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Cardinals Trade For Justin Masterson

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The St. Louis Cardinals have traded for Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Justin Masterson, according to Peter Gammons.

Joel Sherman reports that outfielder James Ramsey could be going back to the Indians in the deal.

The important thing here is how this impacts the trade market in the NL Central. The Cardinals were looking at David Price and Jon Lester. Does this mean they’re out of that race? Or are they looking for multiple rotation pieces? I’d imagine we’ll get the answer to that question after the Masterson deal is announced. If this does take St. Louis out of the mix for Lester, then it might help the Pirates’ chances of acquiring him without giving up an unreasonable haul in prospects.

Masterson has struggled this year, with a 5.51 ERA, although his 4.05 xFIP suggests he should do better than what he’s done so far. He’s been great in previous years, and if he can do a 180 with the Cardinals, this would be a great pickup. Of course, if he continues to struggle, then it’s a move that won’t help them much.

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN had this interesting string of tweets earlier today about the Cardinals and their willingness to deal prospects.

And an update…

It seems that the Pirates aren’t the only team hesitant to part with top prospects for rentals.

UPDATE 2:26 PM: Ken Rosenthal says that it’s Masterson for Ramsey.

To get an idea of a Pirates’ comparable, Ramsey was rated by Baseball America as a 50, with medium risk. That was the pre-season rank, so things could have changed. The Pirates didn’t have any 50 Mediums, so I’d say the closest fit would be a 55 High. That would be someone like Harold Ramirez. Josh Bell had that rating pre-season, but he’s clearly moved beyond that now.

UPDATE 2:41 PM: Jon Morosi says that the trade doesn’t necessarily take the Cardinals out of the race for Lester.

He also adds that they might have to give up Shelby Miller to get Lester.

I still think, based on the Crasnick tweets, that the Cardinals won’t deal for Lester.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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