*Photo from DRays Bay*
Another day, another trade. The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired RHP Andrew Kittredge from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for OF Richie Palacios, according to Katie Woo of The Athletic. Both teams have confirmed the news.
St. Louis president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said of getting Kittredge that "Obviously, we feel like we had some depth there from the outfield side and to keep improving our pitching has been our No. 1 goal this entire offseason. We really liked how he finished and he was throwing the ball really well in September. We were really encouraged that his confidence of where he was was really high. And, of course, he was on their postseason roster, so it shows that even they believed in him."
Kittredge returned from Tommy John Surgery in the second half of 2023 for the Rays and ended the season on a high note. He had a 3.09 ERA, 3.43 FIP, and 1.200 WHIP, picking up one save in 14 appearances, totaling 11 2/3 innings pitched.
In 2021, Kittredge put together a dominant year in the Rays bullpen, authoring a 1.88 ERA and 0.977 WHIP en route to his only all star game selection. He missed time in both 2022 and 2023 due to Tommy John Surgery but figures to be a valuable leverage arm for the Cardinals in their bullpen.
Tampa Bay president of baseball operations Erik Neander said of Kittredge that "Expect him to be his regular self next year and do really good work for St. Louis. Kitt, one that we've been really fortunate to have here, is as good as it gets and as much of a pro as it gets. Really satisfying for all of us to see the way his career's gone. He deserves the credit for that, but it's been a lot of fun to see him do it in our uniform."
In Palacios, the Rays gain a lefty hitter after trading one in Luke Raley to the Seattle Mariners. He started the year in the Cleveland Guardians system until a trade to the Cardinals where he continued to split time between the majors and Triple A. He has one year of minor league options remaining.
Neander said of Palacios that "Richie will get to come in and earn a spot. Sees the ball exceptionally well, has great at-bats, doesn’t swing and miss very often, high-contact hitter and I think is learning how to impact the baseball a little bit more, so we’ll see where it goes."
Palacios played in 32 games for the Cardinals last year after a June trade with the Guardians. He posted a .258/.307/.516 slash line with a 120 OPS+, hitting 6 home runs and 6 doubles with 16 RBI's in those 32 games.
With the Cardinals, Kittredge is expected to slot in the leverage spots of the bullpen along with Ryan Helsley and Giovanny Gallegos. Palacios joins a Rays outfield group that has Randy Arozarena, Jonny DeLuca, Josh Lowe, and Jose Siri all vying for playing time.
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