St. Louis Cardinals: A three-team trade in the works

The St. Louis Cardinals had scouts in attendance at a minor league game this week from two different teams. Is a trade in the works?

St. Louis Cardinals one-time GM John Mozeliak was the king of working out three-team trades and it seems he just might be up to his old tricks yet again. Earlier this week scouts from the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets were in attendance at the Springfield Cardinals game along with Mozeliak himself.

Mozeliak is now the St. Louis Cardinals Vice President of Baseball Operations after receiving a promotion during the offseason. None of us believe that his hand is out of the cookie jar, however, despite Michael Girsch sitting in the GM seat. Incidents like the Springfield Cardinals game of this week stand as evidence of Mozeliak’s refusal to let go of the GM role.

Here’s a quick snap taken by a fan at the game that night:

While this is not definitive photographic evidence, it sure looks like Mo in the picture. That said, the Mo in this picture doesn’t seem as tall as the Mozeliak I have stood beside even though the outfit is 100 percent the making of John Mozeliak.

Noting the attendance of the three teams, this is my thinking at this point: a three-team deal. Here’s who gets what (in my opinion and rumor mill only).

New York Mets

GET: Moustakas, and Wong or Gyorko

Many rumors have tied the St. Louis Cardinals to Mike Moustakas but I just don’t see the fit. Moose is a free agent at the end of the season unless the getting team enacts the mutual option for 2019. I think the Mets would 100 percent renew the option but I think the St. Louis Cardinals may consider this too.

With the number of injuries facing the Mets at current, including Jay Bruce and others, first base is currently manned by Wilmer Flores and Dominic Smith (yeah, I hadn’t heard of him either). Moose could support the Mets nicely at first.

At third for the Mets is Jose Reyes (on the downside of his career), the one-time-St. Louis Cardinals prospect Ty Kelly, and Flores. Moose could easily usurp these names at third as well.

Bottom line, the New York Mets would love to grab this big name, he would fit better in their team than in the St. Louis Cardinals, and- just guessing here- Moose would probably prefer to play under the bright lights of a big city than just moving across I-70.

The St. Louis Cardinals, as part of the 3-team trade, would send Kolten Wong or Jedd Gyorko to the Mets. These names are critical to land the names coming to the Cardinals from the Mets (see below for more on that). Our own Jason just penned a piece yesterday speculating on the movement of these names to the Mets. Check it out below.

Related Story: Mets trade rumor

Kansas City Royals

GET: Wong or Gyorko or Martinez, and Mets’ pen arm

The critical piece to this deal is Jose Martinez returning to the Royals organization in which his career began but in which his career stalled in the minors. This is- in all honesty- the best time to send Martinez to the American League where he can serve as DH that seems to be the best landing spot for his career.

Adding to the reasons why, Martinez is a cheap get with high upside. This fits well with the Royals’ rebuilding plan. This move also helps clear a logjam (of sorts) for the St. Louis Cardinals. In Martinez’s absence, Matt Carpenter could play first regularly and Gyorko could slot in at third.

I included the ‘or’ moniker above because I do feel that Martinez is the opportune choice for both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Royals but, that said, the Royals may want Gyorko or Wong for the same reason as listed above.

If you want more on why the St. Louis Cardinals would reject this deal and fight for Moose for themselves, check out Russ’ piece below.

Related Story: Cards need Moustakas

In addition to landing Martinez or someone else from the Cardinals, I predict that the Mets would need to toss in a pen arm at the very least to make this three-team deal happen. I know too little about the pen in New York to predict one name over another but, just guessing here, if the Mets want Moose then they will need to pony-up as well.

St. Louis Cardinals

GET: deGrom and Cabrera

More from Redbird Rants

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• What’s next for the St. Louis Cardinals after Contreras signing?
• Report: Cardinals Emerge As Mystery Team for Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Trade targets after signing Willson Contreras
• Reflecting on the 2013 Cardinals’ top 30 prospects

Through this deal the St. Louis Cardinals would land both a starter in Jacob deGrom and a power-bat second baseman in Asdrubal Cabrera. Jason talked about the name of Cabrera in his piece listed above and I had not considered his name before reading his piece.

That said, adding deGrom is certainly the target here but if the Cardinals had considered adding Moustakas under the “rental” idea, then renting Cabrera- who is also a free agent at the end of the season- isn’t too far out of the question.

Cabrera is currently nursing an injured left elbow so the Mets might not be seeking too much in return. That said, the grab of Moose from KC and Wong/Gyorko from the Cards could send the pitcher and weakened second baseman to the St. Louis Cardinals.

As stated, deGrom is the target in this deal. The St. Louis Cardinals, down Alex Reyes and Michael Wacha (and Adam Wainwright), could use a proven starter and this would certainly come in the form of deGrom. Just think of the rotation of Carlos Martinez, deGrom, Miles Mikolas, Luke Weaver, Jack Flaherty!

Wrap-up

Here’s a quick wrap-up of who gets and gives what.

• KC
  • Send Moustakas to the Mets
  • Receive J. Martinez from the St. Louis Cardinals and a ‘pen arm from the Mets.
• Mets
  • Send deGrom and Cabrera to the Cardinals and bullpen arm to the Royals
  • Receive Moustakas from the Royals and Wong or Gyorko from the Cardinals.
  • Cardinals
    • Send J. Martinez to the Royals and Wong or Gyorko to the Mets
    • Receive deGrom and Cabrera from the Mets.

    Next: All-Star voting sucks

    No idea if this would ever really happen but I would not be surprised to see Mozeliak pull this off. All of the swaps make sense for the teams receiving… time will tell if this will happen or not.