ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

The two players the Cardinals acquired for Maton are lefty starter Mason Molina and right-hander Skylar Hales. The deal also included $250,000 in international spending money.

Maton has a 2.35 ERA in 40 appearances for the Cardinals as their primary setup man.Ìý

The Illinois native signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals in the middle of spring training and he emerged as one of the most effective late-inning, non-closers in the National League. He struck out 48 batters in 38 1/3 innings.

By dealing Maton, the Cardinals dealt all three pending free agents in their bullpen at the deadline and will retool it now with promotions (see below).

Molina, 22, went 3-5 with a 3.41 ERA for the Rangers' Class A affiliates this season. He appeared in 18 games (17 starts) and struck out 92 in 74 innings. He was the Brewers' seventh-round pick in the 2024 draft and later traded to the Rangers.

Hales, 23, was with the Rangers' Class AAA affiliate. He's 1-5 overall this season with a 7.64 ERA in 34 relief appearances. He's struck out 40 in 33 innings.Ìý

Nolan Arenado set to stay with Cardinals

4:35 p.m. With less than 30 minutes to go before the trade deadline, third baseman Nolan Arenado, the subject of on-again off-again trade reports since the beginning of the offseason, was set to remain with the Cardinals.

Arenado has the largest say in his future with a no-trade clause for the remainder of his contract, which goes through 2027. The Cardinals added that final year and $15-million salary to make a deal with Colorado possible ahead of the 2021 season, Arenado's first with the Cardinals.

Arenado, 34, has dealt with finger and arm injuries at times this season and struggled for stretches offensively to a .235 batting average with a .366 slugging percentage and a .660 OPS. That would be a career low. During the Cardinals' run of winning seasons and playoff appearances, Arenado twice decided not to take an opt-out to become a free agent.

Through all of the trade discussions in the past 10 months, Arenado has remained steadfast that he has a limited interest in leaving ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and that it would only be for one of his preferred opportunities. He rejected a trade to Houston this past winter.Ìý

On Thursday, the Astros pulled off one of the day's stunning trades by bringing back Carlos Correa. The former All-Star shortstop and World Series champion will return to the Astros and play third base for them, according to multiple reports. The Minnesota Twins picked up a significant part of his contract to make the move possible, and Correa waived his no-trade clause to make the deal happen.

He told that Houston was the only team he'd approve.

Memphis relievers on runway for promotion

2:38 p.m. Meanwhile, in the minors, the Cardinals' top affiliate had a save situation in Norfolk, Virginia, this afternoon and had to avoid using some of its highest-leverage relievers so that they would be available for a promotion ahead of Friday's series opener in San Diego.

The Triple-A Memphis Redbirds won, 7-4, and they did so without using reliever Ryan Fernandez and a few others.

As of this afternoon, with less than 2 1/2 hours remaining before the 5 p.m. ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ time deadline, the Cardinals remain in conversations with teams interested in veteran reliever Phil Maton. They will, at least, have to add two additional pitchers to the active roster ahead of the weekend series. Those discussions were ongoing Thursday as well to get the arms from the East Coast to San Diego in time for the series.

Fernandez, one of the Cardinals' setup man a year ago, has steadied his season in Triple-A with a 3.12 ERA and one of the top strikeout rates in the minors.

The Cardinals promoted Gordon Graceffo on Wednesday to take lefty John King's spot in the bullpen. Optioned on July 21, Graceffo was able to return without spending the minimum required days in the minors because he was an injury replacement. The Cardinals used that rule to move Graceffo's promotion up six days and set the stage for other promotions.

Recently picked up and put in the Memphis rotation, Aaron Wilkerson is another option to provide innings in the majors. He has a 3.87 ERA in 107 innings in the minors this season. A return for reliever Chris Roycroft is also possible as he's eligible to return while the Cardinals also wait on Andre Granillo to be available.Ìý

One of the clubs that had discussed Maton as an option, the Yankees landed Jake Bird in a mid-afternoon trade with Colorado, per USA Today.

In Memphis' win, Matt Koperniak hit two home runs and leadoff hitter JJ Wetherholt walked twice and stole two bases.

Who got better haul from Mets, Cardinals or Giants?

11:47 a.m. In a combo of moves made Wednesday afternoon, the New York Mets acquired two right-handed relievers for their bullpen that significantly enhance their options for a postseason game and October matchups. What it took to pull off deals for relievers with the Cardinals and San Francisco Giants is telling for where those teams are focused as much as what it took for the Mets to complete the trades.

The Cardinals traded closer Ryan Helsley to the Mets for a trio of Class A prospects: RHP Nate Dohm, RHP Frank Elissalt, and SS/3B Jesus Baez.

The Giants traded reliever Tyler Rogers to the Mets for a trio of players on the brink of the majors or already there: RHP Jose Butto, RHP Blade Tidwell, and OF Drew Gilbert.

The package of players to the Giants has been widely described as high cost, and reviews of the Cardinals' return have been mixed.

This much is certain: The Cardinals' interest is more longer-range, down-the-road, in the future than the Giants.

This trade deadline, the Cardinals have sought to acquire players who do not immediately or imminently have to go on the 40-player roster. They do not want to create a crowded roster ahead of this winter's decisions for a new front office. All three players coming from the Mets were acquired in 2022 or later. Two of them, the two pitchers, were in the 2024 draft. They still have at least a year before they must be protected from the Rule 5 draft, and given that they are headed to High-A Peoria their timetable matches.

The Giants received Butto, a big-league reliever, and two Class AAA players, Tidwell and Gilbert, both of whom are expected to reach the majors.

They will be more immediate contributors; the Cardinals looked to the future.

As far as rankings go, the Giants got Baseball America's 14th-ranked (Gilbert) and 10th-ranked (Tidwell) prospect from the Mets' system. The Cardinals landed the 6th-ranked (Baez) and 25th-ranked (Dohm).Ìý

Padres beef-up bullpen as Cardinals arrive

11:05 a.m. Former Cardinals manager Mike Shildt is set to have a new blowtorch to deploy from his bullpen just in time for his former club to arrive in San Diego for a three-game series.

In one of the bigger deadline deals expected Thursday, the Padres acquired Athletics' All-Star closer Mason Miller as part of a trade that also included a rarity at the deadline — one of the top prospects in all of the minor leagues, not just the Padres' system. A.J. Preller, San Diego's president of baseball operations, is one of the most aggressive traders when it comes to using prospects to acquire major-league talent, and did so aggressively in the reported deal.

To land Miller and J.P. Sears from the Athletics, the Padres sent shortstop Leo De Vries and right-handers Braden Nett, Eduarniel Nunez, and Henry Baez. That four-pack of prospects ranks Nos. 1, 7, 14, and 16 in the Padres' system, per Baseball America.

De Vries is a top-five prospect in the Top 100, per BA.

Miller sports one of the swiftest fastballs in baseball and ninth-inning experience. In a deadline that has seen several elite relievers already move, Miller may be the best of them all. But he brings more to the Padres than just a big fastball — and that is a huge part of the haul that the A's got.

Consider: The Mets have Ryan Helsley until the end of the season when he becomes a free agent. The Padres have Miller under control for the next four years and he's yet to reach arbitration. To put it in comparative terms, the Mets traded three Class A prospects for two months of Helsley, and the Padres stacked prospects to get 26 months of Miller.

The Cardinals open a three-game series against the Padres on Friday as they begin a two-city, six-day road trip to California. It is their first visit to the west coast this season.

Blaze Jordan assigned to Class AAA Memphis

11:00 a.m. The corner fielder and .300-hitter acquired from the Red Sox for lefty Steven Matz has been assigned to the Cardinals' top affiliate, Class AAA Memphis. The transaction was completed Thursday morning.

Blaze Jordan, 22, made his Triple-A debut this season after his .928 OPS in 44 games for Boston's Class AA affiliate. In 88 games overall this season, Jordan has split his production rather evenly between the two levels. He has 44 games at both levels, six homers at each level, and 19 strikeouts at each level. Overall, Jordan is hitting .308 this season with a .377 on-base percentage, a .495 slugging percentage and a .872 OPS.

Jordan is a native of Southaven, Mississippi, and will be playing close to his hometown in Memphis.Ìý

The right-handed batter is a .291 hitter in his pro career, and he shares some of the bat-to-ball traits that Alec Burleson had as a left-handed hitter rising in the Cardinals' organization.Ìý

Cardinals' talks not limited to relievers: source

9:50 a.m. The coverage began Wednesday morning with , and shortly before midnight they had done so to the Boston Red Sox.

That was the second of the Cardinals' moves on the eve of Thursday's Major League Baseball trade deadline.Ìý

They are a seller for the second time in three years after going more than a generation without yielding to the standings at the trade deadline. The only times the Cardinals have sold during John Mozeliak's 18 years tenure atop baseball operations were 2023 and his final year of leading the front office, this year.

The Cardinals dealt Ryan Helsley to the New York Mets for three Class A players, including two of the Mets' top 30 prospects, and then several hours later got a former slugging sensation from the Red Sox in exchange for lefty Matz.

The Cardinals entered the final day before the trade deadline with ongoing talks to move veteran right-hander Phil Maton, who remained back in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ instead of traveling with the team to San Diego on the charter flight. The Cardinals believe they'll be able trade Maton ahead of the deadline. Count Toronto among the team's interested. The Athletic reported early Thursday morning that the Rangers "are pursuing" a reliever and that Maton is one.

The Padres were also among the teams to contact the Cardinals about relievers.

But the conversations the Cardinals have been having are not limited to the veteran relievers on expiring contracts.

In the past few days, the Cardinals had at least one team contact them to explore what a trade for outfielder Lars Nootbaar would look like and if there's a match. And the Cardinals, according to a source, recently told teams that they would be open to discussions about Nolan Gorman and what the Cardinals would seek in return.

Multiple teams have contacted the Cardinals with interest in leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan, per sources, but the Cardinals are not pursuing that move and have let teams know a deal for the All-Star is unlikely. They've been less inclined to engage on Alec Burleson.Ìý

The Cardinals have been prioritizing prospects who do not immediately have to go on the 40-player roster so they can alleviate some overlap there before Chaim Bloom takes over as president of baseball operations by the end of this season.

Willson Contreras has told the Cardinals that he would use his no-trade clause to remain with the team, and starter Sonny Gray, in his conversation with John Mozeliak, expressed a preference to remain with the Cardinals through the end of this season. He has one guaranteed year and a team option for 2027 remaining on his deal.

Post-Dispatch sports columnist Benjamin Hochman wrote about the Cardinals' desires to trade Nolan Arenado and shed his salary. On Wednesday, multiple sources continued to say what's been true since the winter when he vetoed a trade to Houston: Arenado's no-trade clause and the small group of teams he'd consider has limited the Cardinals' momentum and movement toward a deal.Ìý  

The Cardinals are strong sellers in the market and found themselves near the center of the reliever movement Wednesday.

As they explore how much they're willing to sell, this article will be updated throughout the day with reports from the Cardinals' activities and morsels on moves made elsewhere in the majors.

Prospects from Mets assigned to Peoria

9:47 a.m. The three Class A players acquired from the Mets in the Helsley trade were assigned to the Cardinals' High-A affiliate in Peoria, Illinois. For infielder Jesus Baez and right-handed pitchers Nate Dohm and Frank Elissalt that is a lateral move from the Mets' Class A club in Brooklyn.Ìý