Redbird Rants
FanSided

St. Louis Cardinals: Way too early Trade Deadline Wish List

By Landon Clapp

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next
Mar 30, 2016; Fort Myers, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Drew Storen (45) throws a pitch during the second inning against the Minnesota Twins at CenturyLink Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 30, 2016; Fort Myers, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Drew Storen (45) throws a pitch during the second inning against the Minnesota Twins at CenturyLink Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Drew Storen, Right-Handed Reliever, Toronto

Long-time Washington Nationals late-innings man Drew Storen is having a little bit of trouble adjusting for American League hitters, at least over the small sample that has been the 2016 season.

In 7 2/3 innings thrown, Storen has allowed five earned runs to score on nine hits allowed. He has just a single save thus far, after saving 29 games in half a season of closer duties with the Nats in 2015, and he doesn’t figure to see many save opportunities with Roberto Osuna as Toronto’s primary closer.

Again, that trade target would only come available should the Jays fail to meet expectations this summer.

But, if they do, Storen is going to be in high demand. What’s the first thing a high payroll team looks to shed when they fall out of contention?

I’d say it has to be their $8.38 million setup man, who’ll hit free agency himself after season’s end.

Like Encarnacion, the Jays could get very proactive with Storen at the trade deadline if things don’t work out for the club.

What would Storen’s presence in St. Louis mean? Your answer: and absolutely loaded bullpen. Maybe too loaded…

Year Age Tm W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W
2010 22 WSN 4 4 3.58 54 0 5 55.1 48 24 22 3 22 52 113 3.26 1.265 7.8 0.5 3.6 8.5 2.36
2011 23 WSN 6 3 2.75 73 0 43 75.1 57 24 23 8 20 74 140 3.32 1.022 6.8 1.0 2.4 8.8 3.70
2012 24 WSN 3 1 2.37 37 0 4 30.1 22 8 8 0 8 24 170 2.40 0.989 6.5 0.0 2.4 7.1 3.00
2013 25 WSN 4 2 4.52 68 0 3 61.2 65 34 31 7 19 58 84 3.62 1.362 9.5 1.0 2.8 8.5 3.05
2014 26 WSN 2 1 1.12 65 0 11 56.1 44 8 7 2 11 46 336 2.71 0.976 7.0 0.3 1.8 7.3 4.18
2015 27 WSN 2 2 3.44 58 0 29 55.0 45 23 21 4 16 67 118 2.79 1.109 7.4 0.7 2.6 11.0 4.19
2016 28 TOR 0 1 6.14 8 0 1 7.1 9 5 5 1 1 6 64 3.64 1.364 11.0 1.2 1.2 7.4 6.00
7 Yrs 21 14 3.08 363 0 96 341.1 290 126 117 25 97 327 127 3.10 1.134 7.6 0.7 2.6 8.6 3.37

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

With Storen, you add a guy with a career 3.08 ERA and a guy that has spent seven years handling those high-leverage, late-innings situations.

You also get a guy with a career 1.42 ERA at Busch Stadium III and even more impressive, a combined 0.00 ERA over 11 innings thrown at Wrigley Field (Cubs) and PNC Park (Pirates).

I Split W L W-L% ERA G SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP BF WHIP SO9 SO/W
CHC-Wrigley Fld 0 0 0.00 5 4 5.0 1 0 0 0 1 4 1 18 0.400 7.2 4.00
PIT-PNC Pk 0 0 0.00 5 1 4.2 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 19 1.071 3.9
STL-Busch Stad 3 1 0 1.000 1.42 7 1 6.1 4 3 1 0 3 6 3 29 1.105 8.5 2.00

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

So, hypothetically, in that situation you could go Seung-Hwan Oh in the sixth. Follow up with Kevin Siegrist in the seventh. Hand it over to Storen in the eighth to set things up for Trevor Rosenthal in the ninth.

That rivals what the Kansas City Royals feature in their elite bullpen. In fact, I think that that bullpen would be even better.

We haven’t even mentioned roles for those like Jonathan Broxton, Matt Bowman, and Tyler Lyons. Seth Maness would probably be the odd man out in said situation, but I don’t think too many would have too difficult of a time moving on with that one.

Next: Added Outfield Depth with an all-around ballplayer

Home/St Louis Cardinals News