3 big names on the trade block Cardinals should target
By John Buhler
With the right trade or two, the St. Louis Cardinals can have the team to win the NL Central.
While it was not looking good for much of last season, the St. Louis Cardinals caught fire down the stretch to earn the second NL Wild Card spot.
Though they lost in heart-breaking fashion to the Los Angeles Dodgers thanks to Chris Taylor’s walk-off bomb, St. Louis fans should feel confident about their team’s chances of contending next year. The Milwaukee Brewers will be a challenge, but the only other real threat in the division would have to be the Cincinnati Reds. St. Louis does need to make a trade or two to get better.
Here are three big names the Cardinals could potentially deal for this offseason.
St. Louis Cardinals: 3 big name trade targets to deal for this offseason
3. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. LHP. Oakland Athletics. Sean Manaea. 96. player
If the Cardinals let two lefties walk, then why not trade for Sean Manaea?
A big reason why the Cardinals were able to get to the postseason was the savvy trade-deadline deals made by the front office to acquire a pair of left-handers in J.A. Happ and Jon Lester. Though one, or both, could return to St. Louis on a new contract, these veteran southpaws are hitting free agency. So if the Cardinals let either of them walk, maybe they look to trade for Sean Manaea?
The Oakland Athletics are probably in sell mode this offseason. They will have a new skipper, and a move away from the Bay Area feels inevitable at this point. As long as they remain a small-market team, they will continually deal away some of their best trade assets as they approach the halfway point of their MLB careers. Manaea checks all the boxes of a potential A’s trade piece.
The former first-round pick by the Kansas City Royals has only played for Oakland at the highest level. He is coming off a strong campaign for Oakland, one where he went 11-10 in 32 starts with two complete game shutouts. The soon-to-be 30-year-old southpaw is arbitration eligible for 2022 and will not be hitting free agency until 2023. He is a player the Cardinals can trade for.
While trading for a starter makes sense, St. Louis may opt to go the free agency route instead.