Cardinals Announce They Will Be Sellers, Want Pitching

They also already said they won't trade Goldschmidt or Arenado, so this is strictly a sale of rental players. Most of whom I'd have no interest in. Jordan Montgomery being the exception.

I think everyone is missing the part where they say Goldschmidt and Arenado aren't being traded.

They need pitching, and there's plenty available in free agency next year and they're trying to get some by trading rental players right now. They aren't tearing this down, they're just gearing up for next year.

15 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

I mean are people even reading the thread title? It says the Cardinals are increasingly becoming interested in trading at this deadline, for pitching …

Yeah, too often the reading stops there.

Today - The part of the interview omitted from the above post:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/st-louis-cardinals

Of course, there are no bigger names the Cardinals could put on the trade market than their star corner infield tandem of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. Mozeliak declined to declare either player categorically untouchable but strongly downplayed the possibility of moving either. “I don’t have any intentions of trading anybody like them,” he said. “If you’re willing to listen on anything, you have to understand (anything’s possible), but I doubt that would happen.” As he subsequently noted, both players have full no-trade rights, and it seems very unlikely a St. Louis team gearing back up for 2024 would want to part with either of its top two position players regardless.

Friday

From St Louis beat writer Louis Gould

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/professional/mlb/cardinals/cardinals-at-the-break-what-lessons-from-disastrous-first-half-can-fix-flaws-for-2024/article_b1727806-219c-11ee-9012-070d5964bb94.html

They do not wish to divest themselves of their core, and already at least two teams have been told the Cardinals are not interested in trading outfielder Lars Nootbaar or Jordan Walker. The Cardinals are also not looking to shed salaries or jettison their high-cost stars, preferring to add pieces around cornerstones Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt for the coming season. Both have no-trade clauses, and Arenado said he’s not been approached.

Two weeks ago

Katie Woo of The Athletic

https://www.si.com/mlb/cardinals/news/could-cardinals-actually-trade-star-paul-goldschmidt-st-louis-insider-gives-update-pat3

"The concept has been floated around plenty: Goldschmidt, last year's National League MVP, a respected leader throughout the sport and a likely Hall of Famer, could be a potential trade candidate this summer. In theory, the idea makes sense. Goldschmidt's final year of his five-year, $130 million contract is next season. He will turn 36 this summer. The haul for Goldschmidt would be massive. The Cardinals could jump-start whatever degree of restructuring they feel necessary. 

"The reality? Not happening, and that's even without taking into consideration Goldschmidt's no-trade clause. As (John Mozeliak) stated, the Cardinals are avoiding a rebuild. They aim to contend next season. If that's the organization's goal, the last thing it needs is young, unproven talent. The Cardinals need experienced, established names to complement the young talent already rostered."

Just now, Brock Beauchamp said:

In the next week or two, I think the Cardinals will realize that if they really want to compete in 2024, they're going to need to give up more than their expiring contracts to bring in enough pitching to make a difference.

The Cardinals freely spend in free agency and this year's crop of usable free agents is almost entirely starting pitchers. They'll be in on most of the big names.

The Cardinals have had dozens of HOF/elite type players in the last two decades and haven't traded a single one since 2003.

9 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Correct. They will sign Nola and a backend guy......And promote some random player who will instantly be good. 

They could certainly trade for pitching too, but it would likely be in the offseason, and they'd be trading their own prospects.

6 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I'm not saying they'll trade Goldschmidt or Arenado but they need a lot of pitching help. They should be open to the possibility of trading a longer-term veteran for pitching.

But given that I dislike the Cardinals immensely, I'm fine with them holding on to every aging, declining, expensive veteran they have on the roster.

That's their MO, the big name players leave or retire only when their contract is up. Then they sign or trade for more of course.

In a vacuum I could care less about speculating about players who surely won't move, but we've seen this game before. We discuss what it would take to trade for a big name player, then when that player doesn't get traded, a certain segment of the fanbase gets out the pitchforks and starts calling ownership and the front office a failure for not getting it done and the other posters 'apologists' when they point out it was never going to happen.