Cardinals Make Rare Move, Trade Hurler To Korean Baseball Team

The St. Louis Cardinals are searching far and wide to make all moves possible to improve the club, even if that includes making a trade with an organization almost 7,000 miles away.

Cardinal president of baseball operations John Mozeliak already has made some moves to revamp the starting rotation and is in the process of improving the bullpen.

The expectation is that St. Louis will add one more high-leverage arm before pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Prior to doing so, the Cardinals have opened up a roster spot in a unique way.

"Roster Move: We have transferred right-handed pitcher James Naile to the KIA Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization in exchange for cash considerations," the team announced late Thursday night.

Naile posted a 7.40 ERA with a 12-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .330 batting average against and a 1.89 WHIP in 24 1/3 innings for the Cardinals in breif stints between 2022-2023 -- his only big-league action.

The move indicates an addition is on the way as St. Louis' 40-man roster has a vacancy. A reliever filling the role in short order is likely, though the caliber of said player is unknown.

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Published Jan 19, 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

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