A breakdown of the contracts belonging to some of the Cardinals' potential trade targets.
The MLB non-waiver trade deadline falls this Thursday at 3:00 p.m. CT. The St. Louis Cardinals are reportedly prioritizing a starter as the deadline nears. The market is beginning to take shape:
- The Giants saved the Cardinals from acquiring Jake Peavy by trading for the righty.
- The Red Sox are reportedly open for business and ready to sell Jon Lester or John Lackey, if the price is right.
- The Phillies have allegedly begun making outrageous trade demands for Cole Hamels, per Jayson Stark. One of the nine teams to which Hamels cannot block a trade with his no-trade clause? The Cardinals.
- Jon Morosi tweets that the Cardinals had a scout at the Mets-Phillies game in which Bartolo Colon and A.J. Burnett squared off.
- If you aren't reading Stark's trade deadline coverage, you should be. He also shares scouts' takes on Cliff Lee's unimpressive return from the DL. Stark passes along that Lee won't be moved until August at the earliest, if even then.
If you didn't think Ruben Amaro was rather dumb and consequently bad at his job before reading this post, I ask you to fully absorb the option-year buyouts he has negotiated for the Hamels, Cliff Lee, and Burnett contracts.
- Lee has a $27.5 million club option for 2016, his age 37 season, with a $12.5 million buyout.
- Hamels has a $20 million club option for 2019 with a $6 million buyout.
- Burnett's option is perhaps the strangest. There is a $15 million mutual option, but also a $7.5 million player option. The buyout is $1 million.
The trio of Phillies pitchers are each owed a fair chunk of change. This is exacerbated by the pricy buyouts the Philadelphia front office agreed to in the contracts. Coupled with the front office's current demands and one wonders whether any of the Phillies pitchers will be moved by the end of business on Thursday.
The Cardinals will keep player salary in mind when deciding whether or not to make a trade this week. So keep this chart in mind when the trade gossip really starts to pick up in the days to come.