Could Cardinals Pull Off Blockbuster Trade With Miami Marlins This Winter?

St. Louis needs to bolster the rotation

Scott Neville | Oct 22, 2023

Could Cardinals Pull Off Blockbuster Trade With Miami Marlins This Winter? /

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The St. Louis Cardinals have a challenging mission ahead as they attempt to add at least three quality starters to the roster ahead of Opening Day.

Given the Cardinals' middling spending habits, it's likely that they explore the trade market to find at least one of the three hurlers.

While a few teams would be logical trade partners for St. Louis, the Miami Marlins appear to be a perfect offseason pairing.

St. Louis has young, controllable position players on the trade block and the Marlins ranked No. 26 in runs scored last season. Miami has young, controllable starting pitchers and the Cardinals have an aforementioned need to bolster the rotation.

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter compiled a list of the top 30 trade candidates this offseason and listed Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera as the No. 13 player on the list. He certainly would make a lot of sense for St. Louis.

"Edward Cabrera has some of the best pure stuff of any young pitcher in baseball with an upper 90s fastball, swing-and-miss changeup and hard-breaking curveball that has helped him generate 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings during his time in the majors," Reuter wrote Monday.

"The 25-year-old only allowed 78 hits in 99.2 innings this season with a .215 opponents' batting average, but an untenable 15.2 percent walk rate undermined his elite stuff and left him with roughly league-average production.

"His age, remaining club control and obvious upside thanks to his repertoire makes him an extremely appealing buy-low target for other teams if the Marlins decide to flip a controllable arm for offensive help."

The young fireballer posted a 7-7 record with a 4.24 ERA, 118-to-66 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.44 WHIP in 99 2/3 innings this season.

He posted a 3.01 ERA in 71 2/3 innings across 14 starts in 2022 and could become a legitimate ace if he can control his walk rate.

The Cardinals would be wise to deal for Cabrera and could offer up some mix of outfielders Dylan Carlson, Alec Burleson, Juan Yepez and first baseman Luken Baker -- all of which reportedly could be made available.

St. Louis tried to trade outfielder Tyler O'Neill to the Marlins last winter and could attempt to do so again in this potential move.

However the Cardinals potentially attempt to get this done, adding Cabrera to the rotation alongside a couple of free-agent acquisitions could jumpstart this team and get them back in postseason contention.

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Published Oct 22, 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