Shocking Reunion With Former Cardinals Star Pitcher Listed As Possibility

Could St. Louis reunite with a familiar face this summer?

Apr 16, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals scoreboard as a plane passes by during the seventh inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals are competing for a playoff spot and could be positioned to make an exciting move to bolster their roster before the July 31 trade deadline.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals' rotation has been the team's Achilles' Heel this season -- ranking 23rd with a 4.30 ERA, third in hits allowed (502), 17th in WHIP (1.26) and 21st in batting average against (.255).

If St. Louis continues to remain relevant in the race for a National League postseason ticket, perhaps a former homegrown Cardinals hurler could be traded back to the team that drafted him in the coming weeks.

"(Zac) Gallen’s inconsistent season has mirrored Arizona’s (Diamondbacks) on the whole, The Athletic's Tim Britton, Aaron Gleeman and Chad Jennings wrote Wednesday, when collaborating on where potential trade deadline chips could be moved to. "Each time he looks like his old self, he follows it up with a string of pedestrian outings. The stuff has really regressed, and the peripheral numbers support an ERA that starts with a five. So an acquiring team here is really betting on the track record of a 29-year-old who, until this season, had always been good. Gallen is a free agent at the end of the season. Fits: Houston Astros, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals."

Gallen, who was foolishly traded from the Cardinals to the Miami Marlins in Dec. 2017 after being selected by St. Louis in the third round of the 2016 draft, has emerged as one of the league's most dominant starting pitchers since debuting in 2019.

However, Gallen's productivity has dipped this season -- posting a 7-9 record with a 5.15 ERA, 107-to-43 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .248 batting average against and a 1.35 WHIP in 110 innings pitched for the Diamondbacks.

According to Britton, Gleeman and Jennings, Gallen is owed a fairly economical salary of $4.3 million in 2025, which the Cardinals, who could use a boost to their rotation, should have no issue affording.

It's worth noting that Gallen is off to a hot start in July -- logging a 2-0 record with a 0.69 ERA, 19-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .213 batting average against and a 0.85 WHIP in 13 innings pitched for Arizona.

Considering that losing Gallen was one of Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak's most significant blunders since taking over in 2017, it would be fitting to see him reunite the one-time All-Star with St. Louis in his final season at the helm before being supplanted by Chaim Bloom this fall.

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