Today's St. Louis Cardinals rumors roundup looks at a few players that could be traded and Jordan Walker's stellar return to the bigs.
Boy oh boy, this St. Louis Cardinals season keeps getting worse. They have now dropped five straight, swept most recently by the Giants. St. Louis has not won a series since May 25.
Though the front office continues to maintain that they're "holding" and seeing how things pan out this season rather than staging a fire sale, that's getting harder and harder to believe. A team performing this poorly can't justify holding onto high-value assets.
The only thing St. Louis has going for it is that the NL Central is miserable all around. A late-season run could still theoretically put the Cardinals in the running for the title.
That said, models don't agree, with Fangraphs giving the Cardinals a 13.5% chance of making the postseason today.
That drives the current conversation around the team and what will come next.
Jordan Walker's return to big leagues has been stellar
Though the Cardinals as a whole have been depressing, there's one big reason you should still be paying attention, and also maintaining some hope for the future: Jordan Walker, baby!
Eric Cross summed it up nicely here:
Walker's time in Triple-A seems to have done him well, giving him an opportunity to get back in a groove and comfortable at the plate. Walker didn't play any games in May in the big leagues but has quickly turned June into his best month so far with a .907 OPS and 149 OPS+.
Though he has struggled some in the field, there could be a path toward Walker getting more time defensively if the Cardinals trade Paul Goldschmidt, a radical idea that's catching some steam.
Walker doesn't have experience at the position but could be given some opportunity there, especially if the Cardinals end up needing to wave the proverbial white flag in 2023 at some point.
Tyler O'Neill injury return and trade coming?
Tyler O'Neill is returning from his injury, expected to meet with team doctors to determine the next steps of his recovery after suffering a lower back strain last month. O'Neill noted that after recent injections and a visit with a specialist in Los Angeles, he's pain-free for the first time in, "months."
Patrick McAvoy of Sports Illustrated connected some dots and suggested that O'Neill's inclusion in various trade rumors all season long could mean that his return from the injured list is more interesting for what team he ends up on next, not necessarily for the Cardinals.
Jon Heyman has thrown out the Yankees as a possible trade partner for O'Neill, a team in desperate need of some offense, as their bats have gone almost entirely dormant in the period since Aaron Judge went on the injured list after hurting his toe.
So, O'Neill's return might be more of a, "welcome back, now get on a plane and get outta here!" if anything. But expect the Cardinals to get him out there as proof of concept at the very least to try to sell him to teams who might be interested.
As far as how much the Cardinals could get in return, that's tricky. O'Neill's offense has been lackluster the last two seasons after a rock-solid 2021 in which he had an OPS 48 percent better than average. He's dealt with injury after injury, so teams might be leery to send out much value to get him on their roster.
The left fielder has appeared in 29 games this season so far. He's a free agent after 2023, so he'd be a rental option for competitive teams that need bats.
Jack Flaherty keeps getting mentioned as a trade piece
Ken Rosenthal's latest column for The Athletic talked about the Cardinals at length and the current struggles they're facing. Rosenthal addressed the fact that the Cardinals have publicly stated they want to hold leading up to the deadline, but it seems as though his intel or instincts don't completely believe that.
Rosenthal threw out Jack Flaherty as a possible trade piece (subscription required) for St. Louis. At this point, it's pure speculation from Rosenthal, but keep in mind he's well plugged in and informed, so there could be something driving that.
His reasoning makes sense, Flaherty is a free agent after this year and he hasn't gelled with the team. Rosenthal points out that Flaherty's comments about called pitches partially seemed to have led to Willson Contreras's temporary demotion early in this season.
Flaherty has been below league average this season but has pitched better than his defense makes him look. His 4.64 ERA is higher than his 4.34 FIP, though he has a very high 1.588 WHIP.
The starting rotation for St. Louis has struggled all around, but Flaherty has shown flashes of dominance previously and could be a persuasive item to dangle in a potential deal at the deadline. Flaherty has spent his entire career in St. Louis thus far and a late-season change of scenery, coupled with better play, could help him land a better deal than he otherwise might.
