St. Louis Cardinals: CBS Sports links Cards as Machado leaders

CBS Sports have linked the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies as leaders in the trade talks for the Orioles’ Manny Machado.  Will it happen, and is it the right move for the Cards?

In an article on July 4th by Daryn Perry at CBS Sports, MLB analyst JIm Bowden reports eight MLB teams are in discussion with the Baltimore Orioles for the services of Manny Machado.  Bowden says the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies are the frontrunners for the pending free agent.

The trade rumors for Manny Machado have been running hot all season. Therefore, with Orioles apparently going nowhere this season, it’s becoming more likely the 26-year-old will get moved before the trade deadline.  Let’s look at the CBS article, Machado, and the needs of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The CBS Article

Jim Bowden, a former General Manager for the Reds and Nationals, is reporting that eight MLB teams have had discussions with the Orioles concerning Machado in the last 10 days.  These teams are the Phillies, Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers, Indians, Braves, Diamondbacks, and Brewers.

Bowden reports the Orioles are intent on trading Machado in advance of the Trade Deadline and are just waiting for the right package.  Consequently, this means the Orioles have no plans to try to sign Machado or he has let the Orioles know he will not re-sign with the club.

According to the article, some teams would use Machado at shortstop (Diamondbacks) and some would like him to play third base(Indians).  However, the Cubs don’t have a clear need for the Oriole infielder since they have Kris Bryant at third and Addison Russell established at short.  Bowden also reports that the Dodgers interest in Machado is over-hyped and the Braves and Brewers don’t won’t to pay the current asking price.

The Phillies, according to Bowden,, have a ‘glaring need’ at short and Machado would be an upgrade at third for the NL East contender.  The St. Louis Cardinals don’t really have a need at short, but do have a need to upgrade third base according to Bowden.

The Prize

Manny Machado may be on his way to a career year in 2018.  He has a slash line of .308/.337/.560 with 21 HR, 59 RBI, and a WAR of 1.8.  His seven-year career averages are a slash line of .282/.333/.484 and averages 30 HR and 89 RBI.

The two-time All-Star and Gold Glover, who just turned 26 on Friday, is often compared to Alex Rodriquez and former Orioles great Brooks Robinson.  Some say Machado is the  best third baseman in baseball today and could be an above average shortstop if placed there by his future team.

Machado has expressed an interest in staying with the Orioles until the end of the year, but understands he has no control over that decision.  It seems the Orioles have decided the best path to a turnaround would be to deal Machado now in order to get a bundle of top prospects.

The St. Louis Cardinals situation

The Cardinals enter a four game series with the San Francisco Giants at 44-41 and are clearly projecting in a downward trend. The Cards have fallen 6.5 games behind the NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers and are 3.5 games back of the second WC spot in the NL.

Although at this point in the season, the St. Louis Cardinals are still not out of the NL Central race and certainly not for a WC spot, it certainly feels like the season is slipping away.  Waiting to make the move at the Trade Deadline may find the Redbirds too far back in the postseason race for it to make a difference.  Therefore, it seems a move is needed to be made sooner, than later.

The Cardinals made an interesting move this week when they put defensively struggling first baseman Jose Martinez, in right field.  This move seemed to be made to shore up the infield defense, with Matt Carpenter moving to first, but also to keep Martinez’s bat in the lineup.  With Dexter Fowler‘s continuing struggles at the plate and Harrison Bader slumping, this seems a move to see if they can solve two issues at once.

However, it could also be a move to make room for a future trade.  Could this mean the Cardinals are preparing to make a trade for Manny Machado?  The Orioles shortstop/third baseman would certainly help add a significant punch to the Cardinals offense and beef up the infield defense.

Conclusion

The question becomes: Is the St. Louis Cardinal front office aggressive enough to pull of a trade for Manny Machado?  Or, even, should the Cards trade for Machado?

The Cardinals certainly have the depth of prospects the Orioles would desire in a trade.  But whether the Cardinals would be willing to ‘gut’ their system is another question.  During the off-season, the Cards were willing to that with the Miami Marlins in pursuit of Giancarlo Stanton.  However, Stanton rejected a trade to St. Louis and the Cardinals went to ‘Plan B’, which was to bring in Marcell Ozuna for a less expensive deal.

A trade for Manny Marchado would significantly increase the Cardinals odds of making the postseason.  However, would it be enough to make the Cards World Series contenders?

I personally don’t think they will pull off the trade.  The St. Louis Cardinals value their prospects too much on a trade for one player they would have no control over after 2018.  Machado has said he wants to test the free agent market in the off-season and I’m not sure the Cardinals can win a bidding war versus the likes of the Dodgers or Yankees.

To conclude, I don’t think they should pull off the trade.  Getting Manny Machado would help, but I don’t believe he would be enough to get the Cards a World Series Championship.  Also, I don’t believe Machado would sign with the Cardinals after the season.

This is my opinion, what’s yours?  Is CBS right in thinking the St. Louis Cardinals are leading contenders for Manny Machado’s services?  If they are, should the Cards pursue him?

Next: A trade with KC?

Thanks for reading. Go Cardinals!