MLB Rumors: Cardinals shopping several stars, but not THOSE stars
No, Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt aren’t for sale. We’ve known this for quite some time, but it hasn’t stopped insiders from speculating on what the asking price would be from St. Louis’ perspective.
While Arenado and Goldy will stay put, Bob Nightengale did float a number of other capable Cardinals who could be traded by the deadline.
“The Cardinals are certainly open for business, as president John Mozeliak says, but they will NOT be trading first baseman Paul Goldschmidt or third baseman Nolan Arenado. This is not a rebuild. They want to win in 2024. They instead are shopping starters Jordan Montgomery, Jack Flaherty and relievers Jordan Hicks, Ryan Helsley and Genesis Cabrera.”
You can throw Tyler O’Neill and perhaps even Dylan Carlson into that mix, as well. The Cards have a ton of outfield depth, and trading from a position of strength is always wiser than the alternative.
Luckily for the Cardinals, this is expected to be a relatively quiet trade deadline. So, they are one of only a few teams open to selling this early on in the process. Montgomery and Flaherty are two solid starting pitchers on expiring contracts. Should the front office decide to pair both, they can likely receive some good prospect capital in return. The same can be said about outfielders Carlson and O’Neill.
As for Hicks, Helsley and Cabrera, bullpen pieces are hard to come by now that the Royals have traded Aroldis Chapman.