STL Cardinals rumors: Grading 3 potential trade packages for St. Louis

MLB Rumors: Grading 3 trade packages to fix the St. Louis Cardinals

CINCINNATI, OH - JULY 23: Tyler O'Neill #27 of the St. Louis Cardinals high fives Dylan Carlson #3 of the St. Louis Cardinals after hitting a home run in the top of fourth inning at Great American Ball Park on July 23, 2022 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Lauren Bacho/Getty Images) /

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – AUGUST 16: Dylan Cease #84 of the Chicago White Sox delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Houston Astros at Guaranteed Rate Field on August 16, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

MLB Rumors – Trade proposal: Cardinals trade for Dylan Cease

H/T: Redbird Rants Josh Jacobs

Robert Murray’s analysis: This trade is interesting. The St. Louis Cardinals are in desperate need of rotation help. The White Sox are 7-18 and appear to be arguably the biggest disappointment in the American League.

Will the Cardinals look for rotation help? Absolutely. They have to. And inquiring on Cease may not be the worst idea.

Cease, 27, is one of the best young pitchers in baseball. He has a 2.73 ERA in five starts this season and is coming off a year in which he posted a 2.20 ERA and 227 strikeouts in 32 starts. He is not a free agent until 2026, meaning the Cardinals (or any other potential interested team) would get him for three postseason runs.

The problem with that is it makes Cease incredibly expensive to acquire and considering the Cardinals’ unwillingness to deal their top prospects, makes a deal highly unlikely. I like the thought. It’s outside the box. But I don’t see it, especially for a trade package that does not include any of the Cardinals’ top three prospects (Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn and Tink Hence).

Grading the trade package: 4/10.

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