The St. Louis Cardinals have been extremely active on the trade market this offseason as they lean into a full-scale rebuild. The team has parted ways with several notable players, including Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, and Willson Contreras.
On Tuesday, St. Louis completed another deal, though far less significant than the blockbuster moves earlier this winter. The Cardinals picked up pitcher George Soriano from the Washington Nationals in exchange for Andre Granillo, according to an official team announcement.
MLB Trade Rumors writer Anthony Franco recently took a closer look at what the Cardinals received in the transaction.
“Soriano will hopefully find some certainty after a hectic offseason. This is the fourth time he has changed organizations since November,” Franco wrote. “The 26-year-old had spent his entire career with the Marlins until they placed him on waivers at the beginning of the offseason. He landed with Baltimore, Atlanta and Washington via successive waiver claims and designations.
Cardinals take a flier on George Soriano in trade with Nationals
“A veteran of parts of three seasons, Soriano has an earned run average just under 6.00 over 118 big league innings. He has a league average 22% strikeout rate against a moderately concerning 10.3% walk percentage. The biggest issue is that he has been very homer-prone, surrendering 1.75 longballs per nine innings. Soriano works in the 95-96 mph range with his sinker and four-seam fastball while using a slider and changeup fairly frequently.”
Soriano has struggled over the last two seasons after posting a solid rookie year with the Miami Marlins. The righty has been hit around quite a bit, specifically last season, but he still has some promising traits.
This is a bit of a confusing trade for the Cardinals, as Granillo has shown some promise as a young pitcher in their organization. With the Cardinals bringing in so many top pitching prospects in their trades this offseason, Granillo was going to struggle to find a place on the big league roster.
Still, it seems as though Granillo is the better player in this deal. Only time will tell how this trade ages for the Cardinals.
