MIAMI -- This has been an active date for dealing by the Cardinals, who, in each of the last three seasons, have completed a trade on July 30.
There was the Brandon Moss-for-Rob Kaminsky swap a year ago, and the acquisition of Justin Masterson for James Ramsey a season before that. In 2013, the Cardinals took Minor Leaguer Juan Herrera by sending out Marc Rzepczynski. Oddly, all three of those deals featured the Indians on the other end.
This year, however, there appears to be no impending transaction with Cleveland -- or anyone else -- as the Cardinals continue to inch toward the non-waiver Trade Deadline without a morsel of tangible activity thus far. It is worth noting, though, that while July 30 has typically marked the eve of the non-waiver Deadline, this year's one has been pushed to 3 p.m. CT on Monday.
General manager John Mozeliak remains set up at the team's Jupiter, Fla., facility, where he is surveying the trade market and meeting with his trusted circle of advisers to discuss potential proposals. The club is particularly interested in relief help, though not at any cost. External options -- and the subsequent acquisition cost for each -- will be weighed against the internal candidate the club already has in top prospect Alex Reyes.
With the impending return of three position players (Matt Carpenter, Jhonny Peralta and Brandon Moss) and the health of the rotation, the Cardinals haven't dipped too deep into other markets.
"This year, in particular for us, there are not a lot of things we would do," manager Mike Matheny said. "You look at the three players we have coming back, and they're all frontline guys. That's like getting a trade. Then knowing that we do have some talent out there when you're talking about an Alex. Those things all play into whether you start going and mortgaging the future of an organization to bring somebody in. We have a pretty deep, solid team."
Two closers -- Aroldis Chapman and Mark Melancon -- have already been on the move this week, though the Cardinals' focus isn't for another ninth-inning man. Rather, Mozeliak has been targeting arms that could complement setup relievers Kevin Siegrist and Jonathan Broxton.