MLB Trade Rumors: St. Louis Cardinals Acquire Steve Cishek From The Miami Marlins


The St. Louis Cardinals have struck a deal to acquire Miami Marlins reliever Steve Cishek in exchange for a Double-A pitching prospect, as first reported by Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.

Cishek, 29, was considered to be one of baseball’s elite late inning relief pitchers for the past four seasons. With his unique side-arm motion, Cishek recorded 91 saves from 2011-2014. To go along with those saves, he pitched to a 2.70 ERA over 253 and one third innings. But a rough beginning to 2015 saw Cishek fall from dominant to demoted.

After beginning the 2015 season with a 6.98 ERA in 19 and one third innings, the Marlins sent down Cishek to Double-A to work out his issues. A.J. Ramos stepped into the closer’s role. Then, after pitching six scoreless innings for the Marlins Double-A affiliate, Cishek was recalled from the Minor Leagues on June 13.

A recent report from the Inquisitr mentioned Cishek as a trade piece after his improved performance.

On the season, Cishek’s totals stand at a 4.50 ERA over the course of 32 innings. As noted by MLBTradeRumors, while Cishek has lost a tick off his fastball and strikeout totals, his other stats, including swinging strike rate (9.3 percent) remain in line with his career averages.

With Cishek aboard, the Cardinals will hopefully have another reliable option in the bullpen. With current set-up man Jordan Walden sidelined with an injury, the team has been forced to rely heavily on their key core of relievers.

2015-All Star Trevor Rosenthal has served as St. Louis’ closer, posting 30 saves alongside a 1.75 ERA. 26-year-old Kevin Siegrist has been a rock out of the bullpen, as leads the National League in appearances (50) and has pitched to a 1.39 ERA. Finally, fellow 26-year-old Seth Mannes has pitched to a 3.69 ERA over 39 innings.

If Cishek can step into the Cardinals bullpen and continue his success since his promotion, giving up just one run over 12 and two-thirds innings since being recalled, he will ease the workload put on the Cardinals prominent bullpen pieces.

In the trade, the Cardinals will take on the remainder of Cishek’s 2015 salary of $6.65 million, as noted by Joe Frisaro of MLB.

As for the Marlins, they will receive Double-A pitcher Kyle Barraclough. A 7th round pick by the Cardinals in the 2012 draft, he dominated the High-A level this season, pitching to 0.60 ERA over 11 innings. He earned himself a promotion to Double-A with his performance.

However, upon his promotion, the 25-year-old’s control issues have reared their ugly head. Over 24 and two-thirds Double-A innings, Barraclough is pitching to a 3.28 ERA but an alarmingly high 7.9 BB/9 total. If the Marlins can fix his control, he could become a potentially useful bullpen piece later on.

[Image by Rob Foldy/Getty Images]

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