The fire sale is officially on in St. Louis. Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt may not be on the move before the trade deadline, but just about everyone else is: Hours after dealing closer Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays, Cardinals GM John Mozeliak has reportedly sent lefty Jordan Montgomery to the Texas Rangers. In return, reliever John King is headed to St. Louis along with Minor League infielder Thomas Saggese and right-handed pitcher Tekoah Roby.
Full trade, per ESPN sources:
Rangers receive: LHP Jordan Montgomery and RHR Chris Stratton
Cardinals receive: IF Thomas Saggese, RHP Tekoah Roby and LHP John King
The deal is done. The Rangers get another starter and another reliever. They are all in.— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2023
Amid a profoundly disappointing 2023 season, it was only a matter of time before the Cardinals started wheeling and dealing with their eye on retooling for next year — and Montgomery, set to hit free agency for the first time this winter, seemed to be a prime candidate. Just about every contender was linked to the lefty at some point in the run-up to the deadline, but in the end it was Texas who closed the deal, adding Montgomery and Max Scherzer to a rotation that’s been decimated by injury.
Who came out ahead here? What does this deal mean for each team? Let’s break it all down.
Jordan Montgomery trade grades
Rangers: A-
Credit to Texas GM Chris Young: He knows that this team’s contention window is right now — the core the Rangers have assembled over the last couple of offseasons isn’t getting any younger or less expensive — and despite injuries dealing him a crappy hand, he’s managed to aggressively address the holes on his roster while hanging on to almost all of his top Minor League talent.
With Jacob deGrom out for the year and Nathan Eovaldi landing on the IL earlier Sunday with a forearm strain, Texas needed to add more than just Scherzer to its rotation if it wants hold off the hard-charging Houston Astros over the next two months. Montgomery is an ideal fit: The lefty has become among the more underappreciated starters in the game over the last few years, with a 3.42 ERA in 121 innings this season with St. Louis and a 3.59 mark overall dating back to 2021. He’s also intimately familiar with how to navigate the rugged offenses in the AL, having spent the first 6.5 years of his career with the New York Yankees. (Not for nothing, but he held Houston to one run on six hits and six Ks over 6.1 innings earlier this season.)
Scherzer and Montgomery — along with Dane Dunning, Jon Gray and bunch of run support — should help keep Texas afloat until Eovaldi returns, something the team remains optimistic about. And while there’s of course risk in trading for a rental, you never know how many genuine chances at contention you’re going to get, and Young deserves credit for grabbing it by the horns — without giving up all that much in the process.
Cardinals: B-
Yes, Montgomery is a rental, and yes, he’s not the sort of frontline ace that typically commands an enormous return. But he’s still a very good starting pitcher in a market that’s run very hot over the last few days — he’s been substantially better than Scherzer this season, for example, but the Cardinals didn’t get anything like the kind of upside that Scherzer and Lucas Giolito commanded in the other two major trades involving a starting pitcher this week.
Which is not to say that there’s nothing to like here. Saggese, in particular, profiles as exactly the sort of unheralded utility player the Cardinals have been turning into quality Major Leaguers for years now. He stands just 5’11, but he does more damage than you’d think thanks to a swing geared for pull-side fly balls, as evidenced by his .314/.380/.514 slash line with 15 homers and eight steals at Double-A so far this season. Scouts are divided on his ultimate defensive home, but he’ll likely be able to play third, second or first — and given St. Louis’ track record, the odds seem very good that the bat is going to play regardless.
Roby, meanwhile, is a far more enticing prospect than his 5.05 season-long ERA would suggest. The righty is currently on the injured list, but he was on a roll in his three starts prior to going down, with a 1.65 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 16.1 innings. His fastball can be a little hittable when he doesn’t elevate it, but he’s getting it above hitters’ bats more and more consistently, and his changeup gives him a go-to secondary offering. There’s no true plus pitch here — and, accordingly, no top-of-the-rotation upside — but with four usable pitches, it’s not hard to see Roby developing into a quality starter in time provided he can stay healthy. Combined with righties Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein, both of whom the team acquired in the Hicks trade, St. Louis has stockpiled several arms that could help their big-league rotation as early as next year. It’s just hard not to feel a little bit disappointed given how hot the market had been up to this point.
