Could A's, St. Louis Cardinals connect on this offseason trade?

Jason Burke | Oct 29, 2024

Apr 6, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) pitches against the Miami Marlins during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The A's will be looking to make some upgrades this offseason after a 19-win improvement over their awful 2023 season, but the hard part for the club will be enticing anyone to come play for them in a minor league facility in Sacramento. In Oakland, the pitch to pitchers was that the conditions were great for them to have success. That will not necessarily be the case in Sacramento, where pop-flies are known to travel over the fence.

That is why the A's could be in the mood to make a deal this offseason, and a team like the St. Louis Cardinals could make a good trade partner. Now, it's not very often that the A's are the team taking on money in a salary dump, but this winter the front office is going to have to get creative.

Steven Matz is currently slotted in as the Cardinals' No. 5 starter over at Roster Resource, and before long he could give way to No. 3 prospect Quinn Matthews, a lefty that just mowed down all levels of the minor leagues in his first season in pro ball. He'll be ready for a call up to the bigs shortly. Meanwhile, Matz could serve as a depth option, but he's also owed $12.5 million for the 2025 season, his final year of team control.

The A's, who are likely another year away from contending, could take on that salary and hope for a turnaround from Matz in 2025 after injuries limited him to just 44 1/3 innings this season with a 5.08 ERA and a 1.444 WHIP. Obviously, they're not the best stats for a team that's hoping to take another step forward in 2025 to consider adding to their roster, but he's a lefty, which is a plus, and he's also a 10-year veteran, which is always a piece that the A's seem to go after. His career 4.29 ERA also suggests that there will be some improvement next season.

This past season the A's paid Ross Stripling $12.5 million while he posted a 6.01 ERA in 85 1/3 innings. The goal with that addition was that he would have a solid first half and could be flipped for prospects at the deadline. That is not what ended up happening, so the A's front office could be looking to take in prospects on the front-end, by taking a little bit of salary off the hands of St. Louis.

Now, the prospect return wouldn't be enormous, but the A's could be looking at someone in the back-half of the Cardinals' top-30 list, especially if they include a player that may no longer have room on their own 40-man roster like Ryan Noda, Tyler Nevin, Armando Alvarez, or even Dany Jiménez. That piece of the trade would depend more upon what St. Louis was looking for in the deal aside from a little salary relief.

While Noda, Nevin and Alvarez aren't likely to be regular starters for St. Louis, they could help fill in, especially at first base with Paul Goldschmidt hitting the free agent market. Jiménez would offer a solid, but oft injured relief arm.

In return, the A's would likely be looking at one of the right-handers on their MLB Pipeline top-30 that is ranked from No. 16 to No. 22. The most interesting of that group could be No. 19, Ian Bedell, whom they rate as a 40 overall with 50 control, but rate his pitches at 50 or above nearly across the board. Only his curveball is rated as a 45, while his fastball (50), slider (55) and changeup (50) are all above average.

For the A's, the control is going to be a big factor for anyone that they target. Either that, or huge stuff and zero control. There is no middleground.

On the plus side for Bedell, he has some experience in Triple-A, so he could serve as a depth option for the A's in the fairly near future. On the down side, he struggled a little bit in his time there, posting a 5.02 ERA in 43 innings, striking out 31 batters and walking 24 in nine starts. He also gave up 22 total home runs between double and triple-a, spanning 107 2/3 innings, which may not bode well for pitching in a minor league ballpark with the A's.

That all said, the Cardinals would likely be willing to move him since he is yet again Rule 5 eligible, and may not be one of the players that they'd be willing to protect ahead of the Rule 5 Draft. From the perspective of St. Louis, they'd be getting salary relief and a big leaguer in return for someone that they may lose anyway.

Then again, the A's could also just see if they could snag Bedell in the Rule 5 Draft, though if they attempt to acquire him that way, he would be thrust right into the big leagues and would have to remain on the 26-man roster throughout the course of the season.

This trade may not be exactly how something like this would work out, but it's certainly possible that the A's will be looking to take on a little salary in a trade this offseason if they can also snag a prospect or two in the deal. Steven Matz could be the type of salary dump they'd be interested in.