*Photo from Sports Illustrated*
The Texas Rangers have acquired LHP Jordan Montgomery and RHP Chris Stratton from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for IF Thomas Saggese, RHP Tekoah Roby, and LHP John King, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. The trade has been confirmed by both clubs.
Right after acquiring Max Scherzer from the New York Mets, the Rangers made another big trade to land both a starting and relief pitcher from the Cardinals, who also traded Jordan Hicks. Both moves come with Nathan Eovaldi hitting the 15 Day IL and Jacob deGrom out until the end of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John Surgery.
Montgomery is enjoying a strong season in the Cardinals rotation. He has a 3.42 ERA, 3.75 FIP, and 1.248 WHIP, averaging 2.6 walks per 9 innings and 8 strikeouts per 9 over 121 innings and 21 starts this season.
Texas GM Chris Young said that "We had an opportunity to acquire another starting pitcher and a veteran reliever that we think will both help us. Jordan Montgomery is having a tremendous year. We felt like he was one of the better starters on the market. And given where we are, that we needed to continue to upgrade our rotation. We addressed that. Chris Stratton is going to slide right into the bullpen, and I think that it's going to take a little pressure off some of the young guys that we've been depending on. We're excited to get them both."
During Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux's tenure with the Cardinals, he worked with both Stratton and Montgomery. At the end of the season, both Montgomery and Stratton are set to become free agents
In the Cardinals bullpen, Stratton is having a decent year after coming over during the 2022 season. He has a 4.36 ERA, 3.06 FIP, and 1.074 WHIP, averaging 2.9 walks per 9 and 9.9 strikeouts per 9. He has one save over 53 2/3 innings and 42 relief appearances.
Young said of getting Stratton that "I like where we are right now. I think that by improving our starting pitching, we're going to make our bullpen better. I think today is a perfect example of just relying on too many outs from the bullpen early in the game. In the last month, we've been doing that too often. So now can we back those guys up, put them in the right roles and is it going to make the bullpen better?"
One piece going back to the Cardinals is Saggese, who has played second, 3rd, and shortstop this season and is the 11th ranked prospect in the Rangers system per MLB Pipeline. With Double A Frisco, he has a .313/.379/.512 slash line, hitting 15 home runs with 78 RBI's and 22 doubles in 93 games this season.
Roby is the 14th ranked prospect in the Rangers system per MLB Pipeline. Also playing for Double A Frisco, Roby has a 5.05 ERA and 1.317 WHIP, averaging 9.7 strikeouts per 9 and 2.3 walks per 9 in 10 starts and 46 1/3 innings pitched.
King is the final piece of the return and gives the Cardinals a middle relief option in the bullpen. With the Rangers this season, King has a 5.79 ERA, 3.55 FIP, and 1.607 WHIP, throwing 18 2/3 innings in 15 relief appearances.
The acquisition of Stratton helps a Rangers bullpen that has a 4.80 ERA this season, and he joins Aroldis Chapman as new faces in the bullpen. Montgomery will join a rotation that currently features Scherzer, Andrew Heaney, Martin Perez, and Jon Gray, with Dane Dunning also in the mix.
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