St. Louis Cardinals: Likely trade partner teams to consider

The St. Louis Cardinals find themselves in a tailspin of a season which was surely not what was planned. In the weakened NL-Central, however, the season might not be lost entirely. Now is the time to find suitors for trades if the season is to be salvaged.

The St. Louis Cardinals are, on paper, a good team. The Cards are made up of individual players who are all contributors but for one reason or another just haven’t figured out how to get their engines firing simultaneously. Regardless of the reason, the Cardinals would be wise to start making telephone calls to potential trade partners.

Every season at this time teams must begin to weigh whether they are going to be buyers or sellers at and before the trade deadline. This topic has been often discussed in our official podcasts here at Redbird Rants, and we surely are not alone. I imagine that GM Mozeliak sits with his braintrust on a daily basis evaluating the Cardinals and potential solutions externally.

And there is certainly evidence to suggest that Mozeliak is beginning to make phone calls. First and foremost is evidenced in the recent moves made on Sunday. It strikes me as telling that Mozeliak did NOT promote Carson Kelly. I feel this was done to protect the prospect and prevent teams from seeing just how strong he is in the majors.

To follow this, then, Mo’s promotion of Luke Voit indicates to me that perhaps this promotion is an audition for trade value. Similarly, Mike Mayers, who has been tearing up the minor leagues to the tune of a 0.89 ERA in his last five starts, was promoted for exposure. In this same mindset, I have argued for a while that Paul DeJong is also being offered to the world with his play in St. Louis.

These aren’t the only names that have circulated from the St. Louis Cardinals as being potential trade chips as we approach the trade deadline. Some of the more interesting names include Seung-hwan Oh and Trevor Rosenthal. These two names would be very enticing to a competing team.

Continuing with this thinking, then, Tito recently suggested a move sending Matt Carpenter to the Yankees. It could happen, and as July 1 is this coming Saturday, teams will begin now to ramp up their efforts to find their next move.

So who should the St. Louis Cardinals call? Which teams would make the most sense and have or need interest in our players? Who should the St. Louis Cardinals target to improve their own ball club?