Cardinals Had 'Strong Interest' In Coveted Hurler But Lose Bidding War To Orioles

St. Louis wanted the right-hander badly

Scott Neville | Jul 26, 2024

May 26, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; A general view of a flooded Busch Stadium during a weather delay before a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

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The St. Louis Cardinals have just a few days to bolster their roster in an effort to make a strong postseason push as they sit just 1/2 game back of a National League Wild Card spot.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozelaik has his sights set on bolstering the rotation ahead of the July 30 trade deadline. Activity has picked up heavily as the weekend approaches -- and St. Louis has started to get more involved.

Unfortunately, for the Cardinals, they have come up short in their first public pursuit of a notable rotation upgrade.

"The Baltimore Orioles get their starter: They have acquired Tampa Bay Rays veteran starter Zach Eflin, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reports. The St. Louis Cardinals had expressed strong interest in him as well," USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported Friday.

Eflin has a 4.09 ERA with an 87-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .261 batting average against and a 1.16 WHIP in 110 innings across 19 starts this season.

He would have joined a Cardinals rotation that already features Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson to form a formidable group at the top.

What stands out most about the pursuit of Eflin is that the Cardinals showed interest in a player with team control through 2025 at a semi-hefty price. The 30-year-old has one year, $18 million remaining on his deal after this season.

The news could indicate that St. Louis will then pursue other controllable arms such as Toronto Blue Jays' Chris Bassitt (8-9, 3.78 ERA -- owed $22 million next season) or possibly Chicago White Sox's Erick Fedde (7-3, 2.98 ERA -- owed $7.5 million next season).

The pitching carousel is starting to heat up fast and the Cardinals will want to get involved sooner rather than later.

More MLB: Cardinals Legend Adam Wainwright Compared To Rumored Trade Target

Published Jul 26, 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