4 Cardinals post-deadline extension candidates not named Jack Flaherty
With the rumor mill churning and the likelihood that Cardinals’ pitchers Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery will be traded before the August 1 deadline, it will be interesting to see who could be considered for a contract extension.
Flaherty and Mongomery are two St. Louis Cardinals who will become free agents at the end of this season. They are top of the list for potential trades in the coming days, hoping to get a considerable gain toward their goal of bolstering their roster for 2024.
John Denton of MLB.com reported the Cardinals are “still holding out hope that an 11th-hour long-term extension can be reached before Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the club’s thinking.”
Flaherty’s presumed final game with the Cardinals came Wednesday afternoon. He pitched five innings giving up eight hits, two walks, and three earned runs. He had four strikeouts. Here’s Flaherty speaking with media after the Cardinals’ 11-7 victory Wednesday.
Flaherty when asked if he thinks he'll be with the #STLCards after the deadline: "You kind of get a feeling of the way things are going. It's a business, and I've got my job to do which is to go out and win games every time I take the mound. ... Everything is out of my hands." pic.twitter.com/NH2O1ozLag
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) July 26, 2023
Flaherty confessed to thinking about the possibility of this being his final game with the Cardinals while acknowledging the business nature of the game and his getting traded is out of his hands.
According to Fansided’s Scott Rogust, it’s not likely the Cardinals make a deal with Flaherty to remain with the team before the deadline. Fansided’s MLB Insider Robert Murray confirms this isn’t likely. “I would be really, really, really, REALLY surprised if they extended Flaherty,” Murray said.
With Flaherty and Montgomery likely gone before the trade deadline, this leads the starting rotation left with Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, and Steven Matz. Wainwright is retiring after this season. Mikolas signed a two-year extension worth $40 million starting next season. Matz will be in the third year of a four-year deal worth $44 million. The rotation has received help from Dakota Hudson and Matthew Liberatore. Jake Woodford made spot starts before going on the injured list.
This season has not gone as expected for the Cardinals, who have a record of 46-57 sitting in last place. This trade deadline should be exciting to watch. But after the deadline, who can fans expect to get extension offers?