Dodgers Trade Rumors: Cardinals' Jordan Montgomery, Jack Flaherty Among Targets

The St. Louis Cardinals are expected to be sellers ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have reportedly checked in on pitchers Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty.

According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "The Cardinals and Dodgers have had trade discussion about Flaherty and Montgomery, according to sources. The NL West-leading Dodgers believe they have a stockpile of pitching prospects, and yet they are actively looking to add starters at the deadline."

The Dodgers (59-44) find themselves in a battle in the NL West, just three games ahead of the San Francisco Giants and four games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's all the more impressive considering the team has dealt with injuries to starting pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May (who is now done for the season), while Julio Urias' has been inconsistent.

So it isn't a shock that the Dodgers might seek to stabilize the starting rotation.

The 30-year-old Montgomery would help. He's 6-9 on the season across 21 starts with a 3.42 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 108 strikeouts in 121 innings. He isn't an ace, but he'd help to solidify the middle of the rotation.

He acknowledged after his start on Friday that his time in St. Louis may be coming to an end.

"I was in fight or flight mode out there today," he told reporters. "But coming off the mound it definitely crossed my mind. It has been a privilege to throw for the Cardinals and be in this locker room with all these quality guys and just people I'll never forget."

Flaherty, 27, is 7-6 in 20 starts with a 4.43 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 106 strikeouts in 109.2 innings. Like Montgomery, he'll be a free agent after the season, making him a potential short-term rental for contending teams (and a logical player for the Cardinals to move this summer).

As for the Dodgers, they'll have competition on the market for either player:

And the Cardinals are preparing for life without Montgomery and Flaherty.

"It's a sad thing, and I've never really gone through it, honestly, so I don't know how I'll handle it," starter Adam Wainright told reporters about the trade rumors and possibility of players like Flaherty and Montgomery being dealt. "I know I don't like it. I don't like looking over at Jack, [Montgomery] and [Jordan] Hicks and all these guys who are such great competitors and championship-caliber players and not winning with them. I don't like that."