Cardinals: 3 trade deadline moves St. Louis is lucky they didn’t make

The St. Louis Cardinals had plenty of success with their trade deadline moves. Mike Girsch and Co. could have done much more, however, and it’s a good thing they stuck to their guns.

The Cardinals made several moves to improve a glaring need at the trade deadline. Pitching, pitching, and pitching.

The Cardinals moved Edmundo Sosa to get reliever Jojo Romero. They also traded Johan Oviedo and others to acquire Jose Quintana and Chris Stratton. However, their move to trade Harrison Bader to the Yankees for Jordan Montgomery has been a coup.

The Yankees announced Bader had been placed on the 60-day injured list due to ongoing issues related to plantar fasciitis. Meanwhile, Montgomery is now 4-0 since joining the Cardinals. In his last start this week against the Cubs, he pitched nine innings, giving up one hit, no walks, and striking out seven.

The Cardinals desperately needed that outing from Montgomery as they were going into a stretch of playing five games over four days against the Cubs. Montgomery has learned to trust his legendary catcher Yadier Molina and that Gold Glove defense behind him. It should be fun to continue watching Montgomery in a Cardinals uniform.

With that said, Montgomery, Romero and Quintana weren’t the only options available to St. Louis. Let’s check in on some trades the Cards front office opted against.

The Cards should feel lucky they didn’t trade for Frankie Montas

Montas and the Cardinals had been connected since before the start of the season. He was observed as an ideal target, desperate for pitching with so many unknowns going into the season.

As the season went along, the need for pitching became more desperate. But the Cardinals didn’t pull the trigger to get Montas, and fans should be thankful.

While still with the Oakland Athletics, Montas was 4-9 over 19 starts with the club. He threw 104.2 innings for a 3.18 ERA. Since getting traded to the Yankees, Montas is 0-1 in four games started. He’s pitched 19.2 innings, giving up 16 earned runs for a 7.32 ERA.

That’s incredibly terrible and makes you wonder why the Cardinals were among the many teams supposedly interested in his services. Getting Montas would have compounded the concerns the team already had with pitching. It would have nullified them from acquiring Montgomery, as well.

Not acquiring Montas worked out exceptionally well.