MLB Trade Rumors: The St. Louis Cardinals Could Be the Dark Horse Candidate to Acquire Manny Machado
The St. Louis Cardinals and their fans are used to winning baseball.
The Cardinals have been one of the best franchises in baseball since the turn of the millennium, peaking with two World Series wins in 2006 and 2011.
Recently, though, the Cardinals have found themselves not winning enough games to even gain entry into the postseason.
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After a Division Series exit in 2015, the Cardinals have spent the last two Octobers at home watching teams like their rivals, the Chicago Cubs, battle for baseball supremacy.
This year again, the Cardinals have been bunched together with many good but not great teams in the National League.
If the Cardinals want to put a stop to what qualifies as an extended postseason drought for them, then they may need to do something big at the trading deadline, something like acquiring a certain superstar from the Baltimore Orioles.
In a recent article, the Baltimore Sun's Eduardo A. Encina listed the five teams that "appear to be the top suitors" for the Orioles' Manny Machado and the list includes the Cardinals.
At first glance, it doesn't seem like the Cardinals could really benefit that much from adding Machado especially since they already have still young shortstop Paul DeJong under contract for quite some time.
DeJong's a versatile player though, and he can slide over to second base if the Cardinals find some way to acquire Machado.
Currently, Machado has expressed no interest in moving to third base even though he's rated as a better defender at that position. Still, even if Machado decides in the future that he wants to move back to his old position, the Cardinals can continue to accommodate him for as long as he keeps producing at the plate.
It's easy to see how the Cardinals can benefit from trading for Machado, but what about the Orioles? What do they have to gain from a potential swap?
The Cardinals don't have the deepest pool of prospects in baseball, but they do have some intriguing talents who possess star potential.
The Orioles have consistently struggled to turn their talented pitching prospects into All-Star-caliber starters, so maybe they'll have better luck with a player who started out in a different system.
It just so happens that the Cardinals have a pretty talented young pitcher in right-hander Jack Flaherty, and he can easily serve as the centerpiece of a deal for Machado.
Now, as Encina noted in the article linked to above, the Cardinals have relied on their young arms to remain consistently competitive so maybe they'll hesitate to trade Flaherty, but the franchise may reconsider its stance for a player as productive as Machado.
It's certainly not a deal without risk for the Cardinals, but if they want to keep up with the Cubs and the surprisingly good Milwaukee Brewers all throughout the remainder of this season, they may need to make a splash, and trading for Machado certainly qualifies as such.
More news about the latest MLB trade rumors should be made available in the near future.
