Who the St. Louis Cardinals can target to replace Carlos Martinez

With Carlos Martinez likely out for the season, the St. Louis Cardinals need to acquire a starting pitcher. But who could they target?

The St. Louis Cardinals’ need for rotation help was clear with Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas sidelined by significant injuries. Then Carlos Martinez injured his thumb, with increased speculation that it could be a long-term ailment, and an already battered rotation went into taters.

It turns out the Cardinals were right to fear it was a long-term injury. Matinez underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb, manager Mike Shildt told reporters, including Zachary Silver of MLB.com. It was already known that he would be out a while — after all, he was placed on the 60-day injured list two weeks ago — but the surgery puts serious question into whether he will be able to return this season.

Not only is it a disappointing end to Martinez, 29, season, but it also makes it that much more critical for the Cardinals to acquire a starting pitcher, even as reports surface that Flaherty and Mikolas should return this season, with Flaherty likely to be the first to return.

But acquiring a starting pitcher — let alone someone who could be a difference-maker — could be borderline impossible. For one, there are not many of those types of starters available. Two, the Cardinals have already said that they are not going to trade from their list of top prospects, which is likely a deal breaker for each team shopping a high-end rotation arm.

The list of candidates that the Cardinals are likely to shop from include Pittsburgh Pirates starter Tyler Anderson and perhaps even Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly, with Jeff Passan of ESPN saying that Texas Rangers lefty Mike Minor could also be a trade candidate.

Whoever the Cardinals trade for must be able to eat innings so they avoid overworking their bullpen. But Martinez’s injury makes it all the more important for them to land a starter — or perhaps two.