Yankees Trade Rumors: Cardinals' Jordan Hicks, Dylan Carlson Eyed Ahead of Deadline

The New York Yankees reportedly have their eyes on the St. Louis Cardinals as they prepare to go shopping ahead of Tuesday's Major League Baseball trade deadline.

According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Yankees are interested in Cardinals relief pitcher Jordan Hicks and outfielder Dylan Carlson. The two teams have held discussions regarding the availability of the two players.

St. Louis is in last place in the National League Central at 46-60 and 11.5 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. The franchise may not be accustomed to being in such a position, but it is a clear seller approaching the deadline.

However, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak ended any speculation about whether that meant trading star third baseman Nolan Arenado when he told Goold the team is not moving him.

Instead, Goold reported the plan is to "use this deadline to reboot the pitching staff and then augment it through the winter for a swift return to contention."

Manager Oliver Marmol echoed those sentiments Saturday when he said, "In conversations with everybody above me, I'm highly confident we'll be extremely competitive in 2024. We're not going through this again."

Perhaps trading Hicks or Carlson to the Yankees could help in that pursuit. New York is also a last-place team, but that is largely due to the competitiveness of the American League East. Its 55-49 record looks much better than St. Louis' mark.

The Yankees are eight games behind the first-place Baltimore Orioles but just 3.5 games back of a wild-card spot.

The hard-throwing Hicks has been solid but unspectacular this season with a 3.67 ERA, 1.51 WHIP and 59 strikeouts in 41.2 innings. He could be a situational option near the end of New York's bullpen in such a trade.

Carlson would provide outfield depth and injury insurance.

He is slashing .230/.328/.345 with five home runs and 24 RBI in 68 games this year.