St. Louis Cardinals: 5 Blockbuster Winter Meetings Trades

Seattle Mariners

Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Mariners should be on everyone’s list of trade partners, the St. Louis Cardinals included, given how active new general manager Jerry DiPoto has been in his few weeks on the job. The M’s haven’t really acquired any big names yet, but they’ll need one for the rotation. It currently has no one behind ace Felix Hernandez.

Don’t talk to me about Taijuan Walker, either. He is one of those tantalizing young pitchers (still just 23 years old) who hasn’t put it all together at the big league level yet. He will, which is why DiPoto hasn’t dealt him yet. But the bottom line is that the M’s need some sense of a sure thing behind Hernandez right now. Best-case scenario? They have three top-of-the-rotation pitchers.

So let’s look at professional hitter and serial loafer Robinson Cano. He’s coming off a down year, for him. He’s not DiPoto’s guy, either. Former GM Jack Zduriencik shelled out the big money for Cano. It’s possible hitting in vast Safeco Field has hurt him. There’s been buzz that the second baseman is agitating for a trade back to the New York Yankees. The Yanks don’t have the pitching depth the St. Louis Cardinals do, though.

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