Cardinals Rumors: St. Louis receiving calls about Nolan Gorman

Nolan Gorman #16 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on June 03, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
Nolan Gorman #16 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on June 03, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /
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OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JULY 21: Frankie Montas #47 of the Oakland Athletics pitches in the top of the second inning against the Detroit Tigers during game two of a doubleheader at RingCentral Coliseum on July 21, 2022 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JULY 21: Frankie Montas #47 of the Oakland Athletics pitches in the top of the second inning against the Detroit Tigers during game two of a doubleheader at RingCentral Coliseum on July 21, 2022 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

Cardinals Trade Partner: Oakland Athletics

It was reported by Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) this week that St. Louis is in talks with the Athletics about starter Frankie Montas.

Montas is one of the hottest names on the market despite recent shoulder issues, as he has one year remaining of team control and has a 3.18 ERA in 104.2 innings of work this year. We broke down the Cardinals’ interest on the site this week.

The Oakland starter would be appealing for multiple reasons, as he could provide St. Louis with reliable, high-level innings each outing, and his 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings provides them with a strikeout pitcher that they don’t currently have.

The Athletics will not part with Montas for a cheap price, though, making Gorman a prime candidate in any trade for the star pitcher. If Gorman was in a package for Montas, he would easily be the centerpiece and would probably allow St. Louis to round out the deal with smaller names, keeping their farm system in top shape.

If Montas is not enough for St. Louis to part with Gorman, they could expand the deal to include catcher Sean Murphy or All-Star pitcher Paul Blackburn and offer a bit of a bigger package around Gorman to improve the club for the stretch run.