Pair Of Cardinals Sluggers Surprisingly Linked To Mariners In Trade For Pitching

Could St. Louis deal away one of the young stars soon?

Apr 16, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals scoreboard as a plane passes by during the seventh inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals have an important week ahead of them and tough decisions must be made before the July 30 trade deadline.

The consensus is that the Cardinals will look to add another starting pitcher to bolster the rotation. With limited options in this year's market, St. Louis might have to get creative to find what they need.

In other words, the Cardinals might have to shockingly trade away an impactful position player to acquire another starting pitcher.

"If the (Seattle) Mariners are willing to trade one of the starting pitchers at the back end of their rotation, I could see the Cardinals offering Nolan Gorman or Alec Burleson to try to get a deal done," The Athletic's Jim Bowden wrote when asked about a possible contender-to-contender trade between the Mariners and Cardinals.

Gorman and Burleson have combined to hit .250 with 64 extra-base hits including 37 home runs, 109 RBIs and a .761 OPS in 93 games played for the Cardinals this season.

At the ages of 24 and 25 years old, Gorman and Burleson have shown tremendous potential and are considered essential to the organization's future.

In a season where the offense has struggled, the two young Cardinals sluggers have stepped up and provided quality at-bats. They have proven their worth in 2024 and considering they still have multiple years of control, St. Louis should be hesitant to deal them away.

To trade either player for a back-end starting pitching would be unwise. Sure, the Cardinals need another starting pitcher but not at the expense of important pieces of the club's future.

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