MLB rumors: 1 trade Cardinals can make to stick it to Cubs
By Scott Rogust
The St. Louis Cardinals have World Series aspirations this season, and can go all in by acquiring this player from the AL West.
The St. Louis Cardinals sit in third-place in the NL Central with a 6-6 record ahead of their series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. This offseason, it became quite evident that the Cardinals are pushing all of their chips to the center of the table in hopes of making a return trip to the World Series when they acquired third baseman Nolan Arenado from the Colorado Rockies.
Considering the Cardinals are all-in, we can not rule them out of making a huge move at the trade deadline. If the Cardinals want to stick it to the rival Chicago Cubs, they must improve their outfield. They can do so by acquiring Joey Gallo from the Texas Rangers.
Cardinals can add power to their outfield with Joey Gallo acquisition
The Rangers are currently in the midst of a much-needed rebuild. Texas’ farm system is ranked 21st in the entire league, per MLB.com, and have just three prospects in the top 100. If the Rangers want to continue to bolster their prospect pipeline, they need to move on from one of their better players.
Gallo is under team control for the 2022 season, which could work in the benefit of the Rangers in negotiations. They very well could get a buyer in the Cardinals if they want to improve their outfield.
Prior to the start of the 2021 season, the Cardinals outfield took a hit after Harrison Bader was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right forearm strain, and there has yet to be an official timetable for his return. Without Bader, the Cardinals boast a rather inexperienced starting outfield. That will change with Gallo added to the mix.
Gallo was coming off a rather brutal 2020 campaign, where he batted .183 and recorded a .679 OPS through 57 games. This year, Gallo is showing improvement inside the batters box. Through 12 games with the Rangers in 2021, Gallo has recorded one home run, five RBI, five runs scored and 10 hits through 37 at-bats (.270 batting average, .822 OPS). Additionally, he is leading the league with 11 walks.
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Oh, we can not gloss over that Gallo has hit 40 or more home runs in a season twice in his career (2017-18). That is always a good selling point.
This will obviously not happen immediately, since the 2021 season is just two weeks old. But down the line, the Cardinals should be keeping tabs on Gallo, and the Rangers better be fielding calls for him if they want to accelerate the rebuild process.