The St. Louis Cardinals have questions about their starting rotation this season, so a trade for a starting pitcher makes sense. This proposed trade from Bleacher Report with the Miami Marlins is nonsensical.
Right now, the St. Louis Cardinals’ starting rotation is, in no particular order, Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery, Adam Wainwright, Steven Matz, and Miles Mikolas. This rotation has concerns, such as the durability of Flaherty, Matz, and, to an extent, Mikolas. Also, how will Wainwright perform at age 41 and will Montgomery repeat his second-half dominance?
The Cardinals missed an opportunity to shore up starting pitching they let Game 1 starter Jose Quintana walk in free agency, and he signed with the New York Mets. The Marlins’ Pablo Lopez was a St. Louis trade target, but he went to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for All-Star Luis Arraez.
Bleacher Report is back at their awful trade proposals again. On Monday, Zachary D. Rimer presented proposed trade packages for MLB players rumored to be traded. Rimer proposes the Marlins trade Edward Cabrera to the St. Louis Cardinals. The return Miami gets is, shall we say, a lot.
"The Proposal: St. Louis Cardinals get RHP Edward Cabrera; Miami Marlins get LF Tyler O'Neill, SS Paul DeJong, OF Alec Burleson, SS Masyn Winn, RHP Gordon Graceffo"Zachary D. Rimer, Bleacher Report.
Holy overpay, Batman!
Cabrera possesses a high upside as a starting pitcher, but this proposal is beyond what the Cardinals should offer for a pitcher with only 98 career innings pitched. Prospects Masyn Winn and Gordon Graceffo are off-limits, especially since Graceffo might pitch for St. Louis this year. Second, the Cardinals are leaning heavily on an improved Tyler O’Neill, who looks to return back to his 2021 form.
Another point of view here to consider is how would this trade help Miami's pitching staff. The Marlins have the reigning Cy Young winner in Sandy Alcantara and signed Johnny Cueto to bolster their rotation before trading Lopez. The only way Kim Ng and the Marlins trade away Cabrera is if they are uber-confident Sixto Sánchez can take over. Given Sanchez's lack of durability, that's not likely to happen.
Edward Cabrera is a talented pitcher, but the Cardinals are foolish if they pay this price. Personally, I doubt Mike Girsch and John Mozeliak would send this much over for Cabrera, but if they do, shame on them.