The St. Louis Cardinals have made a big move, acquiring right-handed reliever Andrew Kittredge from the Tampa Bay Rays. In exchange, the Cardinals have traded outfielder Richie Palacios.
Kittredge, 33, has had a successful career with the Rays, holding a record of 18-7 with a 3.65 earned run average over seven major league seasons. He had an outstanding 2021 season, earning a spot in the All-Star Game and pitching in a personal record of 57 games. During that season, Kittredge also boasted an impressive 1.88 ERA in 71.2 innings of work.
However, Kittredge did miss parts of the 2022 and 2023 seasons due to recovering from Tommy John surgery. Despite this setback, he finished the 2023 season strong, going 2-0 with a 3.09 ERA in 14 games. His contributions helped the Rays secure one of the American League Wild Cards, and he had a scoreless appearance in relief during the Wild Card Series against the Rangers.
On the other side of the trade, Palacios, 26, joined the Cardinals in mid-August and played 32 games with the team. He was initially acquired from the Cleveland Guardians on June 16 and was assigned to Triple-A Memphis.
The trade is sure to shake things up for both teams as they look to make strategic moves ahead of the upcoming season. It will be interesting to see how Kittredge and Palacios impact their new teams and contribute to their success on the field.