MLB Trade Rumors: St. Louis Cardinals inquiring about starting pitchers

The St. Louis Cardinals, for their extraordinary organizational depth, still find themselves in need of some pitching help this season. With the trade deadline approaching, they are arguably in the best position to make a bold, headline-grabbing deal.

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Their stockpile of prospects and their ability to possibly lay out terms for a long-term extension have linked them to David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays. It at least seems worth mentioning that the Cardinals could also be the team to position themselves for a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies for Cliff Lee.

Then again, they could just swoop in and beat less fortunate teams to trades for cheaper pitchers like Jason Hammel and Bartolo Colon. Whatever their course of action, Jon Morosi reported on Friday that St. Louis is indeed shopping around for a starting pitcher.

The Cardinals will have Kelly when he returns and they had Carlos Martinez to take a spot with his electric stuff, but that still leaves the team wanting in the starting pitching department. That is thanks in large part to the apparent serious nature of the respective shoulder injuries for the aforementioned Michael Wacha and Jaime Garcia.

It is not necessarily the Cardinals’ style to make a splashy mid-season deal, but 2014 might be different. With the Milwaukee Brewers camped at the top of the division and the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds on the rise, the Cardinals might be more motivated than usual to pursue a bold trade. If they do, it very well might be for an ace to go alongside Adam Wainwright in the rotation.