Cardinals Complete Franchise-Altering Trade With Rangers Involving Ace

St. Louis is making some major changes on Sunday

Scott Neville | Jul 30, 2023

Cardinals Complete Franchise-Altering Trade With Rangers Involving Ace /

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The St. Louis Cardinals are not messing around on Sunday afternoon, making notable moves left and right.

Just moments after it was announced that right-hander Jordan Hicks will be heading to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Cardinals made an even bigger splash.

The Cardinals are sending left-handed ace Jordan Montgomery and right-handed reliever Chris Stratton to the Texas Rangers in exchange for infielder Thomas Saggese, right-handed starter Tekoah Roby and left-handed reliever John King according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Montgomery (6-9, 3.42 ERA) is a huge loss to the Cardinals, especially if the trade takes him out of consideration for a possible reunion next season. Stratton (1-1, 4.36 ERA) has much less of an overall impact but his 3.06 FIP and other underlying stats are encouraging for the Rangers -- who just made a massive move.

The Cardinals did, however, get a notable package in return for the duo. Roby is the biggest name coming back as the No. 11 prospect in the Rangers' system according to MLB Pipeline.

The 21-year-old is currently sidelined with a shoulder injury and has a 5.05 ERA with a 50-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .274 batting average against and 1.23 WHIP in 46 1/3 innings across 10 starts for Double-A Frisco. He's been hit around a little this season but still features great command and an electric four-pitch mix.

Saggese (No. 14 Rangers' prospect) has the most encouraging numbers of the trio coming to St. Louis, and likely will be the top-rated prospect in the deal once MLB Pipeline updates their rankings in August. The 21-year-old is hitting .314 with 40 extra-base hits including 15 home runs, 78 RBIs and a .894 OPS in 92 games for Double-A Frisco.

The new Cardinals infield prospect spent most of his time at second base and third base.

St. Louis also will get King, a 28-year-old veteran who could be a solid middle reliever for the Cardinals.

With Jack Flaherty still on the market and three starting pitching prospects already acquired between two deals Sunday on top of some other solid adds, the Cardinals are in a favorable position to prepare for 2024.

More MLB: Cardinals, Blue Jays Make Notable Trade Involving Flamethrower

Published Jul 30, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu