5 early season trade targets for the St. Louis Cardinals

Whit Merrifield #15 of the Kansas City Royals catches a fly ball hit by the St. Louis Cardinals during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium on May 2, 2022 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Puetz/Getty Images)
Whit Merrifield #15 of the Kansas City Royals catches a fly ball hit by the St. Louis Cardinals during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium on May 2, 2022 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Puetz/Getty Images) /
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Detroit Tigers reliver Andrew Chafin
DETROIT, MI – SEPTEMBER 02: Andrew Chafin #39 of the Oakland Athletics pitches against the Detroit Tigers during a MLB game at Comerica Park on September 2, 2021 in Detroit, Michigan. Oakland defeated Detroit 8-6. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images) /

Tigers Reliever Andrew Chafin

After starting the 2022 season on the injured list, Tigers reliever Andrew Chafin has looked good in his four innings of work for Detroit.

Chafin received a two year contract worth $13 million from the Tigers this offseason after an elite 2021 season where he threw 68.2 innings with an ERA of 1.83 and WHIP sitting at 0.93 for the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics. Chafin is familiar with the NL central after his time in Chicago last year, and has a career 3.29 ERA that gives him a proven track record over his 9 year career.

Chafin would be a great target for the Cardinals to solidify their bullpen as one of the elite in all of baseball. St. Louis currently has four right handed relievers with ERAs under 2.00 at the moment in Andre Pallante, Nick Wittgren, Kodi Whitley, and Ryan Helsley, and Giovanni Gallegos looks to be getting back on track. With T.J. McFarland struggling a bit to start 2022, pairing Chafin with Cabrera gives St. Louis two elite left handed relievers.

Clubs that want to go far in the postseason need to be able to shorten games, and adding Chafin would make this Cardinal bullpen that much stronger and a force to be reckoned with.