Cardinals Rumors: St. Louis unlikely to trade for Frankie Montas

The St. Louis Cardinals have been heavily linked to Frankie Montas. Here’s why a trade for the star right-hander is unlikely at best.

Ever since the Frankie Montas rumors have circulated on Twitter, I have been firm in my stance that he’s unlikely for the St. Louis Cardinals, mainly because of the prospect haul it will take to acquire the veteran right-hander.

The price will be significant. Think of one of the Cardinals’ top prospects (Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman or Matthew Liberatore) and more. That’s the price. If that seems really high, that’s because it is, and the Oakland A’s are likely to get it for Montas because the market demand will be so high. And it’s hard to envision the Cardinals getting into a bidding war for him, especially when president of baseball operations John Mozeliak has shown no inclination to part with his top prospects in the past.

In a recent mailbag, Katie Woo of The Athletic echoed those thoughts, tempering any potential expectations that Montas will end up in St. Louis. Because, barring a completely unforeseen turn of events, it (most likely) won’t happen.

There are a plethora of other options that the Cardinals can and will consider, ranging from Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle with the Cincinnati Reds to low-cost veterans that are along the J.A. Happ, Jon Lester type that they acquired last season. But there is at least a serious thought that the Cardinals should splurge on a higher-impact starter considering Jack Flaherty’s latest setback and it being unclear just when – or if – he will return in 2022.

And if the Cardinals acquire a reliever such as Matt Moore, who we outlined as a player that they should target at a very low cost, then that would open up more resources to acquire a No. 3 starter as opposed to a Happ or Lester type.

Just don’t get your hopes up for Montas being traded to the Cardinals. Because it looks like a pipedream at best.