MLB Rumors: Braves-Mets trade, Jack Flaherty buzz, Padres targeting Red Sox

MLB Rumors: Latest Jack Flaherty trade buzz, level of Cardinals return package

There is truly no doubt that the St. Louis Cardinals are going to sell at the trade deadline, barring a true miracle for this team… something that seems unlikely given that they’ve been looking for such a supernatural event for months now.

It appears that one of the biggest names in St. Louis that could be involved in a trade would be Jack Flaherty, who seems to be auditioning in a big way after his latest start in which he went 6.2 innings and gave up no runs on nine hits and two walks against the Marlins.

So what is the market for Flaherty as of right now and how could things shape up?

Cardinals insider Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted after that start on Thursday that the club is going to field offers, but may not have yet decided if the trade return would outweigh the value of draft picks returning for losing him as a free agent or, more importantly, their push to re-sign him to an extension.

Meanwhile, MLB insider Jon Heyman listed the likelihood that the top trade targets for starting pitching would be moved at the deadline and added the value they could have. He listed Flaherty with a 70% likelihood to be traded but gave him only 2/5 stars in terms of his value rating.

Those two nuggets together are interesting. The Cardinals will get offers for teams looking to gamble on an inconsistent but high-upside starting pitcher, even if he’s a free agent after this season, but might not be willing to give up big pieces from farm systems in order to get that deal done. As such, the conversation of what’s more valuable for St. Louis and Flaherty could be the biggest discussion regarding whether or not the 27-year-old righty actually gets moved.