Cardinals rumors: Starting pitcher could be traded, O’Neill trade, Walker excelling

Today’s St. Louis Cardinals rumors roundup looks at a few players that could be traded and Jordan Walker’s stellar return to the bigs.

Boy oh boy, this St. Louis Cardinals season keeps getting worse. They have now dropped five straight, swept most recently by the Giants. St. Louis has not won a series since May 25.

Though the front office continues to maintain that they’re “holding” and seeing how things pan out this season rather than staging a fire sale, that’s getting harder and harder to believe. A team performing this poorly can’t justify holding onto high-value assets.

The only thing St. Louis has going for it is that the NL Central is miserable all around. A late-season run could still theoretically put the Cardinals in the running for the title.

That said, models don’t agree, with Fangraphs giving the Cardinals a 13.5% chance of making the postseason today.

That drives the current conversation around the team and what will come next.

Jordan Walker’s return to big leagues has been stellar

Though the Cardinals as a whole have been depressing, there’s one big reason you should still be paying attention, and also maintaining some hope for the future: Jordan Walker, baby!

Eric Cross summed it up nicely here:

Walker’s time in Triple-A seems to have done him well, giving him an opportunity to get back in a groove and comfortable at the plate. Walker didn’t play any games in May in the big leagues but has quickly turned June into his best month so far with a .907 OPS and 149 OPS+.

Though he has struggled some in the field, there could be a path toward Walker getting more time defensively if the Cardinals trade Paul Goldschmidt, a radical idea that’s catching some steam.

Walker doesn’t have experience at the position but could be given some opportunity there, especially if the Cardinals end up needing to wave the proverbial white flag in 2023 at some point.