Ken Rosenthal discusses Cardinals deadline plans, next steps with Jordan Walker

The trade deadline is three weeks away, which means we will soon start to see some players moved. The Cardinals' strategy looks pretty clear. Rather than sell and punt on the season, they are in buy mode and will look to add pieces.

How they might go about that is unknown, however. Recent reports from Derrick Goold and Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggest that the Cardinals may be looking to move somebody like Jordan Walker.

Today on Foul Territory, Ken Rosenthal outlined what he thinks the Cardinals' strategy will be and whether or not they'll trade Walker.

"I know it's going to be a topic of discussion, but Jordan Walker is in Triple-A right now, not really hitting all that well," Rosenthal said. "He has all the promise in the world, but you'd be trading him at a low point. You'd be selling low. And we all know the Cardinals have been burned in trading outfielders over the years."

Ken Rosenthal discusses Jordan Walker, Cardinals deadline strategy

Clearly, Rosenthal does not think the Cardinals are in a position to trade Walker and it looks as though the Cardinals don't want to make the same mistake by trading another outfielder. That is entirely possible if Walker is traded, especially at a low price.

However, Rosenthal did outline what he thinks the deadline strategy will be and how the Cardinals will go about adding.

"They have other Major League pieces that they will be able to move because of their injured players coming back," Rosenthal added. "They have the ability to trade a Dylan Carlson, to trade a (Ivan) Herrera and do some things in that way to get what they want. Now what should they want? They're left-handed, too left-handed. They want some right-handed hitting and also some starting pitching."

Obviously Carlson and Ivan Herrera may become expendable. Pedro Pages has emerged in Herrera's absence, and there isn't exactly a starting spot for Carlson anymore, so he may be squeezed out of a roster spot.

Rosenthal praised the Cardinals rotation for outperforming expectations. The rotation has certainly been a bright spot for this team. But they still need somebody that they can trust to start Game 2 of a playoff series, and at the moment they don't have that.

They can and should look outside the organization for right-handed hitting help and potentially swing a deal before the deadline for a rental bat, which could help offset the struggles of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado.

Personally, I'm not sure Jordan Walker is a guy that the Cardinals are going to sell low on, in large part because they aren't going to be sellers in all likelihood, barring a major drop-off. I would think that he would be included in a trade package if the Cardinals are going to target somebody like Nathan Eovaldi or another top-level starter.

Still, that top-level guy just isn't available, and it's likely, at least in my opinion, that Walker will not be going anywhere. But the Cardinals still need to address the rotation.