Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for 2023

D-Backs Release Zach Davies

By | at

The Diamondbacks have released veteran righty Zach Davies, per the transaction log at MLB.com. That was expected after the Snakes designated him for assignment on Wednesday.

Davies spent two years in Arizona. He turned in a 4.09 ERA through 27 starts last season after signing a $1.5MM free agent deal coming out of the lockout. While that came with middling strikeout and walk numbers, he provided stable enough innings out of the fifth spot in the rotation on a generally young pitching staff.

That secured him a raise when he re-signed with the Snakes in January. Davies landed a $5MM guarantee taking the form of a $4.7MM salary and a $300K buyout on a mutual option for 2024. He tacked on another $950K in incentives and added $200K to the option buyout by topping 16 starts, meaning he’ll collect $6.15MM overall. Arizona will remain on the hook for the buyout once he officially clears release waivers.

Davies will likely be limited to minor league offers this winter. The 30-year-old is coming off a career-worst season, allowing exactly seven earned runs per nine through 82 1/3 frames. His 19.1% strikeout rate is actually his best mark since 2020, though it’s still a few points below league average. The nine-year MLB veteran walked just over 10% of batters faced while allowing hard contact on an elevated 42.4% of batted balls.

Rangers Place Jon Gray On Injured List

By | at

The Rangers placed starter Jon Gray on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 28, with forearm tightness. Jake Latz is up from Triple-A to take the open spot on the active roster.

Gray left his start in Anaheim on Monday with the injury. It’ll take him out of consideration for the first two rounds of the playoffs. Texas is one win away from securing a playoff berth. They’re up two games on the Astros for the AL West lead with three to play. Even after last night’s walk-off loss in Seattle, they remain the favorite to take the division — which would lock in a bye past the Wild Card series.

Texas would have to make it to the ALCS for Gray to be a potential factor. The 15 days rules him out until October 13, which would be the fifth game of a Division Series. The Rangers could technically reinstate Gray if they’re playing in a decisive Game 5, though that’d require an injury to another player and presumably be too risky for the club even if it were feasible.

It’s not clear if Gray would’ve been in the playoff rotation even were he healthy. Jordan Montgomery would very likely get the first game. Nathan Eovaldi and Dane Dunning could fill the rest of a three-man rotation. Gray has been a consistent presence throughout the season, yet his production has tailed off. He has a 5.32 ERA since the All-Star Break and is allowing over six earned runs per nine this month.

Gray joins Max Scherzer as injured Rangers’ starters hoping for a potential return deep into a postseason run. Scherzer has been sidelined by a terse major strain for the past few weeks.

Brewers Select Caleb Boushley, DFA Julio Teheran Amid Flurry Of Roster Moves

By | at

The Brewers have selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Caleb Boushley, the team announced. To make room on the roster, Julio Teheran has been designated for assignment. In addition, the team has swapped out one lefty for another, optioning Ethan Small and recalling Clayton Andrews in his place. Lastly, the Brewers also placed right-hander Trevor Megill on the restricted list.

Boushley will be making his MLB debut, just two days ahead of his 30th birthday. Selected by the Padres in the 33rd round of the 2017 draft, he played in the Padres system throughout the first five years of his professional career. He joined the Brewers organization ahead of the 2022 season and pitched well for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, starting 25 games and posting an ERA of 3.25. The righty hasn’t performed quite so well this year, pitching to a 5.11 ERA in 29 games (26 starts). Still, he has evidently done enough to earn a call to the show after seven years in the minor leagues. It seems unlikely the Brewers are considering Boushley for a spot on the postseason roster, and with the NL Central crown already locked up, they might just be giving the career minor leaguer a long-awaited cup of coffee with the big league squad.

As for Teheran, this marks an unceremonious end to his mini-comeback season. The two-time All-Star had not played a regular role for an MLB club since 2020. He spent most of the 2021 campaign on the injured list and then split his time in 2022 between the Atlantic League and the Mexican League.

The 32-year-old looked excellent through his first six appearances with Milwaukee, posting a 1.53 ERA and averaging nearly six innings per start. However, he struggled through his next four outings before landing on the injured list and missing the next eight weeks of the season. Teheran returned in mid-September as a long reliever, and while he looked capable, giving up just two earned runs in nine innings of work, it was far from a guarantee that the Brewers would find a spot for him on the postseason roster.

Small was recalled on Wednesday and threw a single scoreless inning against the Cardinals. It was a substantial improvement over his last big league appearance back in May, when he gave up five runs on nine hits in three innings of mop-up work against the Giants. Nonetheless, the Brewers have decided to replace him with Andrews, another 26-year-old lefty with limited major league experience. Andrews made his MLB debut in July and has thrown a grand total of 1 2/3 big league innings, giving up eight earned runs on eight hits. Both pitchers have much better numbers at Triple-A, although Andrews was especially dominant over the final two months of the minor league season, pitching to a 2.12 ERA in August and September.

The Brewers have three southpaws higher up on the depth chart (Hoby Milner, Wade Miley, and Andrew Chafin), so it’s unlikely they’re auditioning Andrews for a postseason role. More likely, they’re just taking stock of the various arms in the organization over the final days of the regular season.

Finally, while the restricted list can sound ominous, Megill is simply spending an extra day with his wife and newborn baby, having maxed out his three days on the paternity list. He is expected back tomorrow, Craig Counsell told reporters (including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

Tigers To Hire Miguel Cabrera As Special Assistant Following 2023 Season

By | at

Miguel Cabrera will remain in Detroit following his retirement when the 2023 season comes to a close, as the Tigers announced today that Cabrera will take on a role in the front office as a special assistant to president of baseball operations Scott Harris. Cabrera had previously indicated that 2023 would be the final season of his career last year.

As noted by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Tigers chairman Chris Ilitch spoke glowingly of the future Hall of Famer in a statement. “My father (longtime Tigers owner Mike Ilitch) was incredibly fond of Miggy and made sure he was a Tiger for the remainder of his playing career. We’re thrilled to extend our relationship into the next chapter of his life,” Ilitch said, “While it may be the end of an era, it’s a new beginning as Miguel will continue to pass along his baseball wisdom, culture-shaping values, and mentorship to the next generation of Tigers players, who can aspire to the level of greatness that Miguel has achieved.”

In conversation with reporters (including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News), Cabrera made his new role in the organization sound like a perfect fit. “I want to stay with this team and help doing something. I don’t want to coach, but I want to be around,” Cabrera said, “[The club’s young players] are growing right now. They’re maturing and next year, these guys are going to be better. Bring in like two more hitters, someone to help Tork and Greene and Carp.”

The move into Detroit’s front office comes at the end of a long an illustrious career in the majors for the 40-year-old. Cabrera was a star practically from the minute he debuted with the then-Florida Marlins in 2003, earning All Star nods in four of his five seasons with the club. After being traded to the Tigers in 2008, Cabrera found another gear even by his own lofty standards. He paced the AL in batting average and on-base percentage four times each between 2010 and 2015, a run of six seasons that saw him slash an unbelievable .333/.418/.586 en route to two MVP awards, a Triple Crown, six All Star appearances, and four silver sluggers.

With three games remaining in his sensational career, Cabrera currently sports a career slash line of .306/.382/.519 with 3,170 hits, 624 doubles, and 511 home runs. He’ll end his career with twelve All Star appearances, two MVP awards, a World Series championship, four batting titles, and a World Series ring from the Marlins’ championship run during his rookie season. As things stand, he’s 17th on the all-time hits leaderboard, tied for 25th on the all-time home runs leaderboard with Mel Ott, and tied with Hank Aaron on the all-time doubles leaderboard for his career.

Nationals Activate Tanner Rainey From 60-Day IL

By | at

The Nationals announced this afternoon that the club has activated right-hander Tanner Rainey from the 60-day injured list. In corresponding moves, left-hander Robert Garcia was placed on the paternity list, opening up a spot on the club’s active roster, while catcher Riley Adams was transferred to the 60-day IL to clear space on the 40-man roster.

The move sets Rainey, 30, up for his 2023 season debut. The right-hander underwent Tommy John surgery last August and has been working his way back ever since, but prior to his injury had posted solid numbers out of the Washington bullpen in 2022 with a 3.30 ERA and 4.18 FIP while racking up 12 saves in 30 innings of work. Since being traded from Cincinnati to the Nationals prior to the 2019 season, Rainey has largely been a quality bullpen arm. While his 4.42 ERA (97 ERA+) and 4.54 FIP as a National leave something to be desired, the mediocre career numbers can be attributed entirely to a brutal 2021 campaign that saw Rainey post a ghastly 7.39 ERA and 5.63 FIP in 38 appearances. Across his other three years in the majors with the Nationals, he’s posted ERAs below 4.00.

That being said, Rainey’s strong results in 2019, 2020, and 2022 hide serious control issues. He’s walked a whopping 15.5% of batters faced in his big league career, with figures north of 10% in every season except for the shortened 2020 campaign. Rainey also runs into further trouble as a flyball pitcher (career 36.1% groundball rate) who allows home runs at an elevated rate, with 17.2% of his fly balls allowed leaving the yard throughout his career. Fortunately, Rainey manages to make up for his lackluster walk rates and home run suppression numbers with tantalizing raw stuff, as demonstrated by his career strikeout rate of 31.2%, including an eye-popping 42.7% figure in 20 1/3 innings of work during the shortened 2020 campaign.

Given the fact that Washington can control Rainey via arbitration through the end of the 2025 season, it’s hardly a surprise that the club would want to see Rainey in action before the offseason as they look to decide whether or not to tend him a contract, which could include a slight raise over this year’s $1.5MM salary. Given Rainey’s past success and high strikeout totals, the right-hander should have a chance to factor into the club’s late inning mix next season if he remains with the club throughout the offseason.

As for Garcia, the rookie southpaw’s placement on the paternity list likely brings his season to an end. The 27-year-old had a solid debut campaign split between the Marlins and the Nationals this year, with a 3.66 ERA, 3.54 FIP, and a 26.6% strikeout rate in 32 innings of work. Adams’s season ended in hamate surgery earlier this month, so the move to the 60-day IL is nothing more than procedural for the young catcher, who slashed an impressive .273/.331/.476 in 44 games in the majors this year.

Details From Orioles’ Stadium Agreement

By | at

After yesterday’s announcement by the Orioles and Maryland Governor Wes Moore indicated that Moore and Orioles chairman John Angelos had reached a deal to keep the Orioles at Camden Yards for another 30 years, the details of the agreement released today paint a less certain picture of the agreement. As noted by Jeff Barker of The Baltimore Sun, the agreement isn’t a new lease. Rather, it’s a “memorandum of understanding” that the Orioles will remain at Camden Yards for the next 30 years, with Barker adding that the agreement is legally non-binding.

Per Barker, Governor Moore’s office indicated that, in addition to the long-term lease not yet being complete, an extension of the current lease “for at least a year or two” may be necessary because the sides have not yet agreed upon the deal’s final terms. As the Orioles note in their press release, the memorandum includes a 99-year agreement that gives the Orioles to invest private capital into developing the area around Camden Yards, including the warehouse and Camden Station. Barker adds that the Orioles figure to pay $94MM to the state over the length of the agreement.

Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner notes that the terms of the memorandum, which he describes as “an agreement on some issues and a promise to continue working toward a long-term lease,” stipulate that the Orioles would no longer pay rent to use the ballpark, and in exchange would take over the costs of upkeep for the stadium, which are currently the responsibility of the state of Maryland. Kostka adds that the sides still expect to have a lease signed before the current deal expires on December 31, though many of the details of the agreement are still being worked out, including oversight of the aforementioned development prospect, which will include both the Maryland Stadium Authority and the Orioles.

Today’s announcement that no lease has been signed is something of a surprise, given the club’s announcement of a deal during last night’s win over the Red Sox that saw the Orioles clinch their first AL East title since 2014. That being said, the memorandum signed by both sides of the negotiations represents what should be an important milestone toward getting a deal completed in advance of the club’s current lease expiring at the end of the 2023 calendar year. The state of Maryland, Angelos, and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred have all routinely emphasized that there is no risk of the Orioles departing Baltimore, even as negotiations regarding the club’s lease at Camden Yards have dragged towards the eleventh hour of the current deal.

Tyler Clippard Announces Retirement

By | at

Veteran right-hander Tyler Clippard took to Instagram yesterday to announce his retirement from professional baseball. A sixteen-year big league veteran, Clippard last played for the Nationals during the 2022 season, making four appearances at the big league level while primarily pitching at the Triple-A level.

“The time has come to announce my retirement from baseball,” Clippard wrote, “Thank you to my parents, my wife, my friends, my teammates, my agent, my coaches and trainers, and everyone else who has supported me along the way!”

Clippard’s professional career began when he was selected in the ninth round of the 2003 draft by the Yankees. He eventually made his big league debut at the age of 22, starting six games for New York in 2007. The audition did not go well, as Clippard posted a 6.33 ERA and 6.68 FIP in 27 innings of work. He was traded to the Nationals that offseason and made just two appearances in the majors in 2008, allowing five runs on 12 hits and 7 walks in 10 1/3 innings of work across his pair of starts.

Clippard move to the bullpen ahead of the 2009 season, and the then 24-year-old righty quickly proved that relief work suited him. Clippard posted a sterling 2.69 ERA while striking out 27.3% of batters faced in 60 1/3 innings of work across 41 appearances. The 2009 season proved to be the start of the most successful stretch of Clippard’s career, as he would dominate toward the back of the bullpen in Washington for years to come.

Over the next five seasons, Clippard posted a 2.63 ERA, 48% better than league average by measure of ERA+, with a 3.24 FIP in 393 1/3 innings of work. Clippard struck out 29% of batters faced while walking 9.1%. He racked up 34 saves across those seasons, primarily coming from the 2012 season when he acted as the club’s closer. The stretch also included both of Clippad’s career All Star appearances. His first All Star nod came in 2011, when the righty posted a phenomenal 1.83 ERA across 88 1/3 innings, good for a whopping 209 ERA+. Clippard struck out 31.6% of batters faced that season while walking just 7.9%, resulting in a career-best 23.7 K-BB%. His 2014 season was nearly as strong, as the then-29-year-old righty posted a 2.18 ERA and 2.75 FIP in 70 1/3 innings of work en route to his second All Star game.

The 2015-17 seasons proved to be tumultuous ones for Clippard, as he suited up for six different teams across the three campaigns. After being traded from the Nationals to Oakland shortly after New Year’s in 2015, Clippard was shipped to the Mets at the trade deadline and signed a two-year deal with the Diamondbacks that offseason before finally returning to his original team in New York via trade at the 2016 deadline. His stay in New York lasted until shortly after the 2017 All Star break, when he was shipped to the White Sox. Chicago flipped Clippard to the Astros just one month later. While Clippard did not appear on the club’s postseason roster, he nonetheless received a World Series ring in 2017 as a member of the Astros’ championship club.

Despite the constant upheaval Clippard faced over those three seasons, his results remained above average: in 205 appearances across the 2015-17 campaigns, Clippard posted a 3.70 ERA (114 ERA+) with a 4.34 FIP and a 25.2% strikeout rate, though his walk rate jumped to 10.6% over that time. Now 33 years old and a veteran of eleven big league seasons, Clippard provided quality innings of relief to Toronto, Cleveland, Minnesota, and Arizona over the next four seasons (3.21 ERA and 3.96 FIP in 182 innings of work) before returning to the Nationals to close out his career.

In all, Clippard’s big league career concludes with a career 3.16 ERA in 807 appearances. The two-time All Star finished 212 games in his career with 74 saves and struck out 956 batters in 872 1/3 innings of work. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Clippard on his baseball career and wish him all the best as he moves on to his post-playing career.

MLBTR Poll: Josh Bell’s Player Option

By | at

If one were to look simply at first baseman Josh Bell’s production since joining the Marlins back in August, it would appear to be a foregone conclusion that Bell will decline his $16.5MM player option for the 2024 season and test free agency. After all, Bell has posted strong numbers since being traded to Miami at the deadline: he’s slashed .266/.338/.474 with 11 home runs in just 51 games as a Marlin. Given the weak upcoming free agent class on the positional side, that sort of production would place him as one of the better hitters in the class, below top-of-the-class stars Shohei Ohtani and Cody Bellinger but in the same conversation as the likes of Jeimer Candelario, Matt Chapman, and Jorge Soler.

Unfortunately for Bell, the decision isn’t that simple. The 30-year-old slugger has long been regarded among the streakiest hitters in the majors. Back in 2019, the switch-hitter appeared to be in the midst of a breakout season as he tore the cover off the ball for the Pirates in the first half, slashing an incredible .302/.376/.648 with 27 home runs en route to his first career All Star appearance. He returned in the second half having fallen back to Earth, however, and hit just .233/.351/.429 the rest of the way.

It was a similar story in 2022. Bell posted strong numbers with the Nationals for most of the season, slashing .301/.384/.493 in 437 trips to the plate. After being shipped to the Padres in a blockbuster deal alongside superstar Juan Soto, however, Bell struggled badly, posting a meager .192/.316/.271 slash line the rest of the way with a whopping 57.4% groundball rate. Those struggles prompted Bell to take a two-year, $33MM deal with the Guardians this past offseason with an opt-out after the 2023 campaign.

In 2023, Bell’s struggles came at the beginning of the season, as he hit .224/.330/.350 over the first two months of the season. While his final results in Cleveland were roughly league average (96 wRC+), they weren’t particularly close to the production Bell would have needed to show to justify leaving $16.5MM on the table this offseason to test the open market again. That said, his aforementioned hot stretch with the Marlins could have changed things for the 30-year-old, as it’s lifted his overall season slash line to an above-average .245/.325/.416. That figure improves to .256/.322/.449 in 96 games since the start of June, putting him in the same ballpark as his .259/.347/.453 career batting line.

While it’s unlikely that Bell would top his $16.5MM option by measure of AAV, nineteen hitters (including Bell himself) received a guarantee of $17MM or more last offseason. It’s not difficult to imagine Bell receiving more in free agency that Brandon Drury (two years, $17MM) or Justin Turner (two years, $21.7MM) did from the Angels and Red Sox last year. The aforementioned scarcity of quality hitters on the free agent market this coming offseason could also help Bell, should he decide to test the open market.

While first base is one of the better-populated positions this offseason, with players like Turner, Brandon Belt, and Garrett Cooper set to hit the open market after posting solid season, Bell has youth on his side relative to those veterans. He’ll play next season at age-31; only Ohtani, Bellinger, Candelario and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. have posted above average offensive seasons among free agents younger than Bell, though Chapman, Rhys Hoskins and Teoscar Hernandez will also have their age-31 campaigns in 2024.

Of course, things aren’t completely set in stone yet, even as the regular season wraps this weekend. With the Marlins favored to make the postseason, it’s possible Bell finds himself at the center of a surprise push deep into the postseason for Miami and posts big enough postseason numbers to impact his impending decision, which will come shortly after the World Series.

What do MLBTR readers think? If you were in Bell’s shoes, would you exercise your player option for next season and hope for a stronger platform season in 2024, or would you decline the option in search of a higher total guarantee on the open market?

Should Josh Bell Decline His $16.5MM Player Option?
No, Bell should exercise his option and stay with the Marlins. 72.74% (2,330 votes)
Yes, Bell should test free agency this offseason. 27.26% (873 votes)
Total Votes: 3,203

(poll link for app users)

Offseason Outlook: St. Louis Cardinals

By | at

The Cardinals entered the year expected to compete for another NL Central title. Instead, they’re on track for their first 90-loss season in more than three decades. They’re going to make another push for contention this winter, with no secret about a forthcoming pursuit of rotation help.

Guaranteed Contracts

Option Decisions

  • None

2024 financial commitments: $108MM
Total future commitments (not including deferrals): $264.5MM

Arbitration-Eligible Players

Non-tender candidates: Hudson, Barnes, Knizner, Woodford

Free Agents

It didn’t take long to become clear the Cardinals weren’t going to meet preseason expectations. St. Louis started slowly, rebounded somewhat in May, then fell firmly out of the playoff picture with an 8-15 showing in June. They were positioned as deadline sellers by the All-Star Break.

That’s largely on account of a well below-average run prevention group. The club’s typically excellent defense regressed. Willson Contreras was briefly moved to designated hitter then returned to catcher in a bizarre saga early into the first season of his five-year free agent deal. Most concerning, the starting rotation simply wasn’t good enough to keep the Cardinals in games.

Adam Wainwright had the worst season of his career at age 41. The Cardinals understandably let him continue taking the ball in deference to his place in franchise history. He fortunately managed to hit the 200 win mark with a gem over the Brewers last week to close out his career. Wainwright’s contributions to the last two decades of Cardinal baseball are hard to overstate. He clearly didn’t have much left in the tank this season, though, meaning the Cards shouldn’t have much difficulty finding better production out of one their rotation spots.

They’ll need far more than to replace the outgoing Wainwright. St. Louis dealt impending free agents Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty at the deadline. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak said shortly thereafter that the club was hoping to fill all three vacated spots from outside the organization. They’d give looks to various younger hurlers to see if any would elevate their standing during the final six weeks. The expectation is nevertheless they’d need to add a trio of starters.

There’s an argument the Cardinals could use four new starting pitchers. Miles Mikolas is the one lock for a job. He’s miscast as a staff ace but has proven a very durable source of innings, starting 32+ games in four of the last five full seasons. He’s tallied 194 1/3 frames of 4.82 ERA ball this year. He’s had a rough second half, but he’ll get a chance to bounce back.

The rest of the group is uncertain. Steven Matz has underwhelmed in two seasons since signing a four-year free agent deal. The Cardinals kicked Matz to the bullpen for a spell midseason. He eventually returned to the rotation, turned in his best seven-start run as a Cardinal, then suffered a season-ending lat strain in mid-August. It would’ve been a lot easier to pencil him into next year’s rotation if he’d stayed healthy over the final six weeks.

St. Louis has otherwise cycled through pitchers who haven’t had much success at the MLB level. Matthew Liberatore, Zack Thompson and Drew Rom (acquired from the Orioles in the Flaherty trade) were all well-regarded prospects, to varying extents. Only Thompson has carried that over at the MLB level and that has mostly come in relief.

The Cards have given Thompson nine starts during the final couple months, during which he’s posted a 4.37 ERA with slightly better than average strikeout and walk rates. The former first-round pick has put the best case forward for a season-opening job out of that trio, yet he’ll be 26 in October and has all of 10 career major league starts. He’s probably not a lock either. Jake Woodford and Dakota Hudson have logged some innings without much success. Either could be non-tendered, with Hudson having a particularly tenuous hold on a roster spot heading into his third season of arbitration eligibility.

It’s clearly an insufficient group for a team hoping to return to contention. The Cards have never been huge free agent spenders, preferring to attack the trade market and re-sign the stars they acquire. They’ve yet to go past an $80MM guarantee for a free agent starter (Mike Leake), though they’ve notably been in the free agent bidding for some higher-profile names in the past (most notably, David Price. There’s a chance they set a new franchise record for free agent pitching investment this winter.

The Cardinals have roughly $108MM in guaranteed contracts for next season. The arbitration class will probably tack on a bit over $20MM. That’s still well shy of the $177MM range in which they opened the ’23 campaign. There’s room for a strike towards the upper end of the free agent market.

This winter’s class skews toward pitching. Beyond Shohei Ohtani (who won’t pitch next season), the rotation group is headlined by Blake Snell and NPB star Yoshinobu Yamamoto. That duo might wind up beyond the Cards’ spending range, but the next group of arms includes Montgomery, Aaron Nola, Sonny Gray and Eduardo Rodriguez (assuming he opts out of his deal with the Tigers). Montgomery and Nola are very likely to surpass nine figures, while Gray has a chance to do so. Any of that group would immediately be the best pitcher on the St. Louis staff. Rodriguez could beat the Leake guarantee as well.

Mozeliak and his front office will probably add a couple arms in free agency. Handing out the two biggest free agent guarantees for starters in franchise history in the same offseason might not be tenable. Looking further down the class, players like Seth Lugo, old friend Michael Wacha — if his options with the Padres are declined — and Kenta Maeda could offer stability. The Cards may prefer that to a rebound flier on Frankie Montas or Luis Severino, though they’d certainly have the opportunity to dangle a job to a riskier upside play if that’s a route they’d prefer.

Not all of the work has to be accomplished in free agency. The Cards were a team to watch at last summer’s deadline, with rumors of potential deals involving their young hitters to land a controllable starting pitcher. That didn’t materialize. The Cardinals were active, but their trades generally followed the same pattern: moving an impending free agent (Flaherty, Montgomery, Chris Stratton, Jordan Hicks, Paul DeJong) for upper minors talent, preferably pitching.

Speculation about dealing a big league position player could return. Former top prospect Dylan Carlson is the obvious candidate. He’d looked like the franchise center fielder after securing the position midway through the 2022 season. The switch-hitting Carlson hasn’t had the breakout offensive showing that many expected, however, settling in as a roughly league average bat over the past few years. Lars Nootbaar broke out late in ’22 to take hold of center field.

Rather than return Carlson to an everyday role in the corner outfield, they pushed him into more of a fourth outfield capacity. Top prospect Jordan Walker arrived at the major league level to man right field. Walker is already an above-average MLB hitter, though he’s one of the game’s worst defensive outfielders. Tyler O’Neill is a far better defender in left field. He has been up-and-down offensively while battling various injuries, but the Cards have maintained faith that he could recapture his 30-homer potential. They showed little interest in trading him and reportedly plan to give him the left field job to start his final year of club control.

That leaves St. Louis with a few decisions to make. They probably don’t want to consign the 21-year-old Walker to a full-time DH role. There’s no room for Walker on the corner infield, at least for one more season. Depending on how they handle second base, the Cards could need to keep the DH spot available for an infielder. They could retain Carlson as a fourth outfielder, likely passing on a chance to flip him for pitching talent in the process. Richie Palacios, acquired in a minor June trade with the Guardians, has played well enough in September to have a shot at sticking as a fourth outfielder.

Carlson is no longer going to return an impact controllable starter, but there’d still be interest — particularly in a thin market for center fielders. The Yankees expressed interest in Carlson at the deadline and could put Clarke Schmidt on the table, as a speculative possibility. Perhaps the Marlins are prepared to listen on 2021 All-Star Trevor Rogers after an injury-wrecked ’23 season. If the Cardinals hold Carlson, they could flip Alec Burleson on the heels of a down year. That’d mean selling low on a former top prospect with five years of remaining club control, though.

The middle infield is the other area where they could leverage their young talent in trade. Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman are very different players — Donovan is an excellent contact hitter, Gorman has potential 30+ homer power — but they’re each above-average MLB bats. Neither is a great defender at second base, but Gorman has improved at the position and Donovan can bounce around the diamond. Donovan missed most of the second half after undergoing flexor tendon surgery; he’s expected to be ready for Spring Training.

Each of Gorman and Donovan would have more trade value than Carlson. The Cardinals could keep both, rotating them between second base and designated hitter. Yet it’s possible they flip one for a controllable starting pitcher. Speculation about the Cardinals and Mariners lining up on a trade has abounded for months. Seattle certainly isn’t moving George Kirby, and they’d probably balk at dealing Logan Gilbert. They could offer Bryce Miller or Bryan Woo, though it’s debatable if that’s enough from the Cardinals’ perspective. The Marlins (Braxton Garrett) and Tigers (Reese Olson, Casey Mize, Sawyer Gipson-Long) could each float interesting young pitchers as part of a larger trade package.

Tommy Edman would generate a fair bit of interest himself. He’s a decent hitter who can seemingly play plus defense at every non-catching position. The Cardinals seem disinclined to move him given his defensive value, though they’ll surely receive some calls. It’s a dreadful free agent class for middle infield help, leaving teams like Detroit, Miami and the Giants without clear solutions at shortstop. Edman would be an upgrade for any of that trio.

That’d be an easier sell for St. Louis if top shortstop prospect Masyn Winn had hit the ground running. The 21-year-old has mustered only a .168/.233/.243 line in his first 33 big league contests. It doesn’t change his long-term outlook, since most players his age are at Double-A or below. Yet it suggests Winn is probably ticketed for Triple-A to start next season, which would leave Edman as the presumptive starting shortstop.

Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt will be back at the corner infield. Goldschmidt is going into the final season of the five-year extension he signed upon landing in St. Louis. If the Cardinals struggle early in the year, he’d be a major deadline trade chip. It’d be very surprising if they seriously entertain moving him during the offseason, however. Perhaps another team wants to take a flier on 26-year-old Luken Baker, who is blocked by Goldschmidt but raked at a .334/.439/.720 clip in Triple-A this season.

23-year-old catcher Iván Herrera also had a great Triple-A showing, hitting .297/.451/.500 with 10 longballs in 375 trips to the plate. It’s his second consecutive above-average performance at the top minor league level. He’ll be out of options next year and surely won’t be placed on waivers. Either the Cardinals keep Herrera in the majors or they trade him, but the signing of Contreras muddies Herrera’s path to a regular role.

The Cards could flip or non-tender Andrew Knizner if they wanted to carry Herrera as Contreras’ backup. Herrera would have quite a bit more appeal than Knizner on the trade market, with teams like Miami (again), Tampa Bay and Boston among possible matches.

Deadline trade speculation extended to the bullpen. There was little incentive to hold impending free agents Hicks and Stratton. Giovanny Gallegos and Ryan Helsley were loosely floated in rumors. Helsley was on the injured list at the time, while Gallegos had just signed an extension last October. It’s not surprising no deal came together. While opposing clubs could call again on either, the Cardinals would probably prefer to retain two of their better late-game arms. Alongside southpaw JoJo Romero, that duo should assume high-leverage roles.

With Stratton and Hicks gone and long reliever Drew VerHagen hitting free agency, it’s likely St. Louis will add one or two relievers to the mix. That could include their first notable free agent bullpen pickup since they signed Andrew Miller in advance of the 2019 season, even if the rotation is the higher priority.

It looks like a winter with a fair bit of roster turnover. That doesn’t appear to extend to the top non-playing personnel. Oliver Marmol will be back for a third season as manager. Mozeliak — the sport’s second-longest tenured front office head — doesn’t seem to be in any jeopardy after a decade and a half of mostly successful ball. Mozeliak implied last offseason that he could hand the reigns to longtime lieutenant Michael Girsch once his contract expires after the 2025 season.

That’s a longer-term consideration. For now, the focus for Mozeliak, Girsch and Marmol is on quickly righting the ship after a disastrous season. The Cardinals aren’t accustomed to looking up at the rest of the division. They’ll try to ensure this offseason that it doesn’t happen again.

In conjunction with this post, Anthony Franco held a Cardinals-centric chat on 9-29-23. Click here to view the transcript.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top