Ex-Cardinals Ace Shockingly Not Traded At Trade Deadline

The St. Louis Cardinals were rather active at the trade deadline, agreeing on three trades. They agreed to send Ryan Helsley to the New York Mets to land a trio of talented prospects. Steven Matz was traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for talented prospect Blaze Jordan. Finally, minutes before the deadline, the Cardinals traded Phil Maton to the Texas Rangers to fill the hole in their bullpen.

While the Cardinals were making moves, there were a few ex-Cardinals around the league who found themselves in the middle of some exciting trade rumors.

Former Cardinals pitcher Sandy Alcántara was in the middle of a lot of trade rumors for months leading up to the trade deadline. The Miami Marlins ace struggled a lot early in the season, which seemed to tank his value on the trade block by quite a bit. He began to turn his season around closer to the deadline.

As the deadline passed, no Alcántara deal came to fruition. The righty is staying with the Marlins into the offseason, where the team will likely look to trade him again.

The fact that a deal didn't come together likely means the Marlins viewed him as a lot more valuable than the buying teams did. Holding him into the offseason will allow the righty to rebuild some of his trade value by performing well down the stretch.

When the offseason arrives, there's a chance the Cardinals could look to reunite with the righty. Adding him to a team like the Cardinals could be beneficial for both sides, especially since Alcántara originally came up through the minor leagues with St. Louis and made his big league debut with the team.

Since the Cardinals were sellers, not buyers, they were never a real Alcántara suitor at the deadline. They could change this in the offseason.