The St. Louis Cardinals are rumored to pursue their former starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery after dealing him to the Texas Rangers last month at the trade deadline.

Montgomery enjoyed his brief tenure in St. Louis, and the Cardinals have been aggressively pursuing left-handed pitching in recent seasons, according to Robert Murray of Fansided. He will likely be leaving Texas at the end of the season when he becomes a free agent, as his price will be too high for their roster to accomadate.

Montgomery recently delivered his best performance of the year, an 8 inning shutout against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night. The game was unfortunately blown by Aroldis Chapman, leading to a Rangers loss in extra innings. Ironically, Chapman is an example of a player getting dealt at the deadline on a rental, only to be resigned by his same team later that year.

The St. Louis Cardinals dealt Montgomery at the trade deadline after acquiring him from the New York Yankees at the 2022 deadline. He was one of their top pitchers during his time there, despite the Cardinals obvious struggles this season.

He left STL with a 3.31 ERA in his combined one year of service, and has dominated upon arrival in Texas with a 1.73 ERA in his first four starts. He was brought on to try and help the Rangers win the World Series before becoming a free agent in the offseason, a feat that they have the fourth-best odds to accomplish.

The Rangers are currently sitting with +950 odds to win it all, behind only the Braves, Dodgers, and Astros, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. They added some veteran talent at the deadline, and will hope Montgomery can help them get the job done. They recently lost 6 games in a row, evaporating their lead over the Astros and Mariners in the AL West. They will have to grind out victories down the stretch to hold their position, or the trade will have been all for not.