MLB Trade Rumors: Cardinals Open to Offers on Young Position Players; Mariners Linked

Owning the third-worst record in the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals could be ready to make bold moves ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

Per MLB Network's Jon Morosi, the Cardinals "will listen" on offers for their young position players if it will bring them back starting pitching with years of control remaining.

Morosi noted the Cardinals and Seattle Mariners have had talks, but Seattle is keeping George Kirby off the market in any trade discussion.

The Mariners have been a disappointment thus far with a 42-43 record. Their lineup has underachieved to this point, ranking 19th in MLB in runs scored (384) and 24th in OPS (.702).

Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo are all under team control through at least 2027. Bryan Woo, their top pitching prospect, has been solid in his first six MLB starts with a 4.08 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 28.2 innings.

The Cardinals are in danger of having their first losing season since 2007. Their 35-51 record is only better than the Washington Nationals (34-52) and Colorado Rockies (33-55) in the NL.

There's no quick-fix answer for St. Louis, though pitching is certainly the biggest problem area for the team. The starting rotation ranks 26th in MLB in ERA (4.96) and 28th in strikeouts per nine innings (7.15).

Jordan Montgomery, who can become a free agent after this season, is the only Cardinals starter with an ERA under 4.50.

If the Cardinals are willing to take offers on their young position players, Jordan Walker seems like an obvious target for teams. He's 21 years old and currently hitting .286/.351/.452 with seven homers in 168 at-bats.

Walker has had serious problems in the outfield this season. He's been worth minus-13 defensive runs saved in just 365.2 innings.

Given Walker's age and status as a top-five prospect coming into this season, it shouldn't be difficult to get him playing at least passable defense in a corner outfield spot.

Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbar are the other young position players on St. Louis' roster that would have significant value in a trade at this point. Gorman, 23, has already set a career high with 17 homers in 77 games this season. Nootbar, 25, is on pace to set career-highs in batting average (.257) and on-base percentage (.364).