1 player the St. Louis Cardinals should steal from each division rival

Now that the lockout is over, here is one player the St. Louis Cardinals should steal from each National League Central team via trade.

The St. Louis Cardinals are never very big into the trade market. While the club did get Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado via the trade market, trading is just not team owner Bill DeWitt or president of baseball operations John Mozeliak’s style.

So it’s just fun to consider possible players they could attempt to get via trade.

In my version of this game, players with larger contracts would not be considered nor would players whose attitudes or actions do not mix with the current team. There are some players with ridiculously large contracts. There are players whose influence you just do not want around our younger team members.

With these considerations in mind, I’ll check one player from each of the NL Central teams I would love to see the Cardinals trade for. This does include the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

These teams do not seem to have set line-ups like the Cardinals. Due to trades during previous seasons or losing players to the free-agent market, these clubs will be actually trading or scouring the free-agent market to fill their needs.

The Cardinals appear set at third base, first base, catcher, and all three outfield positions. While the positions seem set, there could always be some piece moving involving the middle infield. Starting and relief pitching could see some tinkering as well.

Let’s take a look at who we would like to see the Cardinals get via trade from teams in the NL Central.