6 Cardinals trade ideas after acquiring Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham

Another Washington reliever, but a bit more costly

If the Cardinals want a better reliever from the Nationals, aka Kyle Finnegan, they'll have to give up more to get that done.

Finnegan is Washington's hard-throwing closer who has posted a 2.47 ERA and 4.18 FIP in 43.2 innings this year along with a 25.4 K% and 40.9% groundball rate. He's among the better strikeout relievers in baseball, and Finnegan is under team control through the 2025 season on an affordable salary.

Finnegan has been good in all five seasons he's pitched thus far in his career, with an ERA ranging between 2.47 and 3.76, and he's actually been able to add velocity to his game ver the course of each season. Finnegan's closing experience would be a nice addition for St. Louis, as they know he can handle big spots in any inning of the game.

Due to how he has performed this year though and the extra control, St. Louis would have to pay more than a Floro trade, which is why I have them sending the pair of Gordon Graceffo and Cesar Prieto to get this done.

Gordon Graceffo was recently hit by a line drive while pitching for Memphis, but Mozeliak did confirm that the X-rays came back clean. While the last two years have been disappointing from Graceffo, he's still a guy who should be viewed as a potential starter in this league or a productive reliever. He has shown he can build up velocity in a really encouraging way and has a good slider when he is on, but still has a ways to go to recapture the promise he had back in 2022.

Cesar Prieto was acquired in the Jack Flaherty trade and has been producing at a high level at the plate in Triple-A this year. It's been reported that teams around the league have interest in him, and while he could be a nice piece for St. Louis in the future, I do think a team like the Nationals would value him more.