The Cardinals added a needed arm to the rotation and picked up a veteran reliever Monday evening, announcing an intra-division trade that will net them lefty Jose Quintana and righty Chris Stratton from the Pirates. In return, the Pirates are receiving righty Johan Oviedo and minor league third baseman Malcolm Nunez.
Quintana was an obvious trade candidate, as he’s an impending free agent on a Pittsburgh club with no chance of reaching the postseason in 2022. The Bucs were certain to move him for some players who could help beyond this season, and as a rental player, there’s no reason for Pittsburgh to be concerned about moving him to a division rival.
The Cards have kicked around the market for higher-impact arms, with former Oakland ace Frankie Montas reportedly a primary target. Once the A’s dealt Montas to the Yankees, it seems the Cards pivoted to a lower-cost veteran stabilizer for the back of the starting staff. Quintana is no longer the mid-rotation arm he was at his peak, the kind of pitcher a club would target to start a playoff game. Yet he’s had a decent bounceback season in Pittsburgh after struggling in 2021.
Quintana has made 20 starts for the Pirates, working to a 3.50 ERA. He’s only averaged a hair above five innings per outing, tallying 103 frames on the season. The sheltered role — in which Pittsburgh has limited his exposure to opposing lineups for a third time in a start — has aided the veteran southpaw, but his production has been good on a rate basis. Quintana’s 20.6% strikeout rate is a bit below average, but he’s induced swinging strikes on a solid 11.2% of his offerings. He’s also generated grounders on a slightly above-average 45% of batted balls — a trait that has been of appeal of the Cards front office in light of the team’s strong infield defense — and he’s only walked 7.2% of opponents.
Adding Quintana addresses a rotation that has been hit with a couple notable injuries in recent weeks. Jack Flaherty is shelved once again after battling renewed shoulder concerns, though the Cards hope he can return late this month. Offseason signee Steven Matz, meanwhile, tore the MCL in his left knee and could miss the remainder of the season. While he’s not officially been ruled out for the year, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak recently told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that it’d be “very, very difficult” to get him back onto a mound in 2022.
The Cardinals add Quintana to a rotation that also includes Adam Wainwright, Dakota Hudson, Miles Mikolas and rookie Andre Pallante. The Cards have top prospect Matthew Liberatore as a depth option, but he’s bounced on and off the active roster throughout the year. Pallante, meanwhile, has spent a good chunk of the season in the bullpen and could be on an innings limit. Even with a hopeful late-season return from Flaherty, the Cardinals could still look into another rotation pickup in addition to Quintana.
Stratton, meanwhile, gives the Cards a veteran reliever who’s worked in a leverage role with the Pirates for the past few seasons. He’s sitting on an ugly 5.09 ERA in 2022 but was a rock-solid member of the bullpen in 2020-21.
This year’s struggles have come in large part due to a bloated .365 average on balls in play against Stratton, who’s actually sporting a career-low 7.2% walk rate so far. The former first-round pick has seen his strikeout rate dip from last season’s 25.5% to 20.4% in 2022, but his 12.2% swinging-strike rate is right in line with last year’s mark and his 37.3% opponents’ chase rate on pitches off the plate is a career-best (and well north of the league average). He’s also a perennial spin-rate darling, and 2022 is no exception. Stratton leads all of Major League Baseball in fastball spin rate this season, and the spin rate on his curveball clocks into the 99th percentile.
All in all, Stratton looks like a nice rebound candidate, particularly once he moves from a Pirates club that ranks 24th in the Majors with -12 Outs Above Average (per Statcast) to a Cardinals club that ranks third with a collective +19 mark in that same category. As a bonus, Stratton will remain under team control into the 2023 season via arbitration.
It’s an affordable gambit for the Cardinals, as the 33-year-old Quintana is guaranteed just $2MM this season and Stratton is earning a similar $2.7MM salary. The final few months of those salaries won’t make much of an impact on St. Louis’ payroll outlook for the remainder of the year.
Turning to the Pirates’ end of the swap, they’ll add an immediate big league option for their staff in the 24-year-old Oviedo, who has logged MLB time with the Cardinals in each of the past three seasons. The 2022 campaign is the first that he’s enjoyed above-average results, but he’s been quite impressive in a bullpen role this season after struggling as a starter in 2020-21. Through 25 1/3 innings, Oviedo owns a 3.20 ERA with a 24.1% strikeout rate, a very strong 6.5% walk rate and a 43.2% ground-ball rate.
Oviedo is averaging a career-best 95.6 mph on his heater this season after moving into a multi-inning relief role, and he’s sporting career-best swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates (13.3% and 33.9%, respectively). The Pirates could entertain the idea of moving him back into a starting role, but Oviedo has been hit hard as a starter both in Triple-A and in the Majors to this point in his career. The move to the bullpen may well be the best role for him going forward, and if that’s the case he can be a member of the Pittsburgh bullpen for years to come. Oviedo will finish the season with under two years of MLB service, meaning he can be controlled five years beyond the current season.
Nunez, 21, was the Cardinals’ No. 13 prospect on Baseball America’s midseason update of their prospect rankings. He’s in his second stint at the Double-A level and enjoying a much more productive go of it this time around, hitting .255/.360/.463 with 17 big flies in that pitcher-friendly setting. Nunez has walked at a hearty 13.7% clip and is striking out at a manageable 20.3% rate.
Scouting reports on Nunez give him little chance of sticking at third base, but the Cardinals have emphasized improving his defense in recent years and continue to play him at the hot corner. Nunez draws praise for above-average to plus power and a potentially above-average hit tool. A move to first base or even designated hitter might be in his future, but he adds an intriguing bat to the Pirates’ system — one who could soon be ready for the Triple-A level.
Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that the Cardinals were finalizing a Quintana deal (Twitter link). Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch broke the news that Stratton was also headed to St. Louis (on Twitter). Francys Romero reported the Pirates’ return (Twitter link).
Phew, I was hoping the Braves avoid him.
When I read the name I thought the Cardinals were getting Jose Urquindy from the Astros. I wonder what the Cardinals gave for Quintana.
Bob Gibson and Tim McCarver
Bob Gibson just rolled over in his grave, career cardinal always will be, never a pirate
As for McCarver he tells the best Bob Gibson stories
Minor league first baseman and Johan Oviedo. They updated the article to include this information. I like this deal for the Cardinals. Veteran starting pitching thats been there done that, give you at least 5 innings, and bullpen help
I don’t like this trade much. However, let’s see how they do with the Cardinals. I was hoping the Cards to add a right handed starting pitcher. Let’s see if they acquire some other players tomorrow.
To each there own, Cardinals needed a starter and got bullpen help to replace the arm they lost. Its doubtful Oviedo will ever fill a starters role and the Cardinals desperately need starting pitching. The move makes sense in a win now atmosphere
I didn’t like Quintana either when the pirates signed him,
however he’s proven himself pretty reliable with a nasty hook.
top of the rotation guy? No. but certainly fits the mold of a quality back end guy, and they didn’t give up much of anything to land him.
Quintana is a very good pickup, but to get him the Cardinals actually downgraded their bullpen. Oviedo has been much better than Stratton this year.
Hippyripper- We shall see how Quintana does with the Cards. I’m kind of glad that Oviedo got traded. He got every opportunity to be a starting pitcher, but it didn’t work out because he gave a lot of runs. As a reliever, he was better this year, but in the bullpen we had two relievers that I didn’t trust much Junior Fernandez and Oviedo. When they are effective they pitch good, but when they start to give hits oh man they give up a lot of runs.
Thank goodness!!! John Mozeliak saved the Cardinals!!! Picked up another #5 starting pitcher.
Quintana is a quality #3-4 starter. He’s only the #4 starter for the Cardinals due to them also picking up Montgomery.
1st
first what?
First to be second looks like
BURN
First to be ratioed lol
And last at the same time.
Dylan Carlson and Lars Nootbaar for Jose Quintana
Doubt it.
My point was that’s what the type of players the cubs gave up for him.
Nootbaar won’t ever be what Cease has turned into. Losing him was by far the worst part of that Cub’s trade.
I honestly don’t know many cards younger players. Instead of nootbaar make it Donovan
Lol
I think it’s Walker instead of Nootbar actually
Jack Clark and Tommy Herr
I thought we’re going to get Montas earlier. Are they still on for Soto also?
I would assume so. Reports said that the A’s wanted the some of the same prospects for Montas as the Nationals wanted for Soto so now that he’s off the table it won’t complicate anything. Still think the Padres will outbid us tbh.
Quintana is so much better than Happ and Lester cmon. Happ and Lester both had 6+ era’s and were super old. Quintana has a 3.5 era this year with a 2 war.
Playing w nothing on the line, sure. See how he does when under pressure. Signed, a Cubs fan.
I’m feeling happy the Cardinals didn’t land Montas. I’m afraid he’s Mark Mulder 2.0 with those recent shoulder issues
That’s my fear (Yankee fan here). I checked out Frankie’s pre- and post-injury 4-seamer velocity and it’s troubling. He hit 98 MPH in the 8th inning on June 23 when he no-hit the M’s through 7.2 innings. In his last outing, his 4-seamer was down to 94 MPH by the fourth inning and he lasted only five.
My heart stopped when this popped up
Thought it was gonna be Soto
@Milwaukee-2208 I hope the Pirates get Soto too.
Soto to White Sox.
Wait and see…
Lol … they’d still suck.
They are making an offer the Nats cannot refuse.
With the worst farm system in baseball?
Yes, cause the best are already in the majors!
Eloy plus Montgomery and Cespedes.
3rd place
With what farm system? Sox would still be a third place team.
The Cardinals love acquiring mediocre to below average lefties at the deadline. Lester, Happ and now Quintana. Hate to inform them, but he’s not much better than what they have on the farm.
Wow , that’s a really bad comparison.
If they get the improved results they got from those 2 with Quintana he will be starting game 2.
Well, the Maddog (Maddox) does seem to get a lot out of not much, maybe he can with Quintana.
if Quintana can just continue with what he’s doing, they’re getting an above average SP in the league.
the 3.5 ERA is no fluke, Pirates were using him as their main workhorse this season
I hope he does as well as Lester and Happ! Keep this strategy going with our GG defense!
This means nothing if cards don’t get soto
Why?
The team is in the top 3rd in offense. The defense is fine. The pitching has issues…..and pitching is what wins.
Not a Cards fan, but agree–no need to give up the farm for two years if a guy who won’t re-sign.
Agreed. Besides, both Bader and Yepez will be back for the September stretch run and hopefully the playoffs, the Cardinals still have all three very good starting outfielders under control for next year, and they would have to significantly downgrade their starting pitching over the next two years just to afford Soto’s arbitration salaries.
After draining the farm to acquire Quintana, how could they possibly still have enough for Soto?!
In Division Trade,
I don’t think the Pirates are in anyone’s division. They’re just there to bolster other team’s records.
…for now…..
As a long suffering Pirates fan, your comment is apparently five years old. There’s some light at the end of the tunnel here, whether it’s in the form of the kids who’ve already made it here or the ones in the pipeline. No guarantee that any of them will pan out of course, but it beats trading both established stars and your top prospects in true scattershot fashion
I agree, but it’s a bit frustrating, especially in the fairly weak Central. Hoping the Pirates are legit in the next 3 or 4 years. They certainly have plenty of pieces, and I like that they’re holding on to Reynolds.
I don’t know tired.I think that I may be taking your place as a skeptic.They do have some good young players,and some are showing promise,but this current bevy of hitters should be known as the “ Toothpick Company.”.
Come on Saint Louis, Pittsburgh isn’t the only intra-divisional farm team to choose from this year.
Dumpster diving again.
Stratton added, the dumpster just ignited.
Exactly my thoughts. I hope they didn’t give up anyone good
Stratton, yes, but Quintana is a very good mid-rotation pickup.
Quintana has been very good for the Pirates all year.
“Very good” is an exaggeration. He’s been fine. Knows how to pitch. Shouldn’t start a playoff game for anyone.
He’s a solid 3-4. He can certainly pitch a playoff game.
Lol there will be much worse pitchers starting playoff games…
You and your 8 friends might want to take a look at his 2021, 20, 19 stats before proclaiming him a “solid 3-4″….”he can certainly pitch a playoff game”!
He may be able to pitch but how well and how long probably are the optimal questions….
And before you have to change your shorts about his 2022 pitching performance, he’s pitching for the Pirates who are going nowhere this year……aka NO PRESSURE….that changes if the Cards make the playoffs.
What a bizarre display of unnecessary anger lol. Did he steal your girlfriend?
@rocky7 Confused by the 8 friends comment. And I stand by the solid 3-4 comment. He’s no ace, but he’s better than what many teams have at the bottom of the rotation. The Cards defense and run support cancel out the benefits of the Pirates “no pressure.” He definitely moves the needle slightly for the Cards.
No pressure? After last year, Quintana has been pitching for his very life in MLB! How much more pressure could there be? If he had repeated what he did last year, in Pittsburgh, he would have been done.
Those 2019-21 stats don’t matter compared to how good he is now, and it’s not like he has no quality track record at all in his career.
Cubs at Catds starting tomorrow. Thursdays game cards starter is TBD. If it’s Quintana, he’ll probably shutout the cubs. The cubs will go up to bad like he’s Justin Verlander
He’s got a 2.0 WAR. He is, unequivocally, having a great year.
Lol sure. WAR is infallible. And does two truly equate to “great”? If I cared enough I would find ten guys w a WAR of two who are unequivocally not great.
He’s not great, but he’s certainly decent.
Please don’t tell us your definition of “great year” is 3-5 with a 3.5 ERA, in 100 innings….he’s a .500 career pitcher with a decent ERA that was pretty much influenced by his 2012-2016 performances…..since then…pretty much eh!
So 2018 is more important than now ?
Generally a pitcher’s win loss record is relatively meaningless because there’s so many factors out of their control baked into those stats but as a Pirates fan I assure you that a starter having a 3-5 win loss record by the trade deadline for this franchise generally means he’s doing excellent work at his job.
This year, Quintana has been among the best at keeping the ball in the yard. That’s a good skill to have in a playoff game.
Probably Walker
Lol
I laughed out loud at this
Sounds about right ..
Well that was an unexpected outcome. I did not expect the Cards to get him.
Imo, it’s a pretty average return. I was kind of dissapointed given it seems like a buyers market for SP, but it fills two needs. Gets us another young relief pitcher and a power-hitting 1B prospect.
I bet they’ll start Oviedo. The cards had him start several games. I could see him in the Pittsburgh rotation at some point. He’s young and will probably get better, his stuff has potential.
He should start. None of their other starters are doing much.
Brubaker had a bad start in his last outing, but before that, he had a 3.50 ERA/3.63 FIP from his 3rd game of the season to his 19th. Zach Thompson had a streak going of 11 straight appearances giving up 2 or fewer earned runs. Even Keller hasn’t done bad this year. 3.29 ERA/3.61 FIP since adding his sinker. Now they’ll recall Contreras. They need to put Oviedo in the best possible opportunity to succed, which is in the bullpen. If we’re talking about 5th starter production from Oviedo vs good bullpen arm, you might as well put Oviedo in the bullpen and call-up Contreras and Cody Bolton.
I think they go with Oviedo in relief honestly.
Evidently you don’t know so much…Keller has been excellent in his last ten to twelve starts. Averaging 6 innings a start. None of the pirates starters has more than 3 wins. But overall their starters have been keeping them in the game. Contreras will be back and the youngsters will be called up this week… excited to see how they do
Contreras will be up within days.
The guy they got for Vogelbach will be up then also..
Bolton should come up too but who do they send back down?Underwood?
All good talking points, but success for me is wins. Pirates have been giving these “ridiculous” talking points for the last 25 year’s. Spin rates, ground ball rates, quality starts, etc, etc, etc. GIVE ME WIN RATES. I want BULL DOGS.
One need. Stratton is a downgrade compared to Oviedo.
imo has good pizza
Come join our rotation of Wainwright, Mikolas and you can be our 3rd 5th starter.
that’s about as Mo as it gets right there
Not a front-line starter, but a step in the right direction. Hopefully this trade works out for the Cards and they improve further via trade.
I love the Cardinals fans complaining about dumpster diving. They need to get out of the Soto talks. I’m glad they didn’t pull the trigger on Montas. They don’t have a good enough team to be mortgaging the whole future. Build a team of 26, not 2. I don’t want to be the Angels. Get a couple SP that can keep you in games a RP to get McFarland out of the pen and give Gio, Cabrera, and Helsley some help and hope for the best. Would have rather seen Odorizzi or Rodon, but maybe they aren’t available as much as we’ve heard.
so hes a bad dumpster diving cheap pitcher? surprised hes not in boston
Jaime Garcia Jr.
If this return is bigger than Montas’s I’m going to explode
well that’s about as Mozeliak as it gets!
Doesn’t matter he stayed in the division since the pirates are firmly entrenched in the basement every year. He is a rental anyways
Let’s get Trout!!
Are the cardinals just going to waste the arenado and Goldie trades and contracts?
Acquiring bug name people doesn’t keep you from wasting a contract. Pujols, Trout, Ohtani, Rendon….how many season in the playoffs, how many winning seasons? Build a team of 26 and that happens with good scouting, drafting, development, and not trading them away for names. As long as they didn’t give up much, I’m absolutely perfectly fine with this. Hopefully Bednar comes with him.
cards667;
You may be the first rational Cardinals fan I’ve read on here this trade deadline. Most of them think like Padre / Preller fans.
cards667 is actually mozeliak
That isnt a competitive playoff rotation…. Just like last year.
It is wasting a trade and contract when you have two mvp caliber players in the heart of line up and you trot out a rotation full of middle of the rotation starters. Winning in the regular season isn’t the same as winning in the post season. The post is a sprint, not a marathon.
Teams, including the Cardinals have won a Championship with worse rotations. BTW in the Playoffs you don’t need a 5th starter and a 4th is arguably not an absolute need. A top 3 of Waino, Mikolas, and Quintana is competitive enough to go on a playoff run, and if you get Flaherty back that a solid 4
Lol, you think Flaherty will pitch for the Cardinals again.
The odds are that Flaherty will still return this season, and if not he should be healthy next year.
Mikolas is a legit ace again, and Wainwright is a good #2. Now that they’ve got Montgomery as well, a playoff rotation of Mikolas, Wainwright, Montgomery, and Quintana is very good, and that’s even before considering the possibility of getting Flaherty back.
Oviedo and Malcolm Nunez is the rumor
They significantly improved the starting rotation here. That’s not wasting anything.
I don’t like to see this as a Brewers fan… Quintana is trash but he always pitches like Max Scherzer against the Brewers (he’s something like 9-2, 2.50 ERA in his career against MIL).
Woodford? They won’t use him anyway.
Its amazing this guy keeps getting pickup up by playoff contenders. It is funny how the Cardinals have said they wanted to pick up better than the Lester/Happ/LeBlanc’s of last season and yet here we are
You’re comparing Quintana when Cards acquired him to Happ and Lester?
What’s his ERA since 2019? if you look at the bigger sample it’s pretty comparable.
That being said I’ve always like Quintana when not on a Joe Madden team so maybe that says something.
Lol some guys improve/ find a pitching coach/ develop a new pitch.
But I realize it’s just easier to randomly pick out the sample size that supports your narrative.
Only his ERA and other stats this season really matter. He’s much better than the Lester and Happ pickups last year.
Dave Dombrowski, DO SOMETHING
Forgot about Sosa so soon?
Thor coming soon to a stadium near you.
He will
Go get Rodon or Mahle
He’s been worth 2 WAR thus far and has a 119 ERA+. People talking about “dumpster diving” haven’t been paying attention to his results this season.
They need to avoid throwing the farm to the Nats for Soto. He’ll never sign with STL long term so it’s not worth it. Walker, Winn, Gorman, and Carlson are all going to be pivotal for the future of their lineup.
Couldn’t agree more!
I guess stats don’t lie, but having watched a bunch of his starts this year I just don’t see anything more than a 4/5 starter. Not to say that’s not valuable, but saying “2 WAR, great season” is missing at least part of the story.
You do realize that by accumulating 2 WAR at this point of the season means he’s on pace for about a 4 WAR season which is a really good, borderline great year right?
You would have him for 3 playoff runs, you don’t need him long term. The Cards system is so deep that they would be just fine.
There is absolutely nothing special about Carlson. He is another Stephan Piscotty. He’ll be lucky if his ceiling is Colby Rasmus
I absolutely can’t stand when people say that. Carlson, who is still only 23, is getting the JD Drew treatment and it’s unfortunate. He was hyped up like crazy and people aren’t ever going to be happy with him. And just like Drew they expected him to hit .500 with 60 HR and when he was “only” 24% above average and playing with Pujols, Edmonds, Rolen it was never enough. I won’t complain about trading him, since it brought Wainwright, but he was even better after STL.
I watched all of JD Drew in Saint Louis as well. Carlson has has nowhere near that upside in him.
Maybe not at Drew’s level, but he certainly has better upside than Rasmus and especially Piscotty.
I mean his offensive stats are actually worse than Piscotty’s were at the same points in their career except that Carlson has more MLB experience at the same age. Maybe he will improve but at this point he certainly is looking like an avg major league outfielder offensively. In regards to JD Drew, he didn’t live up to the hype, recognizing that someone is probably not going to live up to the hype is somehow a bad thing to do? I think Carlson is going to be better than Piscotty but are you really going to pretend that he isn’t a major league outfielder with only 7 hrs in 87 games and a .311 obp?
While Carlson is comparable to Piscotty after 2 seasons, but at that point it looked like Piscotty would be a future star rather than a guy who be on the bench if he played for a better team. Carlson is much more likely to follow through on his potential.
Why is Carlson “much more likely to follow through on his potential” ?
W
Mo being Mo
Sources: Johan Oviedo and Malcom Nuñez are the players who are going to Pirates in José Quintana trade. Both cubans players.
It’s Oviedo and Nunez. Good solid trade for the Cards as you aren’t losing anything in those players shipped out.
We knew he was going to go but it’s too bad it had to be an inter-division team.
Now get rid of the rest of the castoffs
Oviedo and Nunez, not a bad return for pirates.
Agreed. I think that Oviedo will end up being a decent starter. Seemed that he was starting to put it together a bit. Good chance for him to get some starts with the Pirates.
Wow. What a waste. Moz has to be the dumbest exec in all of sports.
I know terrible. How many winning seasons? How many playoff seasons? Without a huge budget and in a smaller market. I’m not a big MO fan, but there is absolutely no reason for him to do anything drastic right now. If it is Nunez he could bite them in the future. But he’s limited defensively and they have many others who can play 1B.
Because the have Theo set of playing the Pirates, Cubs, Brewers and Reds a to. Each year. Only one of which are any good in any given year. They only have one division title in the last 6 years and it will be in the last 7 after this year. Their hopes at the beginning of each year are just to win a wild card spot and see what happens. And I say all this as a FORMER decade long season ticket holder.
Exactly what they do. They don’t have an unlimited budget to spend like LA, LA, NY, NY, Phil, Boston. They build from within and stay competitive and hope it all comes together. Fill the holes when needed. DeWitt’s have made a lot of money staying competitive. It’s frustrating at times, but it’s better than being the Angels. It’s better than being the Cubs or Nationals, who yes won their title more recently than STL, but have been pretty bad since.
They have self imposed budget restrictions. They have a crazy amount of money to spend. The Dewitt’s are rich, they sell over 3mm seats a year, they have a billion dollar tv deal (in year 5). Plus they get competitive balance money for being a “small market”. They are the rich get richer
And it took a 17 game winning streak for the Cardinals to finish with a winning record last year.
They very likely could win the division this year, especially after also adding Montgomery (and the Brewers trading away Hader), and they still made the playoffs in 2020 and 2021 despite not winning the division.
The 17-game winning streaked helped get them into the playoffs last year, but they still had a winning record even before that streak started.
No owner invests his/her personal fortune into a sports team they own beyond the original purchase; it’s a business investment to always make an overall profit. Their TV deal is still below average compared to the other teams. They do *NOT* get any revenue sharing money, only the occasional extra draft pick (as stupid as that is).
lol
If it’s Oviedo and Nunez, that’s a little steep for a rental. Oviedo is going to be good, trust me.
Oviedo’s are a dime a dozen. He’s not a starter, can’t miss bats and often struggles with control. If, and big if, he finds control he could be a good reliever.
Literally. Pirates had one last year from rule 5 trade and now this year for rental trade.
Let’s be honest – Oviedo is no Liberatore. The Cards got him for cash from the Phillies and he’s failed time and time again as a starter; a decent reliever, but he never really pitched in high-leverage situations and can be easily replaced.
Nunez is a third-baseman – with Arenado and Walker in front of him, he had nowhere else to go.
Cardinal fans WAY overvalue their own minor leaguers.
Oviedo was signed as an international free agent.
Nunez has already been moved off 3B because his defense is poor and been playing 1B in AA. He’s limited defensively. He’s 5’10”. His bat is going to have to carry him, but is it good enough to carry 1B/DH. Maybe. He could bite the Cardinals in a few years. Or he could just be another Michael Chavis.
Who will fill Quintanas spot? Vanmeter?
Roansy Contreras should come back soon
Diego Castillo
This wouldn’t surprise me at all considering they find a spot for Van Meter on a daily basis like he’s the coach’s son
Clint Hurdle was the same way. He’d find times to put Sean Rodriguez and Clint Barmes in the lineup when there were multiple players with either more potential, or just flat out better in the organization.
I thought Stl would go after Rodon. I’m surprised the Giants haven’t moved him yet
They still need to. I think there’s a chance that Pallante could get shut down at some point due to innings. If they don’t get something in the class of Rodon it will be a real letdown.
Then it’s a good thing they got Montgomery.
I would have moved him. Any package between Quintana and Montas/Castillo is strong.
A year ago this time the Angels couldn’t give away Quintana and released him.
Thanks for reminding me, I think my PTSD is flaring up now. Thor will probably be WS MVP after he leaves town. That’s how it goes for pitchers we get rid of.
I’ll take not. Fair a solid SP rental
B for Pirates. Much better than the Anderson return last year. Pirates going after MLB relievers. Should have strong pen. They actually going to try to compete in 2023? Promising prospect power bat.
C for Cards. Not crazy about giving up a reliever when trying to contend. Decent prospect but 1b. Compared to other pitchers who moved this is a fair price.
I wonder if Oviedo’s recent visa issues (and how he may have handled them) played a part in the Cardinals being ready to deal him. Seems like Nunez and a lower-level arm would have been enough. I like Oviedo, but I can see the Cardinals souring on him if they thought the visa problems were avoidable.
At least he finally got a win and wasn’t the Cardinals 2020’s version of Anthony Young (RIP)
I really like Quintana. He was such an obvious target for the Cardinals in the offseason … so it’s kind of awful that they have to surrender Oviedo and Nunez for him now when they could have just signed him so cheaply.
Last offseason he wasn’t considered to be any good anymore. Only a noncontender like the Pirates had any interest in giving him another chance at that point. Good for him that he finally managed to rediscover his previous form.
Good trade for both teams.
Nunez had to be exposed to Rule 5 unless he was added to MLB roster so, with Arenado/Gorman/Walker, already at 3B and Goldschmidt/Yepez at 1B, he was expendable. Like Oviedo’s arm but haven’t seen success as a starter.
Players rumored in the potential Soto deal are still available to trade and the rotation is closer to playoff quality. So, good for Cards.
Pittsburgh can add Nunez to MLB roster and try Oviedo as a starter again – so it works for them.
Liked Oviedo’s arm and good point on Nunez.
Cub fans are still salty, best trade in White Sox history, Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease for Jose Quintana
Dylan Cease was a big loss, but Jimenez is turning into an IL mainstay with mediocre stats when healthy.
Yet, the Cubs and Quintana are the ones wearing rings.
What ring is Quintana wearing? Wedding ring?
Quintana has accumulated favorable stats on teams not in contention but when pitching for a contender he has proved he can’t handle the pressure
Stratton added because Hicks is in the Soto deal?
No they need RP, probably need another RP and get rid of McFarland. They don’t need to mess with Soto. They’d be much better off getting in on Pablo Lopez and Anthony Bass.
Or to take Oviedo’s spot.
Oh no! I laugh at this saint Louis !!
This is such a bad trade for St. Louis
The next Happ, Lester, Matz.
Oviedo’s was as good as the Cardinals were going to allow him to be. He got sent up and down to often early in his career and it hurt his development.Give him enough innings and he will be a Ny Yankee or LA Dodger in a few years.
He’s not eligible to be a free agent until 2028.
What a weak ass return….Pirates should have just kept him.
I agree. They already have a similar player in Aaron Shackelford at AA. I doubt Nunez will replace Hayes and will move to first. As for Oviedo, he seems adequate.
Oviedo seems like a quality pen arm, much more then adequate. A huge upgrade over Stratton and controlled for five years.
Nunez will likely be in the mix at 1B.
Too funny…Twigs and Berry’s linked to all these big names and actually took on liabilities…lol
Good trade for both teams.
Oviedo is interesting, he seems to be able to throw strikes and while his swing and miss stuff isn’t huge he could be a solid 5th starter. Pirates farm system is kinda bat-heavy and they need some depth here.
Malcom is an interesting bat, fangraphs has him as future 55/55 (270, low 20s homers) and his plate discipline apparently improved this year making him more valuable but while he is listed as 1b/3b longenhagen said his defense doesn’t even play at 1B and he is more of a DH who should only play at first in an emergency.
For a DH only his power might be a little light though, longenhagen called him yuan yepez with even less defensive value.
Still not a bad get here even if he only is a depth option.
None of the guys has huge upside but they provide some floor and depth for the back end of the roster
Congrats to the Cards for acquiring Chris “Gas Can” Stratton!
LOL
Kudos to what ever team that helped jack up the price…Cards fans will be cursing this trade come September.
Value is about right. Not sure i like the Stratton part but not really complaining.
Cards get a reasonable pitcher to save some innings from the main starters and a Reliever who has had success in the recent past. Both really cheap.
Pirates get a former prospect starter now pen arm that ‘could’ be pretty good. and a fringe position player prospect
This looks like a pretty good return. I’m not seeing much, of any, difference between Stratton & Oviedo, with salary & years obviously favoring Oviedo. And imho, Nunez has enough to stick around as a DH.