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Giovanny Gallegos

Twins Sign Giovanny Gallegos To Minor League Deal

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The Twins have signed veteran right-hander Giovanny Gallegos to a minor league deal, per a club announcement. Gallegos has been assigned to Triple-A.

The veteran righty, 33 next week, began his big league career with the Yankees back in 2017. Gallegos made just 20 appearances with New York before being dealt to the Cardinals partway through the 2018 season in the deal that sent Luke Voit to the Bronx. Gallegos made just two appearances in St. Louis down the stretch with 1 1/3 scoreless frames but emerged as a key piece of the Cardinals bullpen the following year.

From 2019 to 2022, Gallegos pitched to a sterling 2.84 ERA with a nearly matching 2.83 FIP with 33 saves in 228 1/3 innings of work with an eye-popping 32% strikeout rate. That four-season stretch saw Gallegos emerge as one of the most dominant relievers in the game: among relievers with at least 150 innings of work in that stretch, the righty’s ERA and FIP both ranked eighth while his strikeout rate ranked 11th and his SIERA ranked tenth. As impressive as those numbers were, things took a turn for the worse during the right-hander’s age-31 season last year.

Gallegos’s ERA and FIP ballooned to 4.42 and 4.36 respectively in 2022, figures that were actually slightly below average by measure of ERA- and FIP-. Those middling run prevention numbers were caused by two main factors: the right-hander’s strikeout rate plummeted to just 25.8% after sitting well above 30% for his entire Cardinals tenure to that point, and his home run rate skyrocketed. After allowing home runs on just 8.6% of fly balls from 2019 to 2021, the 2022 season saw that number shoot up to a whopping 15.3%. Just ten qualified relievers allowed more home runs than Gallegos’s 11 last year, and the combination of diminished strikeout ability and difficulties keeping the ball in the park gave the veteran the look of a pedestrian middle reliever rather than the shutdown leverage arm he had been in years past.

Gallegos ended his 2023 season on the IL due to rotator cuff tendinitis, and while and the Cardinals were both surely hoping for a rebound in 2024 the season proved to be anything but for the veteran hurler. Continued shoulder woes cost the right-hander nearly two months earlier this year, but even when he was healthy enough to take the mound his results were nothing short of disastrous. The righty surrendered a 6.53 ERA with a nearly matching 6.36 FIP in 20 2/3 innings of work for the Cardinals this year. That’s the 11th-worst ERA in the majors this year among relievers with at least 20 innings of work, and Gallegos paired those lackluster results with a career-worst 22.6% strikeout rate and a 10.6% walk rate that is not only the highest of his career but more than double his rate from just last season.

Those deep struggles led the Cardinals to designate Gallegos for assignment prior to the trade deadline in hopes of finding a team willing to trade for him, but no deal came together and he ended up electing free agency last week. Now, he’ll look to regain his previous form in a Twins organization that has struggled to get production out of the bullpen in recent weeks. Minnesota relievers have combined for a lackluster 4.60 ERA since the calendar flipped to July, and injuries to Brock Stewart and Kody Funderburk have further diminished the depth available in the club’s relief corps. If Gallegos can show improvement at the Triple-A level, it’s not hard to imagine the Twins believing in the veteran righty’s track record of success enough to give him a spot in the club’s bullpen over a pitcher like Josh Winder or Randy Dobnak.

Giovanny Gallegos Elects Free Agency

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Right-hander Giovanny Gallegos went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Cardinals and has elected free agency, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He’s now free to sign with any club.

Gallegos, who’ll turn 33 in a couple weeks, has been a mainstay in the St. Louis bullpen since 2019. Acquired in the trade that sent Luke Voit to the Yankees, he jumped almost immediately into a high-leverage role with the Cards during his first full season with St. Louis, ultimately logging 74 innings of 2.31 ERA ball with 19 holds, a save, a huge 33.3% strikeout rate and a tidy 5.7% walk rate.

For five seasons, Gallegos was a fixture in the Cardinals’ leverage mix — and a highly effective one at that. From 2019-23, he pitched 283 1/3 innings while working to a 3.14 ERA, fanning 30.7% of his opponents, issuing walks at just a 6.3% clip and yielding only 1.05 homers per nine frames. Along the way, he piled up 76 holds and 43 saves.

Some cracks in the armor began to show last season, however. After posting strikeout rates north of 30% in four consecutive seasons, Gallegos dipped to 25.8% — still a strong mark but a notable downturn. He continued to limit free passes at a high level, but his 93.7 mph average fastball was down from the 94.4 mph he’d averaged across the two prior seasons. Gallegos still sported gaudy swinging-strike and chase rates of 17.5% and 36.8%, respectively, both of which checked in well above the league averages. However, after yielding only 13 home runs total from 2020-22 (a span of 154 1/3 innings), he surrendered 11 long balls in just 55 innings. His 1.85 HR/9 was a career-worst mark by a wide margin. He finished the year on the injured list due to inflammation in his rotator cuff.

Things have deteriorated even further in 2024. Gallegos missed significant time with a shoulder impingement and has seen his fastball plummet to an average of 92.2 mph. He’s been tagged for an untenable 2.61 homers per nine frames (six homers in 20 2/3 innings). His swinging-strike rate went into a free-fall, checking in at 12%, while his chase rate is down to 29.8%. This year’s 22.6% strikeout rate is scarcely better than league-average, and Gallegos’ 10.6% walk rate is both a career-worst and well north of the current 8.2% league average.

Because Gallegos is in the second season of a two-year, $11MM contract, it was a foregone conclusion that he’d go unclaimed on waivers. And, because of that contract, the Cardinals are now on the hook for the remainder of this season’s $5.5MM salary (and the $500K buyout on his 2026 club option). A new team would only owe Gallegos the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster or injured list. That sum would be subtracted from the amount the Cardinals owe him, but St. Louis is on the hook for the significant majority of Gallegos’ contract regardless.

With his diminished velocity, deteriorated command, dwindling swing-and-miss skills and recent shoulder troubles, Gallegos is something of a long shot to regain his form in 2024. If he does latch on with a new club and generate improved results with lesser stuff, he’d be postseason-eligible so long as he’s in a new team’s organization (but not necessarily on the 40-man roster) before Sept. 1.

Cardinals Designate Giovanny Gallegos For Assignment

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TODAY: The Cardinals weren’t able to find a taker for Gallegos before the trade deadline passed, so he’ll hit the waiver wire.  Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the Cards will release Gallegos and eat his remaining salary if nobody makes a claim.

JULY 28: The Cardinals announced that right-hander Giovanny Gallegos has been designated for assignment.  Right-hander Kyle Leahy was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move, and the Cards now have an open space on their 40-man roster.

The DFA underscores a disaster of a season for Gallegos, who has a 6.53 ERA over 21 appearances and 20 2/3 innings.  After emerging as a cornerstone of the St. Louis bullpen from 2019-22, some red flags appeared last season when Gallegos’ ERA shot up to 4.42 (in 55 innings) as his strikeout rate declined and batters suddenly started to make much more solid contact against his offerings.

Things got worse for Gallegos this season, as he has allowed six homers over his 20 2/3 frames and his strikeout rate (22.3%) and walk rate (10.6%) are both career worsts.  The sudden loss of control is particularly troubling, as even amidst Gallegos’ struggles in 2023, he still sat in the 92nd percentile of all pitchers in terms of walk rate.  Health could be an issue since Gallegos missed a month and a half due to a shoulder impingement, though he wasn’t pitching well either before or after his stint on the 15-day injured list.

Despite these significant struggles, Gallegos’ track record means that he’ll likely catch on with another team pretty quickly, if perhaps not via waiver claim.  A team that puts in a claim would assume the remainder of Gallegos’ salary — roughly $1.84MM in 2024 salary, plus a $500K buyout of his $6.5MM club option for the 2025 campaign.

Unless a trade is worked out during the DFA period and before Tuesday’s deadline, clubs might prefer to wait until Gallegos clears waivers and is then likely released by the Cardinals.  A new team would then owe Gallegos just the prorated portion of a MLB minimum salary, and St. Louis would be on the hook for the remaining money owed.  Since Gallegos has more than five years of MLB service time, he has the right to refuse an outright assignment from the Cardinals if he does clear waivers.

Led by star closer Ryan Helsley, the Cardinals have gotten solid results in general from their bullpen this season, with Gallegos uncharacteristically being the relief corps’ weak link.  St. Louis, like most contenders, was known to be exploring the market for some bullpen reinforcements heading into the deadline, and moving Gallegos (and freeing up a 40-man roster spot) would hint that some kind of plans are in mind for the Cards before July 30.

Angels, Nationals Interested In Dylan Carlson

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The Cardinals are exploring trades of outfielder Dylan Carlson and right-hander Giovanny Gallegos, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The club is set to add Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham in a trade that will subtract Tommy Edman, leaving them needing to open some active roster spots. Gallegos was already removed from the roster as he was designated for assignment yesterday. Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reports that the Dodgers are interested in Gallegos while John Denton of MLB.com relays on X that the Guardians, Angels and Nationals are interested in Carlson, though the Guardians just acquired Lane Thomas from the Nationals, which presumably lowers their interest in Carlson.

Carlson, 25, has been getting squeezed out of playing time this year as guys like Michael Siani, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar and Alec Burleson have been out on the grass more than he has. The crunch will be even tighter whenever Pham officially reports to the club. As mentioned, the club will have to open a couple of roster spots, so perhaps a trade of Carlson will come together between now and tomorrow’s deadline.

“Right now, he’s still one of our outfielders, but clearly we’re gonna have a roster crunch at some point,” president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said of Carlson today, per Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat on X. “So we’ll use the next 24 hours to see what happens, but he’s still a part of our organization right now and we’ll see where that goes.”

Sending out Carlson now would definitely be a sell-low move for the Cards. Not too long ago, he was the club’s first-round pick and one of their top prospects. He also seemed to be establishing himself as a solid regular in the major leagues when he first arrived. In 2021, he got into 149 games and hit 18 home runs while drawing walks at a 9.2% rate. He also received close to league average grades for his outfield glovework and was considered to be worth 2.4 wins above replacement on the year, per the calculations of FanGraphs.

That was only his age-22 season, so it seemed fair to expect better results going forward, but the opposite has happened. In 2022, Carlson went on the injured list a couple of times, first due to a left hamstring strain and then a left thumb sprain. He got into 128 games with his production slipping a bit, finishing that year with a line of .236/.316/.380 and a 99 wRC+.

Last year, left ankle issues sent him to the IL multiple times, limiting him to just 76 games and ultimately requiring surgery. He hit .219/.318/.333 on the year for a wRC+ of 84, another dip in his production but perhaps one connected to his health.

Coming into 2024, he seemed to have a chance to engineer a rebound. Both Edman and Nootbaar were slated to start the season on the IL, which should have opened up plenty of playing time for Carlson. Unfortunately, just at the end of Spring Training, Carlson and Jordan Walker collided while trying to make a catch in the outfield. Carlson was diagnosed with a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder and also had to start the season on the IL.

He was back by early May but, as mentioned, hasn’t been able to earn much playing time this year. When in the lineup, he hasn’t done much to earn a longer leash, having hit .198/.275/.240 here in 2024.

Perhaps some clubs will be eyeing Carlson as a change-of-scenery candidate. He’s been trending downwards for three straight years now but mostly due to injuries. It’s feasible that with some health luck and regular playing time somewhere, he could return to the form he showed a few years back. He is making a modest $2.35MM salary this year and has two more years of control left. He’ll be due raises in arbitration but won’t be able to push his salary up much based on his recent results and injury absences. Carlson also has options and doesn’t necessarily need to be traded, though the Cardinals may prefer to just cash him in for something now as he may no longer be in their future plans.

The Nationals have moved on from a few veteran outfielders already this year. Eddie Rosario and Víctor Robles were released and Jesse Winker was traded to the Mets. As mentioned, Thomas was just flipped to the Guardians. Perhaps they could slot Carlson in there next to James Wood and Jacob Young.

The Angels would be in a somewhat similar position. They are giving outfield playing time to guys who could be traded like Taylor Ward and Kevin Pillar. If they pull the trigger on a deal for either of those guys, they could grab Carlson in a buy-low move and give him some run for the rest of this year or perhaps next year.

Gallegos would also be a sell-low move, but the Cards don’t have much choice there. He’s an impending free agent and they already sent him off the roster and into DFA limbo. He was one of the better relievers in the league not so long ago, tossing 228 1/3 innings over the 2019-22 seasons with a 2.84 ERA. He struck out 32% of batters faced in that time and only gave out walks at a 6.6% rate, earning 33 saves and 56 holds in the process.

But his ERA jumped to 4.42 last year as his strikeout rate fell to 25.8%. Here in 2024, his punchouts have fallen to a rate of 22.3% as his ERA has climbed to 6.53. That got him nudged off the roster but the Dodgers have a solid reputation of getting good results from pitchers and perhaps see a way to get Gallegos back on track. He is making $5.5MM this year, with roughly $1.8MM still to be paid out. The Dodgers are slated to be third-time payors of the competitive balance tax and well over the top tier, meaning they face a 110% tax rate on anything they add to their payroll at this point.

Cardinals Place Lars Nootbaar On Injured List

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The Cardinals announced Friday that outfielder Lars Nootbaar has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 30, with an oblique strain. Infielder Jose Fermin is up from Triple-A Memphis to take Nootbaar’s spot on the active roster. St. Louis also announced that reliever Giovanny Gallegos is headed to Memphis on a minor league rehab assignment.

Nootbaar, 26, missed the first two weeks of the season with a rib injury and will now head back to the injured list. He’s out to a .234/.337/.404 start to the season, with plenty of underlying indicators that improved performance could be on the horizon once healthy. Nootbaar’s 13.4% walk rate remains characteristically excellent, as does his 20.6% chase rate on pitches off the plate. He’s been slightly more aggressive on pitches within the strike zone this season, and Nootbaar’s 92.1 mph average exit velocity, 21.7% line-drive rate and massive 52.8% hard-hit rate are all career-high marks. Given the plate discipline and quality of contact, an uptick in his offensive output seems quite likely — provided this oblique injury doesn’t hinder him upon his return.

With Nootbaar headed to the injured list, the Cardinals will likely give more playing time in right field to Alec Burleson and Dylan Carlson. The switch-hitting Carlson is the vastly superior defender but has also posted a woeful .139/.244/.139 slash in a tiny sample of 41 plate appearances. Burleson is a poor defender but sports a far more impactful .289/.321/.428 slash with five homers in 160 turns at the plate.

Fermin was up with the big league club earlier this season but went just 3-for-18 with a trio of singles in that brief look. The 25-year-old has decimated Triple-A pitching this season, raking at a .346/.461/.615 pace with six homers and 10 doubles to along with a 10-for-10 showing in attempted stolen bases. He’s walked 19 times — a hearty 14.8% rate — against a minuscule five punchouts in Memphis this year (3.9%).

Gallegos, 32, allowed a dozen runs in nine innings this season before landing on the injured list due to a shoulder impingement. It was a wildly out-of-character showing for the typically solid Gallegos — one that included a career-low 92.5 mph average fastball. From 2019-23, Gallegos was one of the Cardinals’ steadiest bullpen arms, logging a combined 3.14 ERA with a very strong 30.7% strikeout rate against just a 6.4% walk rate in 238 1/3 innings.

Gallegos is in the second season of a two-year, $11MM contract that includes a $6.5MM club option. If he looks like his typical self in his return from the IL, that’ll be an easy call for the Cardinals to pick up, but the right-hander’s disastrous start to the 2024 season has rendered what looked like a straightforward call something of an open question.

Cardinals Notes: Liberatore, Gallegos, Middleton

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Cardinals manager Oli Marmol announced yesterday that left-hander Matthew Liberatore will be taking the ball for tomorrow’s game against the Red Sox, adding to reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) that Liberatore will remain in the rotation “for now” as the team continues to deal with the absence of left-hander Steven Matz, who is on the injured list due to a strained lower back.

The news comes on the heels of a difficult start for Liberatore earlier this week where he allowed four runs on five hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings of work against the Angels while striking out just one. The lefty threw a season-high 60 pitches during the outing and appears likely to be similarly limited against Boston tomorrow, given the fact that he was moved from short relief in the bullpen to a starting role with minimal time to stretch out. Before moving to the rotation, Liberatore had been among the club’s more valuable relief arms this season, pitching to a 2.76 ERA despite a lackluster 16.4% strikeout rate in 16 1/3 innings of work.

The combination of Liberatore’s limited pitch count, struggles in the rotation, and success out of the bullpen this year make the decision to stick with him as the fifth member of the rotation a somewhat puzzling one. The club has plenty of potential alternatives to take the ball on the 40-man roster at Triple-A, as well: Left-hander Zack Thompson filled in for Sonny Gray in the rotation to open the season, albeit with shaky results of his own, while righty Andre Pallante has plenty of experience swinging between the rotation and the bullpen and has impressed in the minors so far this season. Also off to an impressive start at Triple-A is right-handed prospect Sem Robberse, who the club acquired in the Jordan Hicks trade last summer and sports a 2.64 ERA and 4.05 FIP through eight starts. Should Liberatore’s struggles in the rotation continue, it’s possible that any of those options could replace him as a member of the starting five in St. Louis.

While Liberatore’s move to the rotation has taken a solid relief option out of the equation for the Cardinals, it appears likely that reinforcements are on the way as veteran right-handers Giovanny Gallegos and Keynan Middleton both appear to be making progress toward returns from the injured list. Middleton appears to be further along between the two veterans as Jones relays that he’s scheduled to make three more rehab appearances in the coming days, including back-to-back outings on Tuesday and Wednesday, before the club makes a decision on whether or not he’s ready to return to the big league bullpen.

That timeline could see Middleton make his Cardinals debut by the end of the week after he missed the start of the season due to a forearm strain. The right-hander pitched to a 3.38 ERA and 4.20 FIP in 50 2/3 innings of work between the White Sox and the Yankees last year, including a dominant 14 1/3 inning stretch run in New York that saw him allow just three runs while striking out 30.4% of batters faced. Upon his return, Middleton figures to be in the mix for late inning opportunities alongside the likes of JoJo Romero, Ryan Helsley, and Andrew Kittredge.

Gallegos, on the other hand, was shelved earlier this month due to a shoulder impingement but appears to be on track to return in fairly short order. MLB.com’s John Denton relayed this afternoon that Gallegos is feeling better and threw a bullpen yesterday but, according to Marmol, is still building up his arm strength ahead of a return to big league action. It appears he’ll continue to do that while on a rehab assignment to the minor leagues, as Denton indicates that Gallegos is expected to head out for one in the coming days.

After many years as one of St. Louis’s most reliable set-up men, Gallegos suffered a down season in 2023 as he struggled to a roughly league average 4.42 ERA and 4.36 FIP in 55 innings of work. While even a repeat of that disappointing performance would still make him an adequate middle relief arm, Gallegos’s 2024 season got off to an awful start as he was blown up for 12 runs in just nine innings of work across 14 appearances before he was placed on the IL. While he was striking out a respectable 27.1% of batters faced, Gallegos’s walk rate ballooned to 14.6% and he allowed an whopping five home runs in those nine innings of work. Now that the righty appears to be getting healthier, he’ll look to get his season back on track as he rehabs in hopes of contributing more positively to the Cardinals bullpen upon his return.

Cardinals Select Chris Roycroft

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The Cardinals announced that they have selected right-hander Chris Roycroft to the roster. In corresponding moves, they placed righty Giovanny Gallegos on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement and transferred infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman to the 60-day IL. Roycroft’s promotion was hinted at earlier by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Roycroft, 27 next month, graduated from Aurora University in 2019. The 6-foot-8 righty pitched for the Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League in 2021 and 2022, but signed with the Cardinals midway through the latter campaign.

He reported to Single-A and tossed 32 innings in 2022, with a 4.50 earned run average. Last year, he went through Single-A and Double-A and Triple-A with a 5.86 ERA. His 21.8% strikeout rate and 13.9% walk rate were both subpar, but he generated ground balls on about half of balls in play.

This year, he has continued to keep the ball on the ground. He has logged 13 innings over 11 Triple-A appearances so far in 2024. His 16.7% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate are again not great, but 67.6% of balls in play have been pounded into the dirt. That’s helped him post a 1.38 so far this season. He won’t be able to maintain a .237 batting average on balls in play nor a 95.9% strand rate, but the Cards are encouraged by the results nonetheless.

The Cards did a sort of bullpen game yesterday, with Steven Matz recently landing on the IL. Matthew Liberatore took the start but isn’t fully stretched out since he’s been working out of the bullpen this year. He threw 3 2/3 innings but the club then used four other relievers to get through the game. Three of those threw more than an inning and the other was Gallegos, who is now hurt. Roycroft will give the team a fresh bullpen arm and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

As for Edman, he underwent arthroscopic wrist surgery in October and was still experiencing pain in Spring Training, forcing him to start the season on the injured list. He’ll now be ineligible to be activated until 60 days from his initial IL placement, which was backdated to three days before Opening Day. In other words, he could rejoin the Cards in late May if he’s healthy by then. He still hasn’t yet begun a rehab assignment, so it doesn’t seem like he has a strong chance of being ready by then, which allowed the Cards to use his roster spot on Roycroft.

Injury Notes: Correa, Kim, Feltner, Gallegos

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Carlos Correa exited Monday night’s game against the Reds in the first inning following a flare-up of his plantar fasciitis. The shortstop told reporters (including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) that he felt a tweak in his heel as he ran to catch a pop fly.

Correa has been playing through the painful condition throughout most of the season. He was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and a muscle strain in his left foot arch back in May but has avoided a trip to the injured list thus far. The two-time All-Star suggested he could sit out a few games to preserve his body for the playoffs, although he emphasized that neither he nor the Twins have determined a course of action just yet. He acknowledged that time off his feet would do him some good, but even so, he might prefer to keep playing until Minnesota has officially clinched the AL Central crown.

The 28-year-old is in the midst of a down year, slashing just .230/.312/.399. His injury could certainly be responsible for his dip in production, in which case a few days of rest would make even more sense. The Twins are all but certain to reach October, and now is the time for Correa to focus on restoring his health. That being said, it’s understandable why he’d want to take the field every day down the stretch. As the most accomplished and highest-paid player on the roster, the 2017 World Series champion has a leadership role to play in the Twins’ clubhouse.

In other injury news around baseball:

  • Ha-Seong Kim sits out a second straight game, as he continues to deal with discomfort in his abdomen. The Padres infielder told reporters, including Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune, that he isn’t sure why he feels so unwell, and he’s waiting on test results that he hopes will reveal the cause. Kim has been a bright spot in a difficult season for San Diego, hitting 17 home runs, stealing 36 bases, and playing excellent defense all around the infield. Unfortunately, he has been slumping as of late, with a .204/.291/.282 slash-line over the past month; it’s unclear if his slump has anything to do with his abdominal pain.
  • The Rockies are preparing to reinstate starting pitcher Ryan Feltner ahead of Tuesday’s contest with the Padres, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Feltner has been on the 60-day IL since late May, as he recovered from a concussion and a fractured skull. The Rockies have an open spot on their 40-man roster, so they can reinstate the righty without making a corresponding move. However, they’ll still need to free up a spot for him on the active roster. Feltner was off to a rough start in 2023 (5.86 ERA in eight starts) even before a liner off the bat of Nick Castellanos nearly ended his season. Suffice it to say, it’s remarkable that he’ll be returning to the field after such a scary injury.
  • The Cardinals have placed Giovanny Gallegos on the 15-day IL with right shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis. Jake Woodford was recalled from Triple-A to take his spot on the active roster. The team told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) that the injury doesn’t seem serious, but they’re playing it extra safe as the season draws to a close. Indeed, they might have shut the righty down even sooner, but Gallegos wanted to ensure that he had properly addressed the pitch tipping issues he was having earlier in the season.

Cardinals Rumors: Montgomery, Flaherty, Bullpen, Outfield

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The Cardinals are perhaps the most intriguing seller of this trade deadline. The preseason favorite for the NL Central expected to build upon a 93-win campaign in 2022, the team has failed to live up to expectations with a brutal 46-60 record that leaves them in last place in the division and ahead of only the Rockies and Nationals in the NL. With the club’s eyes turned toward the future, speculation has run rampant regarding many of the club’s interesting pieces, both those who are set to hit free agency after the season and those who are under team control longer-term.

Despite their status as the league’s premiere seller, the Cardinals have largely been quiet to this point with the trade deadline just over 48 hours away. While reports earlier in the week hinted at the possibility of a blockbuster involving third baseman Nolan Arenado, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak firmly shut those rumors down yesterday. While Arenado may not be on the move, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently discussed a bevy of other rumors regarding the club’s options ahead of the trade deadline.

Most clearly positioned to move over the next two days are the club’s duo of mid-rotation rental starters: left-hander Jordan Montgomery and right-hander Jack Flaherty. Goold notes that both players, along with closer Jordan Hicks, are generating interest throughout the league, though the returns on each of those players, if traded by themselves, would reportedly not fit the mold of the Cardinals’ preferred return: controllable, major-league ready starting pitching.

That’s hardly a surprise, given controllable starters are typically regarded as some of the most valuable commodities in the sport. Given this, Goold indicates that the club could get creative and pair rental players with younger, controllable pieces would yield their desired return. In particular, Goold name-checks outfielders Alec Burleson and Dylan Carlson alongside relievers Giovanny Gallegos and Ryan Helsley as longer-term pieces who could be moved. In terms of potential Cardinals targets, Goold references both Yankees prospect Clayton Beeter and Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert, though Goold cautions that Gilbert would require a “high-ceiling return.”

Recent reporting had previously indicated trade interest in Burleson from multiple clubs, and Goold reaffirms the Yankees’ previously reported interest in Carlson. Goold adds that, in addition to Carlson, the Yankees have interest in Hicks, who has also drawn interest from the Rangers. Additionally, Goold notes that the market for Flaherty and Montgomery includes the Marlins, who have scouted Flaherty in person this trade season, while the Rays are noted to have interest in St. Louis’s available pitchers more generally.

While Miami is seemingly focused on Flaherty among the club’s duo of rental starters, Jon Morosi of MLBNetwork reported last night that talks surrounding Montgomery were “gaining momentum” and that a deal was becoming increasingly likely. While Morosi didn’t specify which team the Cardinals were discussing Montgomery with, he noted that both the Diamondbacks and Orioles have engaged in discussions with St. Louis in recent days.

Cardinals, Jordan Hicks Discussing Extension

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The Cardinals are exploring a multi-year contract extension with closer Jordan Hicks, reports Katie Woo of the Athletic. Woo suggests there’s a good chance a deal can be finalized within the next day. An impending free agent, the hard-throwing righty profiles as one of the top bullpen trade candidates this summer. Obviously, an extension in advance of next Tuesday’s trade deadline would take him off the market.

Hicks, 27 in September, is amidst one of the better seasons of his career. He owns a 3.67 ERA across 41 2/3 innings in 40 appearances. He’s striking hitters out at a personal-best 31.2% rate while inducing grounders on a huge 58.2% of batted balls. Hicks and Twins’ star Jhoan Durán are the only relievers (minimum 30 innings) with a strikeout rate north of 30% and a ground-ball rate exceeding 55%.

That outlier combination of whiffs and grounders is built on velocity almost unmatched around the league. Hicks averages an eye-popping 100.5 MPH on the sinker that serves as his go-to offering. Only Durán and Aroldis Chapman throw harder.

Hicks hasn’t found the same level of success that Durán and Chapman have managed at their best, however. The St. Louis hurler has allowed just under four earned runs per nine innings over 219 1/3 career frames. That’s mostly a reflection of well below-average control. He’s walking just under 13% of opponents this season and has dished out free passes at a 13.2% clip for his career.

Various health concerns also undercut him for a while after a promising debut. Hicks combined for just 38 2/3 innings between 2019-21. He underwent Tommy John surgery midway through the ’19 season. Unlikely to return until the tail end of 2020 regardless, Hicks (who has Type 1 diabetes) opted out of playing that year because of COVID-19 concerns. He battled renewed elbow discomfort the next season and was limited to just 10 appearances. He missed a month between May and June last year because of a flexor issue in his forearm but has avoided the injured list this season.

Even with the health history and bouts of wildness, Hicks would be a sensible trade target for contenders seeking bullpen help. He’s a high-octane arm who has stepped back into a high-leverage role for St. Louis, picking up eight saves and six holds. The Cards clearly value him enough to consider keeping him around beyond this season, though it remains to be seen if a deal will get across the finish line. Woo unsurprisingly notes that the 45-56 club would very likely trade Hicks if they don’t reach an extension in the coming days.

To be clear, the dialogue with Hicks’ camp is not a sign that St. Louis is walking back its forthcoming sell off. Woo reiterates that the Cards plan to trade Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote this morning. The Cardinals had not had any extension dialogue with Montgomery’s or Flaherty’s camps before the All-Star Break, Woo writes. Both starters are impending free agents.

Montgomery would be a lock to receive and reject a qualifying offer, so the Cards could at least ensure a compensatory draft choice if he departs as a free agent. They’re likely to receive a more compelling prospect package for one of the top starters available within the next few days, though. Flaherty is less likely to receive the QO (which Hicks also wouldn’t get), so the Cards likely wouldn’t get any compensation if those players were neither traded nor extended.

Additionally, Woo reports that the Cardinals are finding trade interest in each of Chris Stratton, Giovanny Gallegos and Ryan Helsley. Stratton is an obvious trade candidate as an impending free agent middle reliever. There’s less urgency to move the latter two arms, as both can stick around beyond this season. Gallegos is under contract for $5.5MM next year, while his deal has a $6.5MM club option for 2025. Helsley is eligible for arbitration through the ’25 season and making a modest $2.15MM this season.

It’s sensible for St. Louis to at least consider offers, although it’d be an odd time to move Helsley. Gallegos has had a sub-4.00 ERA in each of the past five seasons. He carries a 3.92 mark with slightly above-average strikeout and walk numbers in 41 1/3 innings this year.

Helsley, owner of a fastball that sits in the upper 90s, has a 3.20 ERA with a 32% strikeout percentage in 25 frames on the season. He’s been down since June 12 with a forearm strain and was just transferred to the 60-day injured list yesterday, officially ruling him out into the second week of August. Players on the IL can still be traded, so a deal is possible. Still, it stands to reason other clubs will be wary of offering a prospect package commensurate with Helsley’s peak value at a time when there’s notable health uncertainty.

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