Cardinals Rumors: St. Louis unlikely to make “major” trade

As the St. Louis Cardinals look for help across the board — starting pitching, relief pitching and offense — they are unlikely to make a “major” trade.

For weeks, I have been trying to temper expectations. That the St. Louis Cardinals, despite their pressing need for starting pitching, are unlikely to acquire Frankie Montas, Luis Castillo or Tyler Mahle.

For Montas, the asking price will be far too high. The Oakland A’s will have 10 or more teams bidding on the right-hander and are expected to get an absolute haul in return, should Montas indeed return and prove that he’s healthy in 1-2 starts before Aug. 2. Castillo and Mahle are the Nos. 2 and 3 options on the market, but are with a division rival, and it’s unlikely that the Cincinnati Reds will trade them within the division.

Put simply: it’s unlikely that the Cardinals make a big move. And Katie Woo of The Athletic agrees, saying that the state of the current roster plays into that thinking too. Just look at the injuries. They are without Jack Flaherty and Steven Matz in the rotation and without catcher Yadier Molina. Sure, Tyler O’Neill and Harrison Bader are both back, but the roster is in rough shape headed into the All-Star break.

Expect the Cardinals to make additions in both the bullpen and rotation. They could use another high leverage reliever and certainly need another starting pitcher capable of eating meaningful innings. The team has also been connected to offensive upgrades, with a recent report suggesting that they have been in talks with the Washington Nationals. But Josh Bell and Nelson Cruz don’t make the most sense on paper, so could the team be eyeing other pieces such as infielder Cesar Hernandez?

It’s unclear. But as last year proved, the Cardinals aren’t afraid to go against the grain in upgrading the roster. The J.A. Happ and Jon Lester moves worked, of course, and while I expect more meaningful additions this year, I don’t expect any of them to be significant additions unless something completely unforeseen changes in either 1) the team’s thinking or 2) a team’s asking price comes way down.