By Chris Brown / STL Baseball Today | @cbrown_STLBBT | July 28, 2016, 11:52 am CT
The Cardinals have reportedly checked in on Angels reliever Joe Smith. By Kieth Allison / CC Image
General manager John Mozeliak is reportedly scouring the trade market in an attempt to address the Cardinals’ greatest need just days before the MLB non-waiver Trade Deadline.
According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, the redbirds are in the market for a late-inning arm to add to the bullpen, something they began searching for even before former closer Trevor Rosenthal went on the disabled list.
Since Rosenthal lost the closer’s job in late June, offseason signing Seung-hwan Oh has performed very well in the role, collecting six saves in seven chances while posting an outstanding 1.72 ERA and 0.84 WHIP across 52 1/3 innings on the year. While Oh has locked things down in the ninth inning over roughly the last month, the shift that came with Oh’s move to closer has left the back end of the Cardinals bullpen significantly weaker, with the team relying heavily on the likes of Seth Maness, Tyler Lyons, Kevin Siegrist, and Jonathan Broxton.
Heyman reports that the Cardinals have looked at a great deal of late-inning options potentially on the market, including Angels setup man Joe Smith, and speculates that closers Wade Davis (Royals) and Huston Street (Angels) could make sense for the club if made available by their respective teams.
Smith, 32, has stumbled to a 4.08 ERA over 35 1/3 frames this season, but has been a reliable setup man in recent years and has tallied 29 saves while filling in as closer at times over the last four seasons.
While a reliever of Smith’s tier would likely come relatively cheap for the Cardinals, the same can’t be said for a proven closer such as Davis or Street. It’s not clear which tier the redbirds are most interested in, but it does appear that they’re evaluating a wide range of potential options.
Other relievers rumored (to varying degrees) to be available at the trade deadline include Andrew Miller (NYY), David Robertson (CHW), Tyler Clippard and Daniel Hudson (ARI), and Jeremy Jeffress and Will Smith (MIL).
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