Cardinals Reportedly Trade For Impact High-Leverage Reliever From Rays

St. Louis upgraded the bullpen notably on Friday

Scott Neville | Jan 5, 2024

Cardinals Reportedly Trade For Impact High-Leverage Reliever From Rays /

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St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak is in the process of making a fantastic move to drastically improve the bullpen while clearing the outfield logjam even further.

The Cardinals have been in search of an affordable high-leverage reliever since they restocked the rotation and finally found a match.

"Source confirms: Cardinals working to acquire right-handed pitcher Andrew Kittredge from Rays for outfielder Richie Palacios," The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Friday. "Kittredge returned from Tommy John surgery in August and held opponents to a .683 OPS in 14 outings. Palacios had an .823 OPS in 102 plate appearances after Aug. 18 promotion."

Kittredge has been a dominant force since his All-Star campaign in 2021. The 33-year-old has recorded a 2.26 ERA with a 101-to-19 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .215 batting average against and a 0.98 WHIP in 103 1/3 innings across the last three seasons -- two of which were hampered by the aforementioned elbow injury.

The veteran hurler will only cost the Cardinals a couple of million in arbitration and will be a free agent at the end of the year.

As for Palacios, the Cardinals ultimately sold high on the 26-year-old who would have struggled to find at-bats in St. Louis with a healthy outfield group going into the season.

More MLB: Cardinals Reportedly Among Many Suiters Active In Bullpen Market

Published Jan 5, 2024

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