The St. Louis Cardinals currently sit at 4-4 on the 2024 season as they have navigated their fair share of injuries. They have weathered a bit of an early season storm to stay at the .500 mark thus far, but a recent trade proposal would see the club making a move for an ace starting pitcher.
The Redbirds added three veteran arms to their pitching rotation over the offseason, but a recent proposal from Fan Nation’s Inside the Cardinals blog suggests the team should target Miami Marlins lefthander Jesus Luzardo, who has been the subject of numerous MLB trade rumors recently.The Cards could certainly be on the market for another starting pitcher, as they monitor the condition of righthander Sonny Gray. The free agent signee suffered a hamstring injury in spring training and has yet to make a big league start in 2024. Luzardo would also give manager Oliver Marmol the luxury of having two lefties in rotation – the other being Steven Matz.
Columnist Patrick McAvoy stated that “the Cardinals should do everything possible to get a deal done if the Marlins actually do end up deciding to move Luzardo.” “The club’s biggest question mark remains the rotation, and signing someone like Luzardo only could help.”
The Marlins may already be available for trade.
Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic recently conjectured that Jesus Luzardo might be traded sooner rather than later.
As they continue to reassemble their roster, Rosenthal and Lin noted that the Marlins might be interested in making a trade early in the season. They are not seen as serious competitors in the NL East after going winless in their first eight games of the season.
“They are 0-7, with four starting pitchers on the injured list,” Rosenthal and Lin said. “No, it is not too early to envision the Miami Marlins as a trade-deadline seller, not when they already have moved one veteran player and entertained offers for some of their biggest names.”
Is a Luzardo Trade Possible for the Cardinals?
Following Gray’s injury, team president John Mozeliak was non-commital if the Redbirds would make an immediate move. However, with a rotation whose average age is approximately 35 years old, adding another arm seems to make sense.
During the offseason, the club signed Gray, along with fellow righthanded pitchers Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson, to help revitalize a staff that posted a 4.79 team ERA in 2023. Despite the upgrade, there’s an adage in baseball that says, “You can’t have too much pitching.”
After pitching 455.2 innings, the 26-year-old Luzardo has a 23-29 career record, a 4.19 ERA, and 514 strikeouts. Even though there aren’t particularly high figures, Miami will have no trouble finding trade partners thanks to the pitcher’s talent, who was born in Peru. Mozeliak and the Cardinals might not be ready to bid against so many bidders at this early stage of the 2024 season.
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