St Louis Cardinals: Way-too-early trade deadline shopping list

The St Louis Cardinals look like the best team in the NL Central, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need anything at the trade deadline.

The calendar has yet to hit June, but it is never too early to start gathering info on where the St Louis Cardinals look like they could use some improvement.

The 2021 season has gone better than some had expected, even with the Cardinals’ current skid. As of writing, the Cardinals sit tied for first place with the Cubs in the NL Central with a 26-22 record. At their best, the team has reached eight games above .500 but a pile of injuries has started to take their toll on the team.

In the outfield, both Tyler O’Neill and Harrison Bader are on the IL, leaving Dylan Carlson in center. Tommy Edman has filled in at right field, but the injuries have left Justin Williams, Lane Thomas, and Matt Carpenter with a lot of playing time that they haven’t performed well at all in.

Paul DeJong did not have a good start to the year on either side of the ball, but a cracked rib has kept him out, too.

On the pitching side, Miles Mikolas and Carlos Martinez have both spent time on the IL, with the former only throwing 4.0 innings before re-injuring himself. In the bullpen, injuries to Jordan Hicks and Andrew Miller have forced Tyler Webb and Ryan Helsley higher up the depth chart, again with poor results.

The team is 3-7 in their last 10 and the losses have often been ugly; full of errors and walks from players who historically not been those players. It has been an ugly two weeks, but health should help. However, there are clear areas where the team could use some help at the deadline, even when fully healthy.

Outfielder

Much like the rotation, injuries have plagued the outfield as well. When everyone has been healthy, things have been awesome. Tyler O’Neill looks like he’s taken a step forward in terms of box score power production with eight homers on the year, Harrison Bader’s defense and an improved approach have paid off, and Dylan Carlson looks like a legit Rookie of the Year candidate.

However, both Bader and O’Neill have both found themselves on the IL two separate times this season. An arm issue started Bader on the IL and then a cracked rib landed him back after only 22 games. O’Neill started healthy, then strained his groin, and now cracked a finger diving into second base.

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This year is a “prove it” year for pretty much everyone in the outfield outside of Carlson, specifically O’Neill, Justin Williams, Austin Dean, and Lane Thomas. Whether it has been in starts, pinch-hit appearances, or any other situation, none of the trio of Williams/Dean/Thomas have shown anything at all at the MLB level.

Just like the rotation, health would make everything fine, but it just hasn’t been there. O’Neill’s spot in left is probably the first seat to be changed, and getting a more consistent bat out there would be awesome for the team, especially if that bat could offer legit protection for Nolan Arenado in the batting order.

If health continues to be an issue, the bigger names to go after would be Trey Mancini or Mitch Haniger. If all the outfielders come back and are playing well while the bench isn’t, it still is easy to argue that outfield depth needs help. Adding an outfielder of starting or bench caliber could add competition or at least sure up the bench so Tommy Edman never needs to play out there.

Bullpen help

New spot, same story. When everyone in the bullpen was healthy at the beginning of the year, things were great. Alex Reyes in the 9th let Jordan Hicks, Giovanny Gallegos, and Andrew Miller excel earlier in games. However, health and lack of performance has made the group look much different.

Genesis Cabrera has been given a bigger role and has ran with it, proving he could be an effective pitcher in higher-leverage spots. Outside of him, most everyone else has been worse than expected. Specifically, Tyler Webb and Ryan Helsley both need to show some more and in Webb’s case, he needs to do it quickly.

The three most trusted arms (Reyes, Gallegos, Cabrera) have shouldered way more innings than the rest of the bullpen and won’t be able to sustain this workload over an entire season. Mike Shildt needs a fourth option out there that he can trust to go to in games where the big three aren’t available. When he doesn’t have that, the bullpen has blown games.

Helsley and his 100 mph fastball have shown promise, but he’s had a few rough outings in May. If he can step up and become more dependable while Webb has struggled, that would make a world of difference. However, adding another arm if they can’t find one in house is never a bad idea for a team with postseason aspirations.

In all, the biggest thing the Cardinals need is to get healthy. Health solves a lot of the big problems the team is having right now, but the other thing is just the mental consistency to stop walking opposing batters and stop making bad errors. The skill and talent is there, and these are unforced mental errors that have cost the team games already.

The Cardinals haven’t done anything big at the trade deadline in a few years, but that doesn’t mean that this year will be the same. It’s early, but keeping an eye on the future is never a bad idea when it comes to what the front office can do to put the team in the best position to win it all.