The St. Louis Cardinals struck first in free agency by landing three starting pitchers before most teams made a deal of any kind.
Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak appears content with his starting five and can divert his focus to the trade market, where he has plenty of depth to deal from.
St. Louis reportedly has been sending out feelers for a trio of players that could covet solid returns.
"The Cardinals are letting teams know that starter Steven Matz and outfielders Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson are available," USA Today's Bob Nightengale wrote Sunday.
Since this report, Mozeliak revealed on-air that O'Neill is available, which has been reported for over a year. Carlson has also been long-rumored to be available.
The Cardinals listening to offers on Matz is the most jarring aspect of the report. Can St. Louis truly afford to lose the veteran with the current pitching staff assembled?
The 32-year-old posted a 3.86 ERA (113 ERA+) with a 98-to-32 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .263 batting average against and 1.34 WHIP in 105 innings last season. Matz has been far from reliable but his innings are valuable and St. Louis does not exactly have the deepest rotation.
The only way trading Matz would make sense is if he's part of a package for Tampa Bay Rays' Tyler Glasnow, Milwaukee Brewers' Corbin Burnes, Cleveland Guardians' Shane Bieber or another starter of that ilk.
In that scenario, Carlson would likely be the center of the package, alongside Matz and at least some prospect compensation.
More must-reads: