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

5 of 6

Apr 19, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Mat Latos (38) throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at U.S. Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports /

Mat Latos, Right-Handed Starter, Chicago White Sox

We saw plenty of Mat Latos in his three years with Cincinnati from 2012-2014. Despite the fact that Latos has now thrown for six different MLB clubs (five in the past three seasons), he’s still just 29-years-old.

Like the other guys on this list, Latos will be a free agent come season’s end.

Like the other guys on this list, I think that there is a pretty good chance that his club will be out of playoff contention in late-July, when you consider the division that they play in.

In St. Louis, what was our greatest strength in 2015 appears to be our biggest question mark through the first three weeks on 2016.

Starting pitching.

Adam Wainwright made some positive strides in his start against San Diego over the weekend, but he may never turn back into the Cy Young contender that we’ve grown used to him being.

Michael Wacha is always a “ball up in the zone” kind of day away from surrendering six or seven runs in a very quick period of time.

Mike Leake has been less-than-stellar in his first three regular season starts in St. Louis.

You always have to consider health with this group, too.

Waino missed virtually all of 2015. Carlos Martinez missed the 2015 postseason with shoulder issues. We know about Jaime Garcia’s extensive injury history, and Michael Wacha’s issues in 2014.

When it comes down to it, the piece that I think the Cardinals are going to need the most is going to be a frontline starter on that staff.

Year	Tm	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	HBP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W
2009	SDP	4	5	4.62	10	50.2	43	29	26	7	23	39	0	1.303	7.6	1.2	4.1	6.9	1.70
2010	SDP	14	10	2.92	31	184.2	150	63	60	16	50	189	2	1.083	7.3	0.8	2.4	9.2	3.78
2011	SDP	9	14	3.47	31	194.1	168	82	75	16	62	185	1	1.184	7.8	0.7	2.9	8.6	2.98
2012	CIN	14	4	3.48	33	209.1	179	87	81	25	64	185	4	1.161	7.7	1.1	2.8	8.0	2.89
2013	CIN	14	7	3.16	32	210.2	197	82	74	14	58	187	10	1.210	8.4	0.6	2.5	8.0	3.22
2014	CIN	5	5	3.25	16	102.1	92	42	37	9	26	74	2	1.153	8.1	0.8	2.3	6.5	2.85
2015	TOT	4	10	4.95	24	116.1	120	67	64	13	32	100	1	1.307	9.3	1.0	2.5	7.7	3.13
2015	TOT	4	10	4.95	22	112.2	116	65	62	11	31	97	1	1.305	9.3	0.9	2.5	7.7	3.13
2015	MIA	4	7	4.48	16	88.1	85	46	44	8	25	79	1	1.245	8.7	0.8	2.5	8.0	3.16
2015	LAD	0	3	6.66	6	24.1	31	19	18	3	6	18	0	1.521	11.5	1.1	2.2	6.7	3.00
2015	LAA	0	0	4.91	2	3.2	4	2	2	2	1	3	0	1.364	9.8	4.9	2.5	7.4	3.00
2016	CHW	4	0	0.74	4	24.1	13	2	2	1	7	13	1	0.822	4.8	0.4	2.6	4.8	1.86
8 Yrs	68	55	3.45	181	1092.2	962	454	419	101	322	972	21	1.175	7.9	0.8	2.7	8.0	3.02

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Latos has managed a career 68-55 record in his six-year big league career, despite spending the vast majority of that time pitching for less than elite-level ball clubs.

So far in 2016, he’s off to a 4-0 start with a 0.74 ERA.

After coming over from the Angels (whom he threw all of 3 2/3 innings for last year), the White Sox are paying him just $3 million for his services.

Whoever signs Latos for 2017 and beyond will be paying much, much more than that.

The White Sox are in first place as things stand today, and a Wild Card berth is a real possibility for the south siders this year.

But if things don’t work out, and unless they anticipate ponying up what could be a nine-figure offer for Latos’ services into the extended future, they could look to move the LA import for young talent and cash.

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