3 players the St. Louis Cardinals must consider trading, and 1 they absolutely can’t

One player the Cardinals can’t trade: Jordan Montgomery, P

The case is there for the Cardinals to trade Jordan Montgomery. It’s already being suggested as something the team could very well consider by insiders around the league.

Montgomery is a piece of the struggling starting rotation that just can’t seem to get it going. He’s also a free agent at the end of this year, meaning if the Cardinals are going to move on from him in the open market, there’s a case to be made that they should get something rather than nothing before he potentially walks.

That narrative gets even more compelling if the Cardinals are able to find a better pitcher, like Giolito, in the trade market as an incoming piece.

But someone like Flaherty, discussed earlier, must be the outgoing piece, not Montgomery. The reasoning is that there’s reason to believe the results in Monty’s starts can actually get better.

For one, Montgomery has shown proper ace potential, despite results not exactly displaying that sentiment. Monty has been truly unlucky this year and last. In New York, he got no run support. In St. Louis, the defenders behind him aren’t pulling their weight.

The difference between Montgomery’s field independent pitching and his ERA is 0.52, the third-highest on the starting staff.

He may never pan out to be a No. 1 pitcher, but I firmly believe he’s capable of being a pitcher managers have confidence rolling out as a starter in the middle of a playoff series.

St. Louis should be trying to figure out how they can keep him in St. Louis for years to come. There are other pitchers worth moving on the roster well before Monty.