Story by
St. Louis Cardinals Ground-Ball Machine Would Fit A's Pitching Approach
- Story by
- St. Louis Cardinals Ground-Ball Machine Would Fit A's Pitching Approach
(D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images)
The Athletics are looking to improve their pitching staff heading into 2027 and beyond, and two skills that they'll be targeting from pitchers they add this winter will be throwing strikes first and foremost, followed closely by pitchers who can keep the ball out of the air.
St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante does both.
Advertisement
When the A's were first moving to West Sacramento for the 2025 campaign, Pallante already looked like a fit for the club when they didn't know how the ballpark would play. Now that they have a better sense of Sutter Health Park after two seasons and have a strategy to have success there, Pallante remains a potential fit for the A's front office.
The 28-year-old has two more years of team control before hitting free agency, and is projected to earn $7.5 million in his second year of arbitration. Pallante held a 3.83 ERA (3.74 FIP) in 2026, along with a 56.2% ground-ball rate, ranking him in the 96th percentile. His 7.4% walk rate ranked in the 67th percentile, but it was well below the league's average of 8.3% for starting pitchers.
A's starting pitchers held a 9.9% walk rate this past season, so Pallante would have been well ahead of the team's pace as well.
In addition to those key stats, he also did a superb job of limiting hard contact with an average exit velocity against of 87.2 mph (83rd percentile), a barrel rate of 4.9% (89th percentile), and a hard-hit rate of 34.2% (81st percentile). With the A's playing in a hitter-friendly venue where fly balls can turn into home runs quickly, those metrics should lead to success — even in Sacramento — for Pallante.
Advertisement
What Do the Cardinals Need?
One position that the Cardinals need filled is a short-term solution at third base . The A's have plenty of options to consider for this spot, but given that the opening exists because Nolan Gorman's profile makes him a potential non-tender candidate, one option may be ruled out.
Gorman hit .184 with a .272 OBP and a 62 wRC+ (100 is league average) in 2026, hitting nine home runs and holding a 32.5% strikeout rate. Defensively, he graded out as league average at third base.
The A's have three potential options for the Cardinals to consider for this specific spot, though none may be a perfect one-for-one fit. Either more would have to be added to the trade surrounding the main players, or the Cardinals would be looking elsewhere for a third-base fit while extracting a different player from the A's.
Advertisement
The three players the A's likely wouldn't mind moving in such a deal would be Max Muncy, Tommy White, and Darell Hernaiz. Like Gorman, Hernaiz could be headed elsewhere this winter, so his trade value isn't high enough to land Pallante.
Muncy and White each have the trade value and team control, but would need time to continue developing.
White hit .254 with a .272 OBP, but still finished with a 57 wRC+. He only hit three home runs in 56 games, which is why his wRC+ is so low. Only 8 of his 48 hits went for extra bases. White's contact is his calling card at the moment, with the power expected to follow as he develops. He struck out just 17.9% of the time.
Muncy's stats looked similar to Gorman's in that he struck out 32% of the time, though Muncy also batted .230 with a slightly higher .296 OBP and an 82 wRC+. He also added nine home runs in a similar number of plate appearances (284 to 302), though his fielding rated well below average by OAA (-6), DRS (-11), and FRV (-5).
Advertisement
The other two players that some would be curious about — Zack Gelof and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer — have clearer paths to the A's Opening Day roster in 2027 and may not be seen as trade pieces. Of course, that could all change when the team names its president of baseball operations, with the club following a new vision of the future.
