St. Louis Cardinals trade rumors: Jon Lester still a target

The St. Louis Cardinals knew they needed to make some additions to their starting rotation if they were to make some noise in October. They’ve already accomplished the addition of one big name as not long ago, the Cardinals acquired Justin Masterson from the Cleveland Indians.

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But are they done? Maybe not. According to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports, the St. Louis Cardinals are still interested in Boston Red Sox ace Jon Lester and could still attempt to trade for him despite the addition of Masteron.

Of course, the Boston Red Sox are seeking some high level talent in exchange for Jon Lester and Morosi believes that if the Cardinals were to make such a run, they’d likely be forced to give up Shelby Miller in the process.

While Lester is a talented arm who is deserving of a top prospect, he’s only signed through the remainder of this season and it seems very unlikely that the St. Louis Cardinals would give up Shelby Miller for a half season rental. That leads to the assumption that the Red Sox could be attempting to leak information in effort to drive the price up on Jon Lester considering the Cardinals have already made a starting pitcher addition and the Los Angeles Dodgers, another team with ties to Lester, has decided to move on.

For now though it does make sense to think the Cardinals may not be out of the running for Lester, though unlikely if it’s going to cost them Shelby Miller.