St. Louis Cardinals: The Five Players Most Likely to be Traded This Season

Jul 8, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams (32) tosses the ball to pitcher Michael Wacha (52) during the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 8, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams (32) tosses the ball to pitcher Michael Wacha (52) during the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
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St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals

#5: Lance Lynn (Starting Pitcher)

Now, many St. Louis Cardinals fans would probably not like the idea of losing Lance Lynn but he should be made available in trade talks if the season isn’t going so well. He should be made available because Lynn is going to be a free agent at the end of the year and barring any extension, it is unknown if he will return.

Lynn is also quite valuable because he’s been a great pitcher and is still relatively young. Over his 5-year career Lynn has recorded 61 wins and 39 losses while posting a 3.37 ERA. He has also had 4 straight seasons of at least 175 innings before missing 2016 due to Tommy John surgery. Lynn has also proven to be very effective over his career by never having an ERA over 4.00. He even had an ERA of 2.74 in 2014 while making a career high number of starts (33) and innings pitched (203.2).

The issue with Lynn’s value is the fact that he is coming off of Tommy John Surgery. Currently, it is believed that Lynn has fully recovered and is healthy but with that type of elbow surgery there is always a risk. For that reason, Lynn won’t be worth much in a trade until he makes a handful of starts which could lead to him being a target at the trade deadline

Lynn is a quality, young starter that could have a decent return if the Cardinals do decide to part ways. Again, Lynn will likely become a trade candidate only under extreme circumstances where the Redbirds aren’t in the playoff hunt and feel that Lynn would be worth more in a trade than if he stayed. And again, he is a free agent after this season. Teams that will be going to the playoffs often look to improve pitching before anything else and Lynn could be a big improvement.

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