Houston Astros Interested in Cardinals Flamethrower at Trade Deadline

It's seemingly going to be a fire sale for the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline this year. They've basically all but announced that they are willing to deal just about any player they have on the roster.

Entering Friday, they are 12 games below .500 and are one game clear of last place in the NL Central after they were the favorites to win the division.

In the midst of their struggles, they were working on an extension with their star reliever Jordan Hicks.

According to Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 in Houston, those extension talks have failed and the Cardinals are now looking to trade the right hander.

League sources tell Alexander that the Astros have major interest in acquiring Hicks from St. Louis.

The 26-year-old has struggled a bit this season, going 1-6 with a 3.67 ERA in 40 appearances out of the bullpen. He's also giving up a career high batting average to opposing hitters with .244 compared to career average of .208.

Despite that, Hicks is a super talented reliever who would add to already deep bullpen that Houston has.

What it will take to get the flamethrower might be tricky.

The Cardinals have a surplus of outfielders which is what the Astros' front office would ideally like to trade. Because St. Louis is reportedly going to sell as much as possible, they're likely looking for prospects in return.

Houston also reportedly has interest in the Cardinals' ace Jordan Montgomery, so they could try and put together a package to acquire both pitchers.

This would be the upgrades general manager Dana Brown is looking to make at the deadline. With the market moving as quickly as it is right now, he may have to give up more than he expected before this week started.

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