Cardinals Have Ties To 'Coveted' Blockbuster Trade Candidate

The St. Louis Cardinals are going to be interesting to follow as the trade deadine approaches although perception around the franchise has changed.

Entering the season it seemed like a given that the Cardinals would end up being sellers ahead of the July 31st deadline. That at least was the perception in the media before the season. St. Louis has flipped the script and doesn't seem as likely to sell off parts of the franchise any longer.

Heading into the season, guys like Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, and Erick Fedde were consistently were mentioned in trade speculation. Now, that isn't the case as much any longer, but a former member of the team has a chance to be the biggest name moved.

Former Cardinal hurler Sandy Alcántara is currently a member of the Miami Marlins but he has been talked about a lot as the deadline has gotten closer, even though he has had a rough season. He still has a lot of fans around the league and Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller even called him the top pitcher who could be moved.

"Among pitchers who have logged at least 50 innings this season, Sandy Alcantara has the worst ERA, and by a pretty wide margin," Miller said. "The only others north of 6.20 are Colorado's Antonio Senzatela (6.68) and Germán Márquez (6.98). We can't even chalk this terrible start up to poor BABIP luck, as Alcantara's .294 BABIP against is only slightly worse than the league average (.289) and not drastically worse than his career mark (.274). He's simply walking more, whiffing less, allowing more home runs and stranding runners at an atrocious rate of barely 50 percent.

"But it's not all bad news. He wouldn't still be the most coveted pitcher on the trade block if it was. For starters, he's healthy. Alcantara did skip one start in early April when a game in Atlanta got rained out and Miami opted to just give him some extra rest and keep everyone else on their normal rest. Aside from that, though, he has taken the mound every fifth or sixth day, perpetually available since his return from Tommy John surgery."