves re-signing him in the off-season.
They Are Still In It
The St. Louis Cardinals are very well into the race for both the division and the wild card as we speak. The Cardinals don’t have major league players that would get a lot in return so they are going to have to make the right moves with the guys they do have to trade. They should be complete buyers at the deadline and it sure looks that way. Whatever moves they make has to be good because a lot of other teams will be getting better as well.
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