Cardinals Trading Jack Flaherty To Baltimore Orioles
Is this snoozefest of a 2023 MLB Trade Deadline heating up? It might be, as the Baltimore Orioles are acquiring RHP Jack Flaherty from the St. Louis Cardinals, ESPN’s Jeff Passan broke the news ahead of Tuesday’s MLB Trade Deadline.
The Cardinals will be acquiring infielder Cesar Prieto and left-hander Drew Rom from the Orioles. We saw a flurry of deals take place just minutes before the deadline, but this should still be viewed as a fairly dull event compared to years past.
With the St. Louis Cardinals pretty far out of playoff contention, sitting at 47-60 and fifth in their division, this might signal the start of a slow rebuild. I say a slow rebuild because they did not move off of Nolan Arenado, one of the best players on the trade block in 2023. Their record should be viewed as quite a surprise, as they are far off of a playoff spot this year, which would be their first playoff miss since 2018.
Jack Flaherty had been a staple of the Cardinals rotation since 2017, and having a decent year this season, boasting a 7-6 record in 20 starts with a 4.43 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 106 strikeouts in 109.2 innings. His best season in a Cardinals uniform came in 2019, where he finished fourth in the NL CY Young voting with an 11-8 record, 2.75 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 231 strikeouts in 196.1 innings.
The St. Louis Cardinals must be hoping for a bounceback year in 2024, since they did not clear out all their stars. But the Jack Flaherty move signals they must be aware they are not close to contending with their current roster. If next year is similar to how they were up to this deadline, don’t be shocked if it’s a full fire sale in St. Louis.
