Cardinals Reportedly Placing Three Players On Trade Block, Moves Expected Soon

The St. Louis Cardinals struck first in free agency by landing three starting pitchers before most teams made a deal of any kind.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak appears content with his starting five and can divert his focus to the trade market, where he has plenty of depth to deal from.

St. Louis reportedly has been sending out feelers for a trio of players that could covet solid returns.

"The Cardinals are letting teams know that starter Steven Matz and outfielders Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson are available," USA Today's Bob Nightengale wrote Sunday.

Since this report, Mozeliak revealed on-air that O'Neill is available, which has been reported for over a year. Carlson has also been long-rumored to be available.

The Cardinals listening to offers on Matz is the most jarring aspect of the report. Can St. Louis truly afford to lose the veteran with the current pitching staff assembled?

The 32-year-old posted a 3.86 ERA (113 ERA+) with a 98-to-32 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .263 batting average against and 1.34 WHIP in 105 innings last season. Matz has been far from reliable but his innings are valuable and St. Louis does not exactly have the deepest rotation.

The only way trading Matz would make sense is if he's part of a package for Tampa Bay Rays' Tyler Glasnow, Milwaukee Brewers' Corbin Burnes, Cleveland Guardians' Shane Bieber or another starter of that ilk.

In that scenario, Carlson would likely be the center of the package, alongside Matz and at least some prospect compensation.

More MLB: Cardinals' John Mozeliak Will Be Surprised If He Didn't Make Trade Involving Outfielders

Published Dec 5, 2023

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

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