Chaim Bloom made plenty of noise before Monday’s MLB trade deadline, but the Cardinals still walked away with a few unfinished business items.
St. Louis did move rental pitchers Dustin May and JoJo Romero, along with fan-favorite outfielder Lars Nootbaar, and the return included several prospects for the long haul, headlined by outfielder Alexander Frias.
The Cardinals also brought in reliever Caleb Ferguson to help replace Romero and add some stability to the bullpen. Bloom was among the busiest executives in baseball over those final hours, and the moves he did make figure to matter for years.
Even so, the deadline still felt incomplete for plenty of fans. Alec Burleson and Ivan Herrera drew real buzz in rumors and could have brought strong returns, but Bloom kept both in place. And beyond those names, there were three Cardinals who looked like natural trade candidates and never moved.
Ryne Stanek was the clearest case. He came in on an expiring contract, and the expectation when St.
Louis signed him this offseason was that he’d be flipped by the deadline. Instead, he remains with the club past August 3rd and will stay for the rest of the year unless he’s designated for assignment.
His season has been all over the place. Stanek owns a 4.74 ERA in 43.2 innings over 49 games, with 47 strikeouts and a 1.49 WHIP.
He’s delivered 37 scoreless outings, but he’s also given up two or more runs in seven appearances. Maybe the market never fully formed, or maybe teams didn’t want to pay Bloom’s asking price.
Still, there’s a case that even a modest prospect return would have been better than letting him leave for nothing.
Pedro Pages also looked like a player who could be on the move. He’s earned strong reviews for his game-calling and for helping manage a staff, especially with younger catchers.
Defensively, he’s solid. Offensively, though, the numbers are rough: a .572 OPS, a batting line hovering near the Mendoza Line, and a .250 on-base percentage that doesn’t leave much room for comfort.
Catching was a need for several teams at the deadline, and Pages’ defensive value would have made him attractive despite the bat. With the Cardinals’ depth at the position and Leonardo Bernal doing well in the minors, a deal felt close to inevitable. Bloom clearly decided the value of keeping Pages for the rest of the season outweighed whatever was out there in trade talks, though an offseason move still looks possible for the former sixth-round pick.
Then there’s Nolan Gorman, whose name surfaced in trade chatter as the deadline approached. His candidacy was never a certainty, but the speculation grew as 6:00 P.M.
Eastern neared. Gorman has been at Triple-A Memphis for a couple of months now, and his fit in St.
Louis appears to be running thin. He looked like the kind of change-of-scenery trade chip that could draw interest, much like Dylan Carlson did a few years ago.
The 26-year-old is hitting .167/.328/.407 in the minors with a .736 OPS. He’s struck out 47 times in 134 plate appearances, but the power remains real - eight homers in just 31 games.
That pop is still his calling card, even if the strikeouts keep dragging down his overall value. Like Pages, Gorman could still be moved in the offseason, when clubs have more time to work out a deal.
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