St. Louis Cardinals: Five players who could make the Birds a playoff team

The St. Louis Cardinals are 36-28 and in third place in the NL Central. Right now, we would be missing the playoffs for the third straight year. Who can we trade for to turn the team into a playoff contender?

The St. Louis Cardinals are 20th in baseball in team batting average. 22nd in OPS. The starters have the third best ERA in baseball. The relievers have the fifth worst ERA. The team is tied for the second worst fielding percentage in baseball.

Starting pitching = great. Everything else = bad.

As we look forward and start to consider what this team needs to make the playoffs, it would seem the St. Louis Cardinals need more offense. Getting a guy that also plays great defense would help. In my opinion, some of these problems can be solved by playing guys we already have with more regularity.

Harrison Bader is better offensively and defensively than Dexter Fowler.

Jedd Gyorko should be playing third base pretty much everyday. Not only was he the second-best defensive third baseman in all of baseball last year, but he has also hit 50 home runs for the St. Louis Cardinals over the past two seasons.

Getting Paul DeJong back will improve the offense and defense.

Some of these solutions won’t happen because Mike Matheny won’t make it happen.

Even with some in-house options, the team still needs some drastic improvement from position players who needs to come from the outside. So, let’s take a look at some position players who would upgrade the St. Louis Cardinals and potentially turn them into a playoff team capable of making a deep run.

Let me preface this by stating that these players have not necessarily been rumored to be trade candidates (yet, at least), but are simply players who I think might make sense for both teams.

The St. Louis Cardinals are 36-28 and in third place in the NL Central. Right now, we would be missing the playoffs for the third straight year. Who can we trade for to turn the team into a playoff contender?

The St. Louis Cardinals need offensive power and the Orioles need to rebuild.

Manny Machado

Machado has already been rumored to be a fit for the Cardinals. The Baltimore Orioles have the worst record in baseball. They are already 23 games back of the New York Yankees. They are not making the playoffs.

Plus Machado is a free agent after this season. They have to trade him because I think there is zero chance they re-sign him this off-season. They will get a huge return for him.

He’s currently hitting .322 with 18 home runs and 50 RBI. He moved to shortstop this season and has been awful defensively, posting the second-worst DRS (defensive runs saved) among qualified shortstops.

Maybe he’ll get better with more playing time. Regardless, he could be moved back to third base, where he’s won two gold gloves. Or a team would just deal with the poor defense in hopes it eventually gets better, and appreciate the great offense.

The St. Louis Cardinals would have to give up a lot to get him. Two or three of our best pitching prospects plus one or two Major-League-ready hitters might get the trade done.

Even if the team was able to pull it off, what are the chances Machado wants to sign a free agent deal with the Cardinals after this season? I think the chances are slim to none. I think he will want to play in a “big market.”

In my opinion, what we’d have to give up is not worth a player we’d have for half a season. But, him plugged into our lineup, plus some bullpen upgrades, combined with our successful starting pitching could make the St. Louis Cardinals into a scary team.

The St. Louis Cardinals are 36-28 and in third place in the NL Central. Right now, we would be missing the playoffs for the third straight year. Who can we trade for to turn the team into a playoff contender?

The St. Louis Cardinals could fill their offensive need by looking off the radar.

Whit Merrifield

This is my off-the-radar guy but one I think makes a lot of sense for both teams. Merrifield broke out last season, hitting .288 with 19 home runs, 78 RBI, and 34 stolen bases while playing mainly second base. He was also good defensively, finishing tied for the third best DRS mark in 2017.

He’s currently having another good season, hitting .284 with four homers and 14 steals. The best part – he’s not a free agent until 2023.

The Royals suck and their farm system is ranked dead last by most outlets. They need to offload some of their talent and replenish their minor league system. Kolten Wong (it’s time for him to go) plus a couple pitching prospects could land Merrifield.

I don’t think he’s a player who would command Jack Flaherty or Luke Weaver but Austin Gomber or Dakota Hudson could make it happen.

He has a .363 OBP with 14 steals and some pop. He could slide into the lineup at any spot and produce.

Mike Moustakas

Another Kansas City Royal could also make sense for the St. Louis Cardinals. After finishing 2017 with 38 home runs and an .835 OPS, his best season as a pro, he’s having another good year. He has 12 home runs and an .822 OPS.

He’s also much better defensively at third base this season. After posting -8 DRS in 2017, he currently sits at 0 DRS. Basically, he’s not hurting the team there.

Moustakas is also a free agent after the season, but I think the Cardinals would have a much better chance of signing him to a deal. While he may be better suited for the American League and a DH spot down the road, the St. Louis Cardinals could sign him to a deal and move him to first base in a few years.

He definitely has the offensive profile for that spot.

Again, I think Wong has to go in this deal which would shift Carp to second base on a more full-time basis. This still leaves Gyorko without a full-time position, which I don’t necessarily like.

The St. Louis Cardinals are 36-28 and in third place in the NL Central. Right now, we would be missing the playoffs for the third straight year. Who can we trade for to turn the team into a playoff contender?

The St. Louis Cardinals would be a better team with an AL slugger.

Jose Abreu

This guy has been rumored a few times as a fit for the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s an incredibly consistent hitter, hitting at least .290 with 25 home runs and 100 RBI in each of his first four seasons.

He’s currently hitting .299 with 10 home runs and 36 RBI. He’s a free agent in 2020, so we’d have his services for 2019 at least. This would dispel Jose Martinez. Abreu would be an upgrade offensively and defensively. But, would the price of trading for him be worth the moderate upgrade?

JMart is better suited for the AL, where he can’t hurt his team with his atrocious defense. He’s also not a free agent until 2023. So, the White Sox would be getting a slightly lesser hitter (141 OPS+ for Abreu in 2018 compared to 133 for JMart) but more years of control.

It would also require one of our pitching prospects. If we could make it happen with one of our lesser prospects (not Reyes, Weaver, Flaherty, Hudson), then I say pull the trigger.

The St. Louis Cardinals are 36-28 and in third place in the NL Central. Right now, we would be missing the playoffs for the third straight year. Who can we trade for to turn the team into a playoff contender?

The St. Louis Cardinals should have pulled the trigger on a rumored match with the Twins in the past but all is not lost. Time to relight that fire.

Brian Dozier

Another second baseman and another guy from the poor AL-Central. After having monster seasons in 2016 and 2017, .886 and .856 OPS’ respectively, he’s off to a bit of a slow start in 2018.

He’s only hitting .247 right now, albeit with nine home runs. He hit 42 home runs in 2016 and 34 in 2017. He also won a gold glove last season. He has 1 DRS this season, so he continues to play above average defense.

The problem – he is also a free agent after this season and he’s already 31 years old. While he might be a guy the St. Louis Cardinals could sign to a sensible deal after the season, the price in prospects to acquire an aging second baseman who might be declining offensively could be too great.

Again, it would depend on what prospects the Twins would be willing to take and if they even consider themselves sellers. While Cleveland should definitely win that division, Minnesota is only 4.5 game back right now.