This week's mailbag gets into the Cardinals' deadline approach, the lefty relief market, offseason ideas for the Rangers, the Mariners trading Julio Rodriguez, who the Yankees could give up in trades, Bo Bichette's future, and much more.
Rich asks:
With two bad performances by starting pitchers, Miles Mikolas and Erick Fedde, will the Cardinals seek a trade for at least one veteran starting pitcher?
Sam asks:
Bernie Miklasz who seems pretty well sourced was talking about the Cardinals potentially trading Nootbaar. If they do that, what sort of return would the Cardinals get? His results are not good but his statcast data is great.
At the time of this writing, the Cardinals are 1.5 games out in the wild card with a 33.5% chance at the playoffs.
The first question reminds me a bit of the 2021 season, when John Mozeliak's Cardinals reached deadline day as a .500 club with just a 2-3% chance at the playoffs. The club picked up veterans Jon Lester and J.A. Happ at the deadline, with Mozeliak saying, "We wanted to try to do it in a way that we wouldn't be giving up a lot of future talent; that was something that was sort of critical in our decision-making. Needless to say, today we felt like we took a couple steps forward without having to sacrifice our future."
The 2021 team went 39-21 from July 30th onward before losing the (lone) NL Wild Card game against the Dodgers. Lester and Happ gave the Cardinals exactly what they wanted: innings. Innings are generally what Mikolas and Fedde provide, having combined for 349 of them last year. Sonny Gray has been excellent, while Matthew Liberatore and Andre Pallante have been solid.
Mikolas and Fedde do deserve ERAs around 5.00, and there's logic to seeking an upgrade - either one controllable beyond this year, or one in the Lester/Happ mold who doesn't cost much. In my recent Cubs Trade Deadline Outlook, I named just about every potentially available starting pitcher I could think of, though Steve Adams suggested I add Drew Rasmussen. The Cardinals have a very real shot at reaching the playoffs this year - perhaps more than they expected coming into the season - and I do think they should add a starter.
In an article Monday, Katie Woo of The Athletic noted that Fedde may not take his next turn in the rotation, and Mikolas shouldn't feel comfortable either. Michael McGreevy is the next man up. The 25-year-old has excelled in Triple-A and can probably do better than Fedde.
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Seriously. What does anybody have to offer the Rays that would be worth dumping Cleavenger. “The Rays are the Rays….
Yeah, and they’re not suckers.
Sheesh.
Who said dumping? The Rays are the Rays because they’re willing to trade controllable players.
I don’t really understand what you’re saying…that Cleavinger is so valuable that there is no trade offer the Rays could or should entertain?
The Rays acquired Cleavinger for basically nothing. Given the volatility of relievers and the team’s ability to cultivate good ones, considering offers at peak value is the logical thing to do.
The Cardinals in 2025 remind me of last years team not 2021. They have almost the same players and record. McGreevy is taking someone’s place in the rotation soon. I could see a deal for someone like Gallen or Alcantara both former Cardinals. They need upside because they are a long shot to be a legit WS contender. As for Nootbaar why would he be dealt? Outfield is a need even with him in the fold. Guys that could be traded would be Crooks or Walker. Fedde and Mikolas might simply be released.
They have upside in the rotation with Gray, Liberatore, and arguably even McGreevy. If they do trade for a starter, they’re not going to sell the farm during what is supposed to be a transitional year.
Fedde is better than his ERA indicates. He’s had quite a few quality starts. It’s just that he’s also had some really bad starts as well with very few in the area between good and bad. However, he still gets the job done more times than not.
Now Mikolas could be DFAed, but in that case, the Cardinals would just put McGreevy permanently in the rotation in his place. They also have Matz in the bullpen who could swap out with Mikolas (or Fedde) if necessary.
Anyway, the Cardinals don’t really need to be looking to trade for a starting pitcher. The bigger need is in the bullpen.
Love Julio as a player. I don’t think we should even consider trading him. Whether the contract option gets picked up or not is a whole other question.
Idk why he is struggling so much at the plate. The lineup is always so bad the pressure was too much from day 1. His ABs arent terrible anymore but he hits way too many ground balls. Theres usually a month or so every season where hes a monster.
Hope he can turn it around and be a M’s career guy. Great personality and so much fun when he’s right.
Since when are Nootbaar’s results not good? Despite his low batting average, he’s still running a 104 wRC+ with around average defense.
104 WRC+ is basically league average. Thats not good, it’s average or 4% above avg. He’s always been 15-20% above avg previously. That puts him 10-15% below where he’s normally at relative to the league.
A league average bat and average (at best) defense is dime a dozen.