STL Cardinals rumors: Ohtani trade availability, Goldschmidt deal, more
By Josh Wilson
With the MLB trade deadline coming up quickly, here’s the latest on what you need to know about the St. Louis Cardinals and their possible options.
To start Saturday, the St. Louis Cardinals are 36-57, 3-7 in their last 10 games, and still last in the NL Central. The All-Star break which starts on Monday gives a needed reprieve from all the losing.
After that, there isn’t much time to change the roster before the MLB Trade Deadline if the organization hopes to make any adjustments to the roster to stay competitive this year.
Here’s a quick helping of rumors around the league relevant to what the Cardinals might do as we come up on the midseason break.
Jordan Montgomery injury could not be timed worse
Jordan Montgomery left Friday’s game in the fifth inning in a road contest against the Chicago White Sox with a hamstring injury. On three hits, Monty had given up just a run and had struck out five.
Montgomery told reporters that he was trying to catch his balance after slipping on the mound.
With the All-Star break coming up, the injury, which he will undergo testing on soon, could be timed perfectly with built-in rest time due to the break possibly serving as a needed break for the pitcher. Or, if Montgomery hits the injured list, it could be terrible timing.
Montgomery is one of the best trade pieces the Cardinals have that they could flip at the deadline to make some magic happen. He’s a free agent this winter and is a proven starter, a position that teams are after at the deadline this season. As a player who joined the team midway through last season, the organization seems to have less attachment to him than other players as well.
If Montgomery is on the injured list as trade discussions are heating up, it could give teams pause about surrendering the value they may have otherwise parted with to land Montgomery from the Cardinals.
We’ll learn more about his timeline soon, which will be the ultimate determinant for how ill-timed this incident was.