4 potential trade destinations for St. Louis Cardinals' Jordan Hicks

The Cardinals are going to have a losing record at the August 1 trade deadline. Sure, they play in a weak division, but the Brewers and Reds are far enough ahead that St. Louis has basically no chance at a National League Central crown. And a Wild Card berth is equally as unlikely, with even more teams to leapfrog.

Given their predicament, it makes perfect sense for the Cardinals to trade away all of their pending free agents, and quite possibly more players than that. There's plenty of debate about which players may fall into the latter group, but the upcoming free agencies of Jordan Montgomery, Jack Flaherty, Chris Stratton, and Jordan Hicks make them completely expendable as St. Louis reloads for 2024.

We've already identified potential landing spots for Montgomery and fellow starting pitcher Flaherty. Stratton is having a solid enough season that some team would be willing to part with a low-level prospect to add him to its bullpen.

But what about Hicks, currently closing for St. Louis, using his 103-mph bullets to zip pitches past flailing batters? Every team could use a fireballer like Hicks, but only potential playoff-bound franchises would be interested in adding a free-agent-to-be to their roster. While this season's standings leave few teams on the outside looking in, a few squads look like better fits than others for Hicks' services.

Here are 4 teams that could trade for Jordan Hicks

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers have received strong relief efforts from Evan Phillps, Brusdar Graterol, and Caleb Ferguson, and Shelby Miller surprisingly was doing quite nicely before hitting the 60-day IL. Meanwhile, Yency Almonte and Phil Bickford have been striking out - and walking - large percentages of batters, resulting in ERAs over 5.00 for both of them.

Hicks falls somewhere in between those two groups of pitchers. He has posted a 3.86 ERA (through July 17) with a strong 56 Ks in 39-2/3 innings and a poor 23 BBs in that same period. With Ferguson the only lefty among the Dodgers relievers listed above, Hicks doesn't offer a different look from most of LA's bullpen as a fellow righty, but his 100+ mph heat isn't something many pitchers can offer.

What could the Cardinals expect to receive in return from the Dodgers for Hicks' services for two-plus months? By himself, not much. Maybe minor league relievers Nick Nastrini or Carlos Duran would be possibilities, providing long-range bullpen assistance to St. Louis in 2-3 years.

What if the Cardinals included another player in the deal to sweeten the pot? Typically, teams trade multiple prospects for a single established big leaguer. But how about a deal in which shortstop Paul DeJong is included as an upgrade on Miguel Rojas? Or maybe one of Montgomery or Flaherty is added to the package since the Dodgers rotation has been a M.A.S.H. unit all season long?

Such a pairing would be more likely to get St. Louis a potential young starting pitcher. Maybe not Bobby Miller, but what about Gavin Stone, Michael Grove, Ryan Pepiot, or Emmet Sheehan? Any of those hurlers, who all have been among Los Angeles' starter options at some point this season, could be candidates for a nearly-bare 2024 Cardinals rotation.

Tampa Bay Rays

Tampa Bay cranks out multiple strong pitchers from its development pipeline on a yearly basis. This season, bullpen arms Jason Adam, Kevin Kelly, Colin Poche, Jake Diekman (not a young Rays-developed pitcher, but still...), and Pete Fairbanks all have ERAs under (in some cases well under) 3.00.

Also, the Rays also typically don't let their starting pitchers go deep into games, so they have a more pronounced need for relievers than most squads. So, how do you make that staff better? Bring in even more bullpen arms, such as Hicks. Given how Tampa Bay uses its bullpen, he could pitch in middle relief, a setup role, or serve as the closer - possibly all three in a given week.

What would the trade return for Hicks look like? As with the Dodgers, the Rays have a wealth of prospects. This could be another situation where the Cardinals send multiple big leaguers in exchange for a better prospect package. Again, Tampa Bay churns through its pitchers - both starters and relievers - frequently, so pairing Hicks with Montgomery or Flaherty could work best.

Perhaps St. Louis targets someone like Double-A starter Mason Montgomery. Or maybe they look at his teammates playing the middle infield, shortstop Greg Jones or second baseman Osleivis Basabe. Another option would be to restock the bullpen with arms like Colby White or Ian Seymour.

Given the players the Cardinals have to trade and the Rays have to offer in exchange, Hicks could be part of a variety of packages that would help both teams. Maybe there's even a way to help balance out the Randy Arozarena-Matthew Liberatore deal. We all can dream, right?

Arizona Diamondbacks

The D'backs have operated with a three-headed closer committee of Andrew Chafin, Scott McGough, and Miguel Castro, who each have 7-8 saves. Of course, having three closers is sort of like having two starting quarterbacks. If you have two, you really have none.

What could Arizona do to address this issue? Why not throw Hicks into the mix and add another reliever to their bullpen hydra? While it's been rumored the Diamondbacks would like to pick up an established closer, it's possible they can't find one that fits and would have to "settle" for four co-closers to shut down opponents over the last few innings.

Turning once again to acquisition cost, the idea of the Cardinals including a starter (Montgomery or Flaherty) would serve Arizona well. They've been running out a variety of young starters - Ryne Nelson, Drey Jameson, Tommy Henry, and Brandon Pfaadt - with Henry the only one providing passable results so far.

The return for such a pairing? Well, Druw Jones and Jordan Lawler aren't leaving Arizona's system, though the Cardinals already have a glut of outfielders and middle infielders. Any of the above-mentioned struggling young starters would be appealing for a St. Louis squad that President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said is looking for "Pitching, pitching, pitching."

Perhaps a couple of months in the pitcher-friendly Busch Stadium would help a newly-acquired youngster get more comfortable on the mound and better prepare them for next season. It's certainly a shot worth taking.