Cardinals News: St. Louis acquires Johan Quezada from Phillies

The St. Louis Cardinals acquired reliever Johan Quezada from the Phillies.

The St. Louis Cardinals said they are likely done making additional big moves after re-signing Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright and trading for Nolan Arenado, but they are not done adding. The team acquired right-handed pitcher Johan Quezada from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for cash considerations, the teams announced.

Quezada, 26, made his major-league debut last season with the Miami Marlins. In six minor-league seasons, he has a 4.05 ERA and 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings. As a 6-foot-9, 255-pound right-hander who can throw in the upper-90s, he offers an intriguing skillset that the Cardinals are hopeful they can mold into a productive reliever.

In the meantime, however, Quezada offers the team organizational depth in the bullpen with upside to contribute at the major-league level. He primarily throws his fastball – it touches 98 – with above-average sink that plays well off his slider. For the price, it was a deal the Cardinals could not pass up. He became expendable with the Phillies after the team signed reliever Brandon Kintzler and needed room on the 40-man roster for shortstop Didi Gregorius.

It is likely that the Cardinals continue to explore moves like this to help their organizational depth in the bullpen. After all, you can never have enough relievers – especially in a year where teams fear that pitcher injuries will increase given that the schedule is going from 60 to 162 games. But it is unlikely that the Cardinals make any big acquisitions to their pitching staff until midseason – the only exception is Jake Odorizzi, whose asking price exceeds what the team is willing to offer – and enter the season with the pitchers they have now and perhaps another arm or two on non-roster invites.

But the Quezada deal, while not the flashiest on the surface, is intriguing on multiple levels and could prove to be a low-risk, high-reward type deal.