6 starting pitchers the St. Louis Cardinals should consider via trade

The St. Louis Cardinals are in the playoff hunt, but they need rotation help.  Luckily, there are several options available who could help.

Editors note: This article was written before Tyler Mahle and Frankie Montas both injured their right shoulders, with Mahle going on the 15-day Injured List. 

The best opportunity for the St. Louis Cardinals to support their playoff push would be to add an upgrade (or two) to their starting rotation.  Whether that’s from a squad ownership gave up on before the season even started, a team looking to deal pitching for hitting, or a franchise that can’t seem to take advantage of their superstars’ performances, there are multiple paths to improvement.

Perhaps the best pitcher likely to be available ahead of this year’s August 2 trading deadline, Oakland’s Frankie Montas has been connected with the Cardinals in trade rumors for a while now.  And why not?  He’s been very good the last couple of seasons, with his 3-9 record this year a reflection of the awful team he plays for.

Montas has followed up last season’s 3.37 ERA in 187 innings – which earned him a sixth-place finish in American League Cy Young Award voting – with a 3.26 mark in 96-2/3 frames that’s actually a bit worse than his 2021 performance when you consider the deflated offensive environment this year.  Still, an even 100 strikeouts vs. only 24 walks demonstrates a very nice mixture of power and control.

A big bonus with Montas is that he’s making just $5.025M this season, and he is arbitration-eligible once more in 2023, so he’s not just a two-month rental.  Of course, that team-friendly price tag and extra season of control will have an associated cost, so what could the Cardinals offer the A’s to entice them to make a trade?

This trade would have to hurt, and since Oakland needs a little of everything, how about a player who plays a little bit everywhere?  Yep, 2022 breakout rookie Brendan Donovan headlines the package.  But it would take more, and the A’s like volume, so we’ll include Alec Burleson and Packy Naughton, too.

Too much?  Not enough?  We’re spitballing here, but the price of a top-tier pitcher is significant talent in return.  If the Cardinals want to make a deep run in the postseason this year and next, something like this (and quite possibly more) is what it would take.

The Cincinnati Reds stink.  Sorry, Queen City fans, you know it’s true.  And it doesn’t look like things will get better any time soon, not with ownership cutting costs after splurging on a few big-ticket free agents in the recent past.  It’s a messy combination of overpriced vets and unwilling owners.  One clear path back toward contention is to deal Luis Castillo.

Castillo has been a clear top-of-the-rotation starter for the last few seasons, with a 3.55 ERA since 2019 that’s all the more impressive considering the bandbox he calls home.  He’s thrown 512-1/3 innings over that time with 573 Ks and 200 BBs.  Sure, that walk total is a bit high, but he doesn’t give up many hits – especially not homers (again, in Great American Ball Park!) – so he makes it work.

With a $7.35M salary this year and arbitration eligibility for 2023, this is another situation in which the acquiring team is not renting a player for one playoff run but instead is snagging someone who can help that postseason push twice.

Intra-division trades happen despite the likelihood of it making a deal more challenging.  When one team clearly is on the wane while the other is on the rise, finding a deal that works both ways is more easily done.

Similar to the A’s, the Reds could use help just about everywhere.  As such, a package akin to what was proposed for Montas would be in play.  That’s something like Donovan, Burleson, and Naughton, though the exact names could vary around that general overall talent level.  Each would be missed – though they would be seen every season on the other side of the field as fellow National League Central players – but it takes talent to get talent, and Castillo certainly is a skilled pitcher.

Interest in Castillo will be high, so maybe a lesser talent like Tyler Mahle would be cheaper to acquire.  Last year was his first time making a full allotment of starts, as Mahle tied for the league lead at 33.  This season, he’s taken the bump every time it’s been his turn, 17 times to date.

The results haven’t been as good this season, as Mahle sports a 4.48 ERA, but over the last three years, he’s posted a cumulative 3.94 ERA with 372 strikeouts and 121 walks in 320 innings.  Overall, that’s been significantly better than average.  And as was said early, the Cardinals need someone solid, not spectacular, to eat some innings and give the ‘pen a bit of a break.

Mahle is unlikely to repeat his June 14th outing – a complete-game, three-hit, 12-strikeout shutout against the Diamondbacks – any time soon, but after a rough April in which he posted a 6.45 ERA, he’s been pretty solid the rest of the year.  That will work just fine toward the back end of the rotation.

Another pitcher controllable through next season, Mahle is earning $5.2M this year.  With that baseline to work from, he’ll certainly be affordable again in 2023.  Perhaps Juan Yepez and minor league pitcher Michael McGreevy – two young, cheap players – would be the proper enticement to lure Mahle from Cincinnati to St. Louis.

The San Diego Padres are right up against the first Competitive Balance Tax threshold of $230M, apparently within $1M of paying a tax for the second straight season, something their owners seem extremely reluctant to do.  Reports are the Friars are looking to deal some of their bigger salaries for help elsewhere on the roster.  While first baseman Eric Hosmer and outfielder Wil Myers have little appeal to St. Louis, there are a couple of pitchers on the team that would pique the Cards’ interest.

At his best, Blake Snell has been a Cy Young-winning performer.  However, that was four years ago and marked the only time he has received any votes for the award (and for the MVP, too), as well as his only season as an All-Star.  Since then, he’s pitched to a very middling 4.20 ERA over 326 innings.  He’s shown dominance with 430 strikeouts during that stretch, but 150 walks demonstrate he’s not sure when the ball is going every time it leaves his hand.

A rough first few months last season – including a 5.44 ERA through July – was followed by a dominant stretch in August and September in which he posted a 1.83 ERA.  The Padres and their fans hoped this stellar performance was a sign of good things to come in 2022.  So far, not so much.

Snell has missed time due to injury, so he’s only made eight starts, and while the Ks have been there (50 in 40-1/3 innings), continued wildness (23 walks) has led to a 5.13 ERA and zero wins to date.

Is this someone the Cardinals really want to acquire?  Well, if the price is right, the risk/reward profile could be enticing.  With a $13.1M salary this season and a $16M price tag next year, the Padres have incentive to move him to free up payroll, so maybe the required return wouldn’t amount to much.

Perhaps a couple of 24-year-olds, Lars Nootbaar and Johan Oviedo, would be enough of a promising return for San Diego.  Dollars currently allocated to Snell could be used to bolster their roster elsewhere, and they would receive a couple of young-ish players who could develop into helpful pieces in the future.

A less expensive option among San Diego’s plethora of rotation members would be Mike Clevinger.  He’s only making $8M this season, and he’s a free agent at the end of the year, so the trade calculus is a bit different.  But first, his performance.

Since the start of the 2017 season, Clevinger has a 2.95 ERA in 518-1/3 innings, with 584 whiffs and 188 free passes during that time.  When he’s been healthy, he’s been excellent.  But he missed all of 2021 due to Tommy John surgery, and he’s only been back on the mound seven times – including six starts – this season to show what he’s capable off.

Clevinger has been terrific in his 29 innings, putting up a 2.79 ERA, striking out 31 batters and walking just 10.  But it’s only 29 frames, so expecting him to eat innings is highly questionable, and that’s something the Cardinals desperately need.

Maybe a piggyback arrangement with someone like Oviedo, in which Clevinger handles the first 4-5 innings and Oviedo takes the next 2-3, would allow both pitchers to succeed throughout the season.

With the lower price tag but shorter control, the Padres’ ask probably would be similar to their Snell request to make a deal.  Maybe Zack Thompson would be too much to surrender, but the enticing ability of Clevinger could be enough for John Mozeliak to pull the trigger on such a deal.

The Los Angeles Angels signed Noah Syndergaard to a one-year, $21M deal with the hopes of catching lightning in a bottle, finally finding a top-notch free agent starting pitching to join a roster featuring Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani and surging to the postseason.

Following nearly two full lost seasons, what Syndergaard has provided has been thorough adequacy.  He’s made 12 starts, going 65-1/3 innings with 47 punchouts and 16 walks, and posted a decidedly middling 3.86 ERA.  The Angels, meanwhile, have gone from an early-season darling to several games under .500 yet again, once more looking like a team that will waste the talents of the best player in the game over at least the last decade and a two-way star coming off an MVP season.

The Angels’ continued pain could be the Cardinals’ notable gain.  While LA probably will give it a few more weeks to see how the team finishes July, if they’re not back to at least .500 by then, another reset could be coming.  After all, the Angels can miss the playoffs with or without Syndergaard.

How would St. Louis benefit from this potential deal?  Easy, they would get a No. 3 or No. 4 starter who has spent the first few months showing he’s well past his own Tommy John procedure, going seven-plus innings four times in his last nine starts.  The Cards certainly could use someone like that to take the ball every fifth game.  Or maybe they catch lightning in a bottle, and Thor is even better than expected.

The cost?  Good question.  He’s more expensive than Clevinger and hasn’t been as good, but he’s demonstrated greater durability this year.  Maybe the Angels are interested in giving Paul DeJong a chance to fill their shortstop void.  Of course, it would take more than that, so perhaps Jake Woodford could be the other piece of the puzzle.

The Cardinals have lots of options on the trade market.  The question is, how aggressive do they want to be?  Will they push hard for a title, or will they just bring in some middle reliever and spare position player to provide some depth?  Maybe they’ll shock fans and do both.  Probably not, but stranger things have happened.  After all, it’s baseball, and sometimes you never know.