Trade Deadline Finale

[billroper]

And the Cards front office had one more trick up their sleeve at the trade deadline, sending Harrison Bader to the Yankees for Jordan Montgomery and swapping a great defensive (but surplus) center fielder for a badly needed rotation arm. As fun as it would have been to see Juan Soto in a Cards uniform, the Cardinals got the type of players they needed to have a shot at winning the division.

Of course, now they actually have to play the games.

The Cubs, meanwhile, who had been trumpeted as having the most attractive available player (right up until Soto hit the market) in Willson Contreras ended up keeping their prospective free agent. I am not sure that I understand this maneuver unless you've suddenly reached agreement on an extension.

I have not heard about an extension.

This is, I believe, an example of why being a Cardinals fan is much easier on the digestion lately than being a Cubs fan.

Comments

[jennlk]

It didn't seem to me that there was a lot of interest in a starting catcher -- other than Vasquez (who is a backup catcher anyway), I don't think any of the major league players who got traded were catchers -- and Contreras is an offense-first catcher, which is perhaps not what you want on a playoff team. I have heard speculation that he'll get a Qualifying Offer in the offseason, and then the Cubs will either have him or compensation picks if he goes elsewhere.

[billroper]

The scuttlebutt going around was that there were a lot of teams who were concerned about his ability to move in and handle their staff, so if he got traded, he'd spend more time as a DH.

There were several contending teams that could have used a starting catcher as an upgrade, but apparently they were not thrilled with Contreras as that upgrade.

The QO pick is going to be a big comedown from what the Cubs might have gotten in a deal -- except there doesn't seem to have been such a deal to be made.

[jennlk]

I was actually more surprised that Happ didn't get traded.

(and somewhat bummed that Fulmer did. Not surprised by that trade, really, but he was a nice piece of the Tigers bullpen, which is pretty much the one bright spot this season. Grossman was a victim of numbers in the outfield once Greene's broken foot healed, and he went to a good team.)