Business is picking up ahead of baseball’s Tuesday trade deadline. The ever-resourceful Tampa Bay Rays are clearing out assets at a brisk pace while the historically bad Chicago White Sox are holding out for greater returns.
So what do we know about the Cardinals? They need pitching and they are shopping for pitching.
They are willing to trade once-valued outfielder Dylan Carlson, who sat out Sunday’s game despite Washington’s deployment of left-handing pitching. He desperately needs a fresh start elsewhere and regular at bats to get his career back on track.
The Cardinals are willing to deal once-valued utility player Tommy Edman, who didn’t help matters with his 0-for-5 performance for Double-A Springfield Sunday while recovering from wrist and ankle injuries.
This team seems less willing to deal outfield prospect Jordan Walker, who perked up slightly at Memphis while going 4-for-14 with two doubles, a homer, two RBIs and twos in his last four games. He has been in a months-long offensive funk since his demotion, but trading him now would be selling low on the organization's top prospect.
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Second baseman Thomas Saggese finally adapted to the Triple-A level by hitting .347 with a 1.002 OPS in July. Catcher Ivan Herrera, who became the odd man out behind the plate in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, has a .953 OPS down at Memphis.
Meanwhile, lots of things are happening with other teams. Here are the key recent moves to this writing:
- The Chicago Cubs spent some prospects to upgrade from the ever-frustrating Christopher Morel to Isaac Parades.
- The Baltimore Orioles furthered their World Series quest by adding Zach Efiin to their rotation.
- The New York Yankees placed a bet on Jazz Chisholm’s upside to satisfy their need in center field.
- The Texas Rangers upgraded at backup catcher by acquiring yesteryear Cardinal Carson Kelly, who will displace light-hitting former Cardinal Andrew Knizner on the roster.
- The New York Mets acquired Cardinals-killing outfielder Jesse Winker from the Washington Nationals, thus giving the Redbirds their chance to avoid a weekend sweep.
- The San Diego Padres fortified their bullpen with the addition of Jason Adam, taking advantage of the ongoing Rays fire sale.
Here is how The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal summed up the Rays’ commerce to this point:
The Tampa Bay Rays are running a clinic on how to sell. And bless their money-saving, prospect-loving hearts, they aren’t done yet.
The scoreboard through Tampa Bay’s latest stunner, the Isaac Parades trade to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday:
- Six deals (Paredes, Jason Adam and Zach Eflin; Randy Arozarena, Phil Maton and Aaron Civale).
- Savings of approximately $12 million in 2024, additional millions in seven future years of arbitration and Eflin’s $18 million salary for 2025.
- Fourteen prospects added, including two players to be named. Nine of those players entered the team’s top 30 according to , between Nos. 5 and 29.
No need to worry about the Rays picking a lane, not with the team spending most of the season around .500 in the powerful AL East. Club officials drove straight into a seller’s market while other clubs idled, and floored it.
If you’re on the ever-dwindling list of Rays making millions — hello, right-hander Zack Littell, closer Pete Fairbanks, first baseman Yandy Diaz and second baseman Brandon Lowe — you probably shouldn’t get too comfortable. The team’s two potential free agents, reliever Shawn Armstrong and infielder/outfielder Amed Rosario, seem almost certain to go.
The next few days are going to be fun. Here is what folks are writing about all of this:
Bradford Doolittle, : “In a nutshell, the Cubs traded two prospects to obtain whatever the upgrade is in turning Morel's roster spot into the one now occupied by Paredes. They will also pay more in salary, as Morel is still in the pre-arbitration phase of his service time. Paredes, whose arbitration-fueled salary this season is $3.4 million, has three more seasons of arbitration eligibility remaining. The Cubs weren't the only team to see surplus value in Paredes' profile given the prevalence of scuttlebutt around his availability over the past couple of weeks. By making this deal, for this return, the Cubs are declaring that they see Paredes as a regular over the next few years, presumably at third base, on a team that is angling for contention in 2025 and beyond. Both Paredes and Morel are 25 years old with similar career slash lines: .234/.334/.438 for the former and .228/.308/.440 for the latter. Morel has shown improvement in his plate discipline indicators this year, though it has done him little good for the bottom line thanks to a .221 BABIP. Chicago has also struggled to figure out where to play him defensively, a problem that now belongs to Tampa Bay. Paredes has demonstrated more contact ability and plate discipline, leading to a more consistent performance. He doesn't have Morel's raw pop off the bat, but he hit 31 homers last year -- and that will play just fine. Paredes is no Gold Glover, either, but he will be an upgrade at the hot corner for Chicago (at least compared to any continuing efforts to deploy Morel there) and will have the luxury of playing next to the Cubs' fine middle infield combo of Ncio Hoerner and Dansby Swanson.”
R.J. Anderson, : “Ever since the Orioles reentered the competitive ranks, we've wanted them to leverage their prospect depth and lack of financial obligations to land above-average pitchers to improve their chances at winning the franchise's first World Series since 1983. The Orioles have done just that twice this year: first springing ace Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers and now lassoing Eflin from their division rival Rays. Eflin, 30, made 50 starts over the last season and a half with the Rays. He compiled a 3.72 ERA (108 ERA+) and a 7.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Eflin isn't a big-time bat misser or anything, but he seldom walks a soul and he limits quality of contact because of his ability to entice chases with a broad arsenal. (He throws five pitches 9% of the time or more, including a low-90s sinker, upper-80s cutter, and upper-70s curve.) If we had to guess, he'll end up being one of the three or four best starters moved at the deadline.”
Michael Baumann, FanGraphs: “I do actually agree with one stone critics love to fling at Chisholm: He is a little overrated. What I mean by that is he gets talked about like a star, when in actuality he’s more of an above-average starter at an up-the-middle position. He’s never hit 20 home runs or stolen 30 bases in a season. He’s not a very good percentage basestealer and he strikes out too much. And despite making an All-Star team and ending up on the cover of MLB: The Show, he’s never had a 3-WAR season. The best year of Chisholm’s career by a country mile was 2022, when he slugged .535 in a campaign that was cut to 60 games by back problems. And that player hasn’t been seen at any other point in Chisholm’s time in the majors. So why do the Yankees want him? Two reasons. The first is the list of starting center fielders they’ve used this season: Aaron Judge, who shouldn’t be playing center field, and Trent Grisham, who’s hitting .183. Chisholm could regress into an utter mediocrity and still help the Yankees. Second, Chisholm’s made encouraging steps forward in several areas of weakness: He’s currently rocking a career-high walk rate and a career-low strikeout rate. A 24.9% strikeout rate isn’t good, but it’s tolerable, unlike the 30.8% mark Chisholm posted last year. His 22-for-30 stolen base rate isn’t anything to write home about, but he’s running at a higher volume this year and his overall baserunning metrics are among the top 10 in baseball.â€
Bob Nightengale, USA Today: “No one in all of baseball needed offensive help more than the Seattle Mariners, who lost 20 of 29 games, and are in danger of wasting the finest pitching staff in baseball. This is a team that entered the weekend averaging 3.75 runs a game with a 28% strikeout rate and an MLB-low .214 batting average that would be the lowest since 1920.So, what do they do? Trade for former All-Star outfielder Randy Arozarena without giving up any of their top assets. Arozarena had a dreadful start, hitting .158 in April and May, but since is hitting .290 with seven homers, 13 doubles and a .904 OPS. And remember, he is a career .336 hitter with 11 home runs, 17 RBI and a 1.104 OPS in 33 postseason games. The Mariners, awaiting Arozarena’s arrival Friday, celebrated by scoring eight runs in the first inning against the Chicago White Sox in their 10-0 rout. It was the most runs the Mariners scored in the first inning since July 30, 2003, and included back-to-back-to-back homers. It was only the White Sox, but considering their sad-sack offense, who would blame them for celebrating as if it was the opening ceremony in Paris?â€
David Schoenfield, : “Don't ever change, A.J. Preller. I recently wrote that Preller has traded away eight of his past 10 first-round picks since becoming Padres GM (not including their 2024 selection). Well, make it nine of 10 as Lesko, the team's first-round pick in 2022, is the biggest name going to the Rays to acquire Adam. Preller is no doubt smelling an opportunity as the Dodgers continue to scuffle and the Padres heat up. The Padres have won seven in a row, cutting their deficit in the NL West to just 5.5 games. In Adam, Preller is acquiring a premier, underrated reliever. The changeup specialist has a 2.30 ERA over the past three seasons, including 2.49 in 2024. He has held batters to a .164/.250/.277 line this year and generates both a high whiff rate and a high ground ball rate. He's also making just $2.7 million, making him affordable for the Padres, and is under team control for two more seasons. Importantly, he fills a huge hole. The Padres don't have a disastrous record in one-run games like they did in 2023 -- they're 11-12 after going 9-23 last season -- but the bullpen ranks just 29th in the majors in win probability added and 21st in ERA. Closer Robert Suarez has been outstanding (5-1, 1.51 ERA, but manager Mike Shildt has struggled to find consistency from his setup guys and Adam immediately becomes his top high-leverage guy for the seventh and eighth innings. The Padres are a better team after this deal. Catching the Dodgers won't be easy -- but note that the Padres host L.A. for two games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Win those two and the NL West race becomes very, very interesting down the stretch.”
MEGAPHONE
“I think the trade deadline stinks. It does. You’re either losing people you love, or you’re gaining somebody that you don’t know. And it can be scary for people."
Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt.