Cardinals could sort through position depth in trade with surprising contender

The St. Louis Cardinals offense has been abysmal since the All-Star break. They welcome the contending Chicago Cubs to town at a tough time. With a 3-7 record over their previous 10 games, the Cardinals have made Chaim Bloom's buy-or-sell decision pretty clear as the trade deadline nears. There are plenty of decent trade pieces at the top of the roster, but Pedro Pages could become a desired piece for catching-needy teams like the Chicago White Sox.

The pitching staff is likely to undergo plenty of changes, but things on the position player side are not as clear. There are trade candidates, like 27-year-old veteran Lars Nootbaar with just one more year of control, and recently loosely rumored Ivan Herrera, who would signal a full-scale rebuild, but the Cardinals have had a plethora of quality catching in the organization making an impression. Jimmy Crooks has gotten some play at the major league level and Leo Bernal has been opening eyes lately, while Rainiel Rodriguez continues to mash the baseball. With plenty of upside in those youngsters, Pedro Pages may soon find himself dangled to contenders in exchange for some prospect capital and to open up more MLB opportunities.

The surprising Chicago White Sox could be a landing spot for Cardinals Pedro Pages

As July comes to a close, the White Sox and Cardinals are near each other in terms of wins, but Chicago is the team sitting pretty in playoff position. The AL Central leaders have turned over a new leaf after setting MLB records for most losses and are in a surprising position to add to their inexperienced roster for October. Recent reports note that the White Sox are looking to fill the void behind the plate after Kyle Teel went down with a long-term ankle injury.

A mutually beneficial deal could materialize for Cardinals POBO Chaim Bloom and White Sox GM Chris Getz as the deadline approaches. While they are also looking for starting pitching and Dustin May could be a match, Bloom could strike a smaller deal involving one of his many catchers. Rather than Bloom dealing higher-profile catchers to a team with young backstops already, the Sox could be looking for a supplement to the roster rather than a game-changer.

Pages has fallen out of the starting lineup since Herrera and Crooks have gotten most of the playing time, but he still provides value behind the plate. The catcher has been praised by the Cardinals for his game-managing skills, but his bat has lagged far behind this season. Since the White Sox have a younger rotation to go along with their inexperienced lineup, Pages could be a prime candidate to push Chicago's roster a little further by taking what he learned while in St. Louis.

There have not been many substantive connections to Pages or the White Sox, but with the catchers available on the trade market, it would not be a shock to hear Bloom receiving calls on Pages or others in the system. The Cardinals will likely be one of the more active teams at the deadline, but most of the action may be on the pitching side. If St. Louis continues to fall down the standings, the teardown could go further into the position player side and Pedro Pages could be suiting up for the postseason.

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