MLB Rumors: Cardinals new ace, Braves target heats up, Blue Jays stars

Nearly two months into the MLB season, and buyers and sellers are starting to materialize. Teams like the Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins are expected to sell off key pieces, while middling squads like the St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays remain in limbo.

As the rumor mill heats up, the outlook of the MLB trade deadline can change in a matter of days.

3. MLB Rumors: What to make of Blue Jays stars Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette?

It hasn't been a pretty start for the Toronto Blue Jays.

After winning 89 games last season and earning the third American League Wild Card, they are off to a 22-26 start and they sit in last place in the AL East, 10.5 games behind the first place New York Yankees.

Their rough start has led many to believe that they will be sellers when the trade deadline comes around. If they do sell, they have plenty of pieces on their roster that could net them a major haul, including stars such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette.

The two Blue Jays stars are free agents at the end of the 2025 season and Toronto could maximize the return for them if they are traded now. However, the Blue Jays don't appear likely to trade either one of them, per FanSided MLB Insider Robert Murray.

Rather, Toronto will likely look to unload players on expiring contracts such as Yusei Kikuchi, Justin Turner, Kevin Kiermaier, and Yimi Garcia.

This would allow the Blue Jays to punt on 2024 but also keep the window open to remain competitive in 2025 while still having Bichette and Guerrero on the roster.

Toronto was expected to be a clear contender this season. While the season is still young and the Blue Jays could turn it around, they'll need to do it quick if they want to avoid selling at the deadline.

Still, even if they don't turn things around, they appear to be intent on keeping Guerrero and Bichette through this season at the very least. But if they can't bounce back into contention in 2025, then holding onto them may end up being a decision that comes back to haunt them.

While Toronto is well behind in the AL East race, they are only 3.5 games back in the Wild Card race.

2. Potential Braves trade target heats up

The Miami Marlins quickly fell out of contention after a dreadful start to the 2024 season. They even decided to trade reigning National League batting champion Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres.

With Arraez gone, more pieces are sure to follow, and one of them could be left-hander Jesus Luzardo.

On Wednesday, Luzardo took the mound against the NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers and shut them down for eight innings, allowing just three hits, no walks, and punching out four batters on 100 pitches as the Marlins won 1-0.

Luzardo lowered his ERA to 4.14 on the season with this scoreless gem. Several teams will come calling for him if he keeps this up, and the Atlanta Braves could be one of them.

Atlanta acquired Chris Sale to bolster its rotation this past offseason, but they are without Spencer Strider for the rest of the year. Having another top starter to go next to Max Fried would give the Braves a chance to catch up with the Philadelphia Phillies, who lead them by six games in the NL East heading into Thursday's slate of games. However, trades within the same division are quite rare.

1. Could the St. Louis Cardinals acquire another ace?

The St. Louis Cardinals have all of the sudden started to play much better baseball. After early speculation that they could be deadline sellers, they may turn themselves into buyers.

St. Louis has won eight of their last 10 games and are now just three games below .500 and five games back of first place in the NL Central. And if they choose to be buyers, they might have somebody they could target to bolster their rotation.

According to Jim Bowden of The Athletic, Chicago White Sox starter Erick Fedde is likely to be traded, and Patrick McAvoy of Sports Illustrated notes that the Cardinals could be a fit for the right-hander.

After several years with the Washington Nationals, Fedde pitched in the KBO and won 20 games last year, posting a 2.00 ERA over 180.1 innings of work. The right-hander is under contract for 2025, so if the Cardinals make a move for him, they would be able add somebody who could not only help them this year, but next year as well.

The veteran right-hander should come at an affordable price for St. Louis if the team stays hot and remains in contention.